Conte’s future has been the subject of plenty of speculation for the past 12 months with his departure seemingly imminent since the end of the season.Sky Sport Italia now claim the former Juventus gaffer has been relieved of his duties having only begun pre-season training at the start of this week.

Conte’s reported departure opens the door for Maurizio Sarri to replace him in the Stamford Bridge dugout ahead of the 2018/19 campaign.

Sarri emerged as Chelsea’s No 1 managerial target towards the end of the season and has already been replaced at Napoli by former Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti.
Chelsea chiefs have since been locked in talks with Napoli for Sarri, with the Serie A side demanding compensation as he is still under contract.
Express Sportunderstands a £4.5m deal to free Sarri from his Stadio San Paolo contract has been discussed over the past week.

And it now seems an agreement has been reached in the wake of Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis suggesting on Wednesday that one was close.

“The Sarri deal is in the homestretch, it depends on him,” said De Laurentiis.
“I’ve laid down my conditions. It’s all in the hands of lawyers. Jorginho? We said to ourselves, ‘If Jorginho has any requests, we’ll take them into account’.
“For that, I’ll have to apologise to Manchester City. However, if the player would rather live in London than Manchester, I can understand that.
“If Chelsea are paying him even more, I can understand that too. Jorginho and Sarri together again? Jorginho would go to Chelsea regardless of Sarri.”