Chelsea reveal the cost of sacking Antonio Conte as wage bill soars to £285m

Chelsea spent £26 million to sack Antonio Conte and his coaching staff, the club has revealed.

The Blues’s latest accounts show a sum of £26.6million was paid to the Italian and his staff in compensation and legal costs.

Conte was sacked in July 2018 after spending two years at Stamford Bridge, which indlued a Premier League title and FA Cup.

Conte, who was replaced by Maurizio Sarri, had 12 months left on his contract and ended his tenure with a fifth-placed finish.

​​”Exceptional items in the current year of £26.6million relate to changes in respect of the men’s team management and coaching staff, together with associated legal costs,” read the club’s latest set of published accounts for the year ending in June 2019.

It means that Chelsea have paid out more than £90 million in compensation to sacked managers in Roman Abramovich’s reign since taking over in 2004.

The wage bill has also risen by 17 per cent to £285 million.

After taking a year out, Conte has since taken over at Inter Milan, who he has led to top of Serie A, ahead of champions Juventus on goal difference.

PA contributed to this report and contacted Chelsea for comment