New Chelsea manager Antonio Conte, has said he is "proud" to take the role at Stamford Bridge.

Italian revolution

​Last season was very poor compared to Chelsea's high standards, with the previous champions finishing in tenth.

It also brought another managerial carousel, with Jose Mourinho dismissed once again replaced by Guus Hiddink. Conte was then revealed as the new manager after leading Italy at Euro 2016, and he shared his delight at taking the role.

At his first press conference, Conte said: "I feel very emotional coming to Chelsea" and "feels incredible to be here". He recognised, "I have worked very hard to get here."

He continued, saying "the most important message is that I'm a worker" and "I like to work, and I know only this road to win"  for this "club to compete and to get back into the Champions League, to get back to winning the title". He knows "only this verb: work, work, work" but is "very happy with this".

Above: John Terry in action in Antonio Conte's first training session as Chelsea manager | Photo: Sky Sports
Above: John Terry in action in Antonio Conte's first training session as Chelsea manager | Photo: Sky Sports

Staying on as captain

Conte hasn't been at Chelsea long, but it seems to have made his biggest call to date, confirming John Terry will remain as captain.

There was a huge mystery surrounding Terry's future throughput the majority of last season, but Conte decided to hand him a new contract and still believes he is the right man to have the armband.

Conte said "he is captain of this team, and a great player with a great personality and charisma" and likes to "speak with him because he knows the club and the right spirit to play in this club".

He concluded: "He is John Terry, he is the captain of Chelsea and, when he plays or when he doesn't play, he is always the captain."

Chelsea will take on Rapid Vienna at the Allianz Stadion on Friday, July 16 with kick-off at 5pm BST.

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About the author
Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.