It’s not been an easy summer for Antonio Conte, despite winning the Premier League title in his first year in charge of Chelsea.

He probably didn’t do himself any favours, though, by sending a text message to Diego Costa to trigger the infamous saga – claiming the Spain international was no longer in his plans and it has seen him go AWOL in Brazil, even though his employers want him back in training.

TOUGH SUMMER

It’s a question he can’t get away from, but he wasn’t in the mood to discuss it in the build-up to the Blues’ second league game of the season against Tottenham Hotspur.

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Not only that, but it’s obvious that the Stamford Bridge side has endured a tough summer in terms of transfer activity as well.

They have made numerous signings in Willy Caballero, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Antonio Rudiger and Alvaro Morata, but the only deals fans and pundits can seem to talk about are how Manchester United masterfully stole Romelu Lukaku from under their noses, before strangely allowing the influential Nemanja Matic to join Jose Mourinho in Manchester.

While the Italian coach has admitted that he’d like to end the trend of Chelsea manager’s suffering short-term stays under Roman Abramovich and is excited to move into the new stadium, his future will remain in doubt, such is the mood in west London and history tells you that targeting a lengthy stay doesn’t automatically mean he’ll remain in charge for that long.

REPLACEMENT

According to German outlet Sport Bild, the Premier League champions already have a replacement lined up if Conte makes an exit.

The source claims that former Borussia Dortmund head coach Thomas Tuchel could be next in line to replace Conte who recently improved his contract, but didn’t sign an extension amid rumours of disharmony within the hierarchy at Chelsea.

Bild claims Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia has personally sought out the German and has decided that he could be the man to take the club into the direction they want to go in, but didn’t put a timeframe on when they could approach or appoint him.

Tuchel spent two years in charge at the Westfalenstadion, leaving his role at the club after his own tensions with CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke and was subsequently replaced with Peter Bosz.

It’s probably too early in the season to even question Conte’s future, as a sudden turnaround and another push for silverware could see Chelsea bosses changing their minds.

What do you make of Chelsea wanting Thomas Tuchel to replace Antonio Conte? Have YOUR say in the comments section below.

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