Chelsea manager Antonio Conte will return to Italy next summer, says Vincenzo Chiarenza

Former Juventus youth coach, Vincenzo Chiarenza, believes Chelsea manager Antonio Conte will return to Italy after the end of the 2017/18 season.

Conte moved to Stamford Bridge after his commitments with Italy following the European championship in 2016. In his debut season, the Juventus legend guided the Blues to the Premier League glory.

His future at Chelsea was subjected to speculation in the summer transfer window. Although the 48-year-old ended the reports surrounding his future by signing an improved deal in July, he did not extend his stay beyond 2019.

The Chelsea boss is still rumoured to leave the English champions and return to Italy in the summer. Chiarenza, who is credited with the development of players like Paolo De Ceglie, Claudio Marchisio and Sebastian Giovinco in the past, claims AC Milan is likely to be Conte's next destination.

"I think he will return to Italy after the end of the season. It is too early to say which team he is going to manage. All the big clubs are doing very well at the moment, except AC Milan. It looks like Milan could be in for a new manager," Chiarenza told IBTimes UK.

Milan have invested heavily in bringing new faces to the club earlier in the summer transfer window. The Rossoneri splashed almost €200m (£178m) on players in order to strengthen the squad as they plan on returning to the Champions League.

However, the Serie A outfit have struggled this season and are currently seventh in the table with 20 points after 14 games. The poor run saw Milan sack their manager Vincenzo Montella on 27 November and have appointed Gennaro Gattuso as his replacement.

That has not stopped Conte being linked with the Milan job. According to Italian publication Calciomercato, the San Siro outfit officials have initiated contact with the Chelsea manager with a view of appointing him as their next manager after the end of this season.

Chiarenza also opened up about what went wrong for Montella at Milan and said: "In my opinion, Vincenzo Montella failed to replicate the brilliant work he did at Fiorentina and Sampdoria. Also, the players he signed were not of that quality and the squad did not execute his ideas."