With Antonio Conte the odds-on favourite to become the next Chelsea manager, what do we know about the Italy manager? Sky Sports News HQ understands Chelsea technical director Michael Emenalo travelled to Italy on Tuesday and will be present at Juventus Champions League last-16 tie against Bayern Mun

With Antonio Conte the odds-on favourite to become the next Chelsea manager, what do we know about the Italy manager? Sky Sports News HQ understands Chelsea technical director Michael Emenalo travelled to Italy on Tuesday and will be present at Juventus Champions League last-16 tie against Bayern Munich, which Conte is also due to attend. Air Force 1 Black Outlet . Conte on his way? Sky Bets next Chelsea manager odds SSN HQ are currently investigating the claim the Italy coach has agreed a two-year deal to become the permanent successor to Jose Mourinho, but what could we expect from the 46-year-old Italian if he was to take over at Stamford Bridge? Conte had success at Juventus before becoming Italy manager after the World Cup in 2014 Managerial historyContes playing career came to an end in 2004 after making over 300 appearances for Juventus and earning 20 caps for Italy before becoming assistant manager at Siena for the 2005/06 season. Conte odds-on for Chelsea job Italy boss favourite to take over from Guus Hiddink He was soon given his first managerial job at Serie B outfit Arezzo, beginning a turbulent 12 months which saw him sacked after three months, reinstated five months later, and relegated on the final day of the season into Serie C1 in May 2007.After a brief sabbatical, Conte was appointed Bari manager in December 2007, and having been under threat of relegation at the start of his stint, ended up comfortably in mid-table. He led them to promotion to Serie A in 2008/09, but did not take charge of a top flight game and left the club having initially signed a one-year contract extension. Sky Italias Valentina Fass says Chelsea have held talks with Antonio Conte about becoming their new boss, but the deal hasnt been finalised just yet He was then appointed boss of Serie A side Atalanta in September 2009, winning just three of his 14 games in charge and leaving the following January, before dropping a division to guide Siena to the top flight for the 2010/11 season. Conte then began a three-year stint at Juventus, which saw him win Serie A in each season, as well as the Supercoppa in 2012 and 2013. In Europe, Conte led Juve to the Champions League quarter-finals in 2012/13, but did not get past the group stages the following season.His domestic success at Juventus led Conte to the national side after Cesare Prandellis departure following a poor World Cup in Brazil, tasked with stabilising the side ahead of Euro 2016.Italy won Group H ahead of Croatia, Norway, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan and Malta, winning seven and drawing three out of 10 games. Italy topped their Euro Qualifiers group, going unbeaten in all 10 games Six of those wins came by a one-goal margin, and the Azzurri now face Belgium, Republic of Ireland and Sweden in Group E at the tournament in France.How likely is it Conte will be appointed?Contes contract with Italy expires after the 2016 European Championships in the summer and he will be free to move to Stamford Bridge, with no compensation needed to be paid to the Italian Football Federation. Sky Italias Valentina Fass told Sky Sports News HQ that Conte had been linked with Chelsea for some time and a deal between the two was close to being agreed before Christmas. We know that Chelsea want to decide who their manager for next year will be by March, she told Sky Sports News HQ. Interim manager Guus Hiddink is in charge until the end of the season at Chelsea Conte seems to be ahead in the talks. Nothing has been decided yet, but maybe a contract has been put down.There are still other contenders. [Diego] Simeone, even though it looks like he wants to stay at Atletico, is one of the names on the list still, and also [Massimiliano] Allegri, Juventus manager, is on the list.Rebuilding the BridgeMake no mistake, this summer will be a rebuilding job at Stamford Bridge with Chelsea having dropped from champions to mid-table. However, Conte has the relevant experience on his CV.He revived struggling teams at Arezzo, Bari, Atalanta and Siena, but his work at Juventus stands out the most. Conte won Serie A three times in a row during his three seasons at Juve Having finished in seventh in 2010/11, Conte took over from Luigi Delneri and led Juve to the league title without a single defeat, the first club to do so in Italian history.Conceding just 20 goals in 38 games, it was their first official league title since 2003 after being stripped of two Serie A crowns for their involvement in the 2006 Calciopoli scandal.Tactics-wise, Conte is not restricted to his 3-5-2 formation, used predominantly at Juventus and with Italy. He has been known to switch to 4-3-3 successfully, a flexibility which has seen him lose just 18 games in his 167 as a manager since starting at Juventus in 2011.Sky in Italy reporter Gianluca Di Marzio believes rather than shoehorning players into his system, Conte would adapt his system according to the players capabilities. Arturo Vidal (L) and Paul Pogba (R) were brought to Juventus under Conte In a column on his website earlier this week, Di Marzio said: As Conte himself has said many times, he believes a good manager adapts to the personnel he has and not the other way around.Conte was equally impressive in the transfer market, and despite some inevitable misses, hits included Andrea Pirlo (free), Paul Pogba (free), Carlos Tevez (£6.75m), Arturo Vidal (£9.4m) and Stephan Lichtsteiner (£7.5m). During his three seasons at Juve, Conte never spent over £15m on a player.What theyve saidI am extremely lucky I met Antonio Conte, I had so many coaches to compare him too, and he is the one who surprised me the most. I was expecting a good coach, but not that good. - Andrea Pirlo, 2014, in I Think, Therefore I Play autobiography. Andrea Pirlo says he is lucky to have played under Conte The secret of our success is the ambition our coach has. Conte has brought a new mentality to the club. He has pushed us to sweat, to find strength and to undergo hard work in order to cancel out the last two disappointing campaigns. - Gianluigi Buffon, 2012[Contes] 3-5-2 is the best in history. Hes the only coach who doesnt play a 5-3-2. But he struggles against opponents with good wingers, who are able to switch play quickly. Big teams dont have any problems doing that. You cant dominate or set a trend with 3-5-2. - Zvonimir Boban, 2014, former Milan midfielder Also See: Conte odds-on for Chelsea job Mikel wants Hiddink to stay Allegri wants to stay at Juve Hiddink: Hazard getting there Air Force 1 Green Outlet . The group of Slava Fetisov, Igor Larionov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Sergei Fedorov, & Slava Kozlov were a dominant force for The Wings at one point in the 90s. Air Force 1 Outlet . -- For one night, Nick Calathes provided a big reason to believe the Memphis Grizzlies might be able to withstand the loss of Mike Conley on a short-term basis. https://www.cheapairforce1outlet.com/ . George Hill had 13 points and seven rebounds for the Pacers, who stayed atop the overall NBA standings despite losing twice on their West Coast trip. Los Angeles kept it close into the second half before the Pacers finished an easy win over the injury-riddled Lakers, who have lost five straight.MANCHESTER, England - Manchester United striker Robin van Persie will miss up to six weeks with a left knee injury, ruling the Netherlands striker out of both legs of a Champions League quarterfinal against Bayern Munich and potentially six Premier League games. It is a major blow to Uniteds hopes of winning the Champions League, which realistically is the clubs only route back into Europes top competition next season. Following a second scan on the injury on Friday, United said Van Persie has a "sprained knee which will keep him out for around 4-6 weeks." He appears to be in no danger of missing the World Cup finals in Brazil beginning in mid-June — the worst-case scenario according to Uniteds diagnosis is that Van Persie is out until the start of May, leaving him available for the last two or three league games in Uniteds season. Van Persie, who has scored 23 goals in 29 games for club and country this season, was carried off on a stretcher after hurting his knee in a challenge from behind toward the end of Wednesdays 3-0 victory over Olympiakos, in which he scored a hat trick to send his teeam into the last eight. Air Force 1 Fake. United is seventh in the Premier League after its humiliating 3-0 loss to Liverpool last weekend, 12 points adrift of fourth-place Manchester City having played two more games. A finish in the top six would qualify United for next seasons Europa League, and sixth-place Everton is three points ahead with a game in hand. It will be a second significant spell on the sidelines for Van Persie this season — he played just two games across 2 1/2 months over the turn of the year because of groin then thigh problems. The news punctures some of the optimism that has spread through Old Trafford after the victory over Olympiakos, which came just as the pressure was beginning to build on manager David Moyes. Moyes has Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez as alternatives up front to partner Wayne Rooney. Otherwise, Moyes could decide to play Rooney as his main striker and move Juan Mata, signed in January for a record fee of 37.1 million pounds ($61.2 million), into his favoured No. 10 role just in behind. Mata has played out wide in recent games, to little effect. ' ' '