Ex-Inter Chairman Aims Cheeky Dig at Rivals AC Milan Over Conte Managerial Rumours

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is a "smart guy" who would never dream of becoming the new manager of AC Milan, according to Inter's former chairman.

Massimo Moratti took a less than subtle dig at his former club's fierce city rivals in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport as he opined on the Chelsea boss taking up the reins of I Rossoneri.

Milan sacked Vincenzo Montella in late November after a poor performance in Serie A following their lavish summer spending spree, and Conte was immediately installed as one of the favourites to land the vacancy.

Marco Luzzani/GettyImages

The Blues gaffer has been continuously linked with a return to Italy after he made comments about wanting to head home in the future, but has committed his immediate thoughts to Chelsea and harbours no hopes of moving back to his homeland any time soon.

Moratti made his cheeky comments about Conte and Milan when he was asked to compare the 47-year-old with current Inter boss Luciano Spalletti, and claimed that if Conte ever managed I Nerazzurri - and failed to win trophies - it would be the club's fault instead of his.

Moratti said: “He is a great manager, the only difference with [Luciano] Spalletti is that Spalletti has yet to win a Serie A title, Conte has already won league titles in Italy and in England.

Emilio Andreoli/GettyImages

“If he’d joined Inter and failed it would have been Inter’s fault. A move to AC Milan? No, I don’t think so, he is a smart guy.”

Inter appointed Spalletti as their own new manager in the summer after he departed Roma for San Siro.

The 58-year-old has since led Inter to the top of Serie A thanks to a run of 12 wins and three draws from their 15 league matches this term - the sleeping giants now one and two points ahead of second and third placed Napoli and Juventus respectively.

Emilio Andreoli/GettyImages

Moratti went on to add that he considered Spalletti to be a top manager and revealed that he would not look to advise the Italian on any key club issues.

He added: “I’d never give him advice. I’ve explained to him the mentality of an Interista, but he already knew it.

“I also wanted to hire him but I never managed to in the past. We were very close after the treble but he chose Zenit instead.

“He can read the players' mind just like Mourinho. Players like Ranocchia, Santon and Brozovic are reborn.”