Former Chelsea boss ‘favourite’ to replace Stefano Pioli as AC Milan boss after ten months unemployed

FORMER Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is the favourite to replace Stefano Pioli at AC Milan – according to Italian media.

The Italian has been unemployed for 10 months after being sacked by Spurs in March of last year.

PA

Conte’s tenure as Spurs manager ended in misery[/caption]

But he could be in line for a return to management as soon as this month with Pioli on thin ice at AC Milan.

Pioli has been under pressure for several months and Wednesday’s cup exit to Atalanta only intensified scrutiny over his job.

Gazzetta Dello Sport report that fans have turned on Pioli and had #PioliOut trending on Twitter the evening of their cup exit.

They have already earmarked Conte as the man they want and used the hashtag #ConteIn.

Conte was already linked with the Milan last season when Spurs travelled to the San Siro for their round of 16 Champions League defeat.

His failure to beat Milan in the corresponding fixture was effectively the death knell of his tenure at Tottenham.

He praised Milan after they knocked a pathetically drab Spurs out and said: “In this moment we don’t have a solid foundation to be competitive to fight and win, in my opinion.

“In terms of history, these two clubs are on totally different levels. Milan won the Serie A title last season, whereas we scraped through by a miracle going from ninth place to fourth. So this is certainly a step forward.”

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Conte has been on record saying he will not accept a project halfway through a season – having regretted doing so when he took over Spurs in November 2021.

Conte managed Milan’s rivals, Inter, from 2019 until 2021 but his association with him is not thought to harm his chances of joining the Rossoneri.

Milan and Inter have a friendly rivalry known as the “derby of the cousins”.

A whopping 27 players have played for both Milan and Inter.