As reported by The Sun, Anonio Conte is about agreeing the termination with Chelsea of his contract. Last summer, Chelsea sacked Conte and agreed to a £9.5m pay-out before swiftly installing Maurizio Sarri as new chief at Stamford Bridge. Had Conte taken a job elsewhere this season, the Blues would have been entitled to that money back.

But with the Italian on the brink of taking the top job at the Bernabeu, both parties have agreed to call it even and move on, according to Sport Mediaset. The case remained pending at London court and is purely a legal matter. Instead the sports contract no longer exists: Antonio Conte is free from Chelsea. He can already sign with any club. And it is already in word with Real Madrid. Sunday's Clasico will be decisive: in the case of a negative result, for Florentino Perez the exoneration of Lopetegui and the call of the former Italian coach will be inevitable, as he has already put the men of his staff in early warning.

In the last hours Conte has won the resistance of the locker room: after the ok obtained by Sergio Ramos, also the one of Courtois, the goalkeeper with whom there was a stormy season finale at Chelsea, a few months ago. The outcome of Real-Barcelona on Sunday afternoon was therefore decisive.