Chelsea boss Conte set to buy house in Italy

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has revealed plans to purchase a house in Italy with his bonus for winning the Premier League.

Conte and his players will collect the trophy following Sunday’s home clash with bottom club Sunderland, which could see the Blues set a new record of 30 wins in a season.

The former Italy coach seemed keen to play down the size of his financial reward but, judging by his plans for the money, it is a substantial sum.

“Is mine a good bonus? It depends which way you want to see it,” he said. “I think maybe I will use it to buy a house in Italy.

“In Lecce I have my parents and, for sure, I hope to spend a bit of time there on my holidays, to stay in Turin also.

“It’s an opportunity because, in the last summer, I had no chance to have a holiday because we started with Chelsea after three days from the Euros.

“It will be a very calm holiday this summer. I’ll spend a few days with my parents and in the place I was born.”

While Conte welcomes the chance to take a short break, he insists he and his players will not be “relaxed”.

“I hate this word ‘relaxed’,” he said. “I prefer they use the word ‘enjoy’ instead. Enjoy your achievement.

“We had a path, a very difficult path, this season, so it’s important to enjoy the win with the players, the club and the fans. We worked very hard. But relax? No. I don’t like this.

“I want people who stay, every day, concentrated and preparing for a new win.

“We must have a winning mentality. If you have that, you want to continue to win every season.

“It’s not easy because in England there are many teams who want to do the same things. But we have to continue to work very hard, maybe stronger than this season, to try to repeat a good season.

“But if there is someone who is happy to focus on his past, then he’s not a winner. He’s a loser. The past is good. The past is beautiful if you won. You can always see your past. But, in the present and the future, what you achieved in the past is not important if you are a winner. If you are a loser then you always stay looking behind you and you won’t win.”