Conte hints at Juventus exit

Juventus coach Antonio Conte on Sunday hinted he could quit the Serie A giants if they fail to invest in players this summer ahead of a fresh assault on the Champions League. Conte steered Juventus to a third consecutive title last week, the first time the club has achieved the feat since a five-season title run in the 1930s. However in recent weeks the former Juve player has been linked with a move to French giants Monaco, who are reported to have offered Conte an open cheque book if he took over the Principality club. After a 1-0 victory Sunday over Juve's closest title rivals this season, Roma, Conte hinted his three-year spell with the Bianconeri could soon be over. Speaking in the third person, Conte said: "If Antonio decides to take another path, then he will do so with the greatest respect for the club and the players." Conte's words could also be designed to put pressure on the Italian giants to buy the players needed for a fresh assault on next season's Champions League. Juve made it to the quarter-finals of last year's competition before bowing out to eventual champions Bayern Munich. However this season Juve failed to make it past the group stages, and although they went on to qualify for the Europa League semi-finals they ultimately bowed out to Benfica, who will meet Sevilla this week in the final at Juventus's Turin stadium. Conte, who won the Champions League as a player in 1996, added: "I won it as a player and one day I want to win it as a coach. "But if you ask me if it's possible to do this with Juventus, I would say no." Conte, who held talks with Juve's key stakeholders last week, said the club "know what I think and they've had the time to mull over what I've said" about his request for reinforcements. However, he added he would be "ready to commit to another campaign if we have an exciting project with a strengthened team." Source: AFP