Chelsea have confirmed that Antonio Conte will join the club after Euro 2016.

The Italian, 46, will sign a three-year deal at Stamford Bridge having long been the favourite to take over from Jose Mourinho, who was sacked in December six months after lifting Chelsea’s first Premier League title in five years. Guus Hiddink has taken charge of the club in the interim period and will continue to do so until the end of the season.

The former Juventus boss won three successive Serie A titles before joining the Italy national team after the 2014 World Cup.

“I am very excited about the prospect of working at Chelsea Football Club. I am proud to be the coach of the national team of my country and only a role as attractive as manager of Chelsea could follow that,” he said in a statement on the club website.

“I am looking forward to meeting everyone at the club and the day-to-day challenge of competing in the Premier League.

“Chelsea and English football are watched wherever you go, the fans are passionate and my ambition is to have more success to follow the victories I enjoyed in Italy.

“I am happy we have made the announcement now so everything is clear and we can end the speculation. I will continue to focus on my job with the Italian national team and will reserve speaking about Chelsea again until after the Euros.”

Conte is the fifth Italian to take charge at Stamford Bridge, following Gianluca Vialli, Claudio Ranieri, Carlo Ancelotti and Roberto Di Matteo.

“We are very pleased to have recruited one of the most highly regarded managers in world football and we are equally pleased to do so before the end of the current season,” said club director Marina Granovskaia. “This aids our future planning.”

Conte is expected to bring a number of close allies to the club to form his backroom staff, although their appointments are yet to be confirmed by the Blues.

•Sourced from The Independent of London. Photo shows Chelsea’s new manager Antonio Conte.

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