Antonio Conte Receives Big Money Offer From AC Milan as Legal Battle With Chelsea Rumbles On

Former Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has reportedly been offered a return to management in his home country of Italy.

According to the Mirror, the 48-year-old has been offered a £5.5m a year deal to take over as manager of AC Milan, where he would replace I Rossoneri legend Gennaro Gattuso.

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Despite having only taken over in April, Gattuso is already facing the sack as the club look to bring their glory days back. Senior officials at the club believe that former Juventus and Chelsea boss Conte is the man to do just that.

Conte has already turned down an offer to return to management this summer, as he was approached to become the manager of the Italian national team. However, he rejected the deal and former Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini was subsequently appointed to the role.

He has been stalling over a new job due to the fact that he is taking legal action against Chelsea. The dispute is over the £9m of wages that he is still owed from the final year of his contract at Stamford Bridge, which was cancelled just before the club appointed former Napoli boss Maurizio Sarri as his replacement.

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Meanwhile, the report from the Mirror also claims that Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia recently held talks with Juventus sporting director Fabio Paratici on Roman Abramovich's private yacht in the south of France.

The club are said to have offered £40m for central defender Mattia Caldara and are also interested in signing Gonzalo Higuain. The Blues have offered Higuain a larger wage packet than the one that was proposed to him by AC Milan.

Borussia Dortmund midfielder Christian Pulisic and Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey are also said to be on the club's wishlist, as they look to offload former Leicester man Danny Drinkwater.