Chelsea talks with Antonio Conte led by Roman Abramovich’s right-hand woman Marina Granovskaia

Chelsea have held talks with Antonio Conte’s representatives in London
Roman Abramovich’s right-hand woman, Marina Granovskaia led meetings
Conte, 46, wants a three-year contract worth £6million a season
An agreement is expected to be approved and signed in principle in March
Potential Chelsea signings were discussed on Thursday and Conte could be allowed to spend £150m

Published:
22:37 GMT, 26 February 2016

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Updated:
08:41 GMT, 27 February 2016

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Chelsea have held talks with Antonio Conte’s representatives in London over the past 48 hours, with the meetings led by Roman Abramovich’s right-hand woman, Marina Granovskaia.

The Russian, who has worked as a senior adviser to Chelsea’s owner for 18 years, is leading the search for Jose Mourinho’s replacement.She was instrumental in the return of Mourinho as manager in June 2013 and also handles transfer negotiations.

Conte, 46, wants a three-year contract worth £6million a season, which the club are willing to pay. He is the favourite to take over ahead of Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri and Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone.

Antonio Conte’s representatives have been in London to discuss the details for his proposed move

Marina Granovskaia is Roman Abramovich’s right-hand woman and led the meetings

Talks have progressed well between Conte and Chelsea, and an agreement is expected to be approved and signed in principle next month.

Potential Chelsea signings were discussed on Thursday and Conte could be allowed to spend £150m. Despite that vast kitty, however, Chelsea are keen to make sure their next manager takes an interest in youth development, which the Italian is willing to do.

Reports in Conte’s homeland suggested he wants to bring his former Juventus backroom team to Chelsea. That includes assistant manager Angelo Alessio, fitness guru Paolo Bertelli and coach Mauro Sandreani.

He will also go for Massimo Carrera, who stepped in as caretaker at Juventus in 2012 when Conte was banned for 10 months in relation to a match-fixing investigation.

Conte seen with Paul Pogba at Juventus wants a three-year contract worth £6million with the Blues

Conte wants to bring his assistant manager Angelo Alessio to the Premier League with him

ANTONIO CONTE TEAMS MANAGED

2006: Arezzo

2007: Arezzo

2007–2009: Bari

2009–2010: Atalanta

2010–2011: Siena

2011–2014: Juventus

2014–: Italy

Conte will confirm to the Italian football federation at a meeting ahead of Euro 2016 in June that he plans to step down as national team boss.

They are aware that he wants to return to club management when his contract expires at the end of this summer’s tournament.

Sportsmail has been told that July 14 and 15 have been earmarked as dates for Conte’s unveiling by Chelsea — the week after the Euro 2016 final in Paris.

Granovskaia, 39, tries to keep a low profile despite being a trusted aide to Abramovich.

Fitness coach Paolo Bertelli (left) is part of the Italian backroom staff and is wanted by Conte

Coach Mauro Sandreani is also one of the coaches wanted by Conte to follow him to west London

Massimo Carrera (right) stepped in for Conte at Juve during his ban during a match-fixing scandal

WHO IS MARINA GRANOVSKAIA?

Born in Russia, Marina Granovskaia is a graduate of Moscow State University.

She began working for Sibneft, the oil company once owned by Roman Abramovich, in 1997.

The duo are close. Granovskaia has worked as a senior advisor for the past 18 years.

She followed Abramovich to ondon soon after he bought chelsea in 2003, and has worked as Abramovich’s representative since 2010.

After joining the board three years later, she has added player transactions to her remit.

The billionaire owner met Conte in Monaco earlier this month, with the meeting brokered by agent Federico Pastorello.

Abramovich needed convincing to hire an Italian coach, having expressed doubts about the country’s notoriously defensive style, but he was talked round.

Juventus are prepared to offer Allegri a new deal to stay in Turin, while Simeone is committed to Atletico. The club are about to move into a 69,000-seat stadium and continue to compete with Barcelona and Real Madrid for the Spanish title, as well as in the Champions League.

Chelsea missed out on Pep Guardiola, who will take over at Manchester City this summer.