Antonio Conte to step down as Inter coach creating Real Madrid rumors—report

Antonio Conte is reportedly stepping away as Inter manager, according to AS (via Gazzetta dello Sport and Corriere dello Sport). The nerazzurri captured their first Serie A scudetto since the 2009-10 season under Conte this year.

While there seems to be more concrete that Conte could step down, there doesn’t appear to be much behind tying Conte with a potential Real Madrid move except for past comments.

Prior to the promotion of Santi Solari as club manager, Conte appeared to be the first choice to replace Julen Lopetegui. Conte has confirmed he was close to joining Real on a few occasions.

This is all assuming that Zinedine Zidane actually leaves the club this summer, which there still has been no official confirmation. The predominant rumors remain with the appointment of Max Allegri or the promotion of Raul should Zidane depart.

There’s also an Inter connection with Achraf Hakimi who could be sold this summer, according to Marca. The report says that Hakimi could be one player sold if Conte indeed leaves the club.

Hakimi said earlier this month that Real Madrid could have the right of first refusal on his sale, according to AS.

This will be one to watch as its mainly dependent on Conte and Zidane leaving their respective clubs as managers. We could see more concrete evidence as the week goes on and the dominoes start to fall.