Sky
Sports expert Jamie Carragher says he'll be surprised if Antonio Conte is
still at Chelsea in a year's time.
The Italian steered the Blues to the Premier League title in his first
season, but has stated he expects the next campaign to be the most difficult
of his coaching career after reportedly growing frustrated by the club's
summer transfer activity.
And Carragher reckons Conte is not happy with having major transfer
decisions taken out of his hands by the club's hierarchy.
"I'd be very surprised if I'm sitting here in 12 months' time and he's the
Chelsea manager," he said on Monday's first episode of The Debate on Sky
Sports Premier League.
"I think he's the type of manager who won't accept the involvement from
people above, especially on the back of winning the title.
"He's not going to go quietly and it's not great for the club when the
manager is coming out and speaking the way he is."
Since Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003, Jose Mourinho has twice been
axed as manager, while big names such as Carlo Ancelotti, Luiz Felipe
Scolari and Claudio Ranieri lasted less than two years under the Russian
owner.
And Carragher says Abramovich and technical director Michael Emenalo will
not be afraid to change manager again, despite Conte's success last season.
He added: "What I would say is Chelsea have a business model, a very
ruthless one. They're a bit like Real Madrid in that I don't think they
value the manager like other clubs do.
"They're not scared to get rid of a top manager or get rid of someone after
12 months, but you can't really complain. Since Abramovich came in I think
they've won more trophies than anyone.
"They have a model where they have a big say over how that club is run; the
owner, Emanalo and people involved there.
"Maybe that is a frustration for Conte. He wants more players coming in."
This summer Chelsea have splashed £70m on Alvaro Morata and £34m on Antonio
Rudiger, while they signed central midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko for £40m
before selling Nemanja Matic to Manchester United for a similar fee.
And Carragher believes the sale of Matic, who has won two Premier League
titles with Chelsea, shows the difference in thinking between Conte and his
bosses.
"The Matic deal is a perfect example," Carragher added. "If you're a manager
why would you want to let him go - especially to a rival?
"But they'll be saying '£45m for a 29-year-old and we've got a replacement
who is 22'. We don't know how good [Bakayoko] is going to be, but that has
been their business model going forward.
"The success they've in changing manager means they're not going to take
anything like that off Conte.
"They got rid of Mourinho, they got rid of Ancelotti and I would be very
surprised if he's here in 12 months."
Watch The Debate every weeknight from 10pm on Sky Sports Premier League.
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