Top 10 players who have played under Antonio Conte
In the current decade, former Italy and Juventus legend - Antonio Conte has stamped his name as one of the best upcoming managers. He has earned a place between the likes of Ancelotti, Guardiola, and Mourinho as one of the best tacticians in the current age of football.
Antonio Conte rose to prominence as he masterminded the Bianconeri renaissance in Turin, thereafter moving to Chelsea and winning the league title with Chelsea FC.
The Italian remains one of the only five managers to win the Premier League in his first ever season in England. Considering the competition with the likes of Wenger, Guardiola, Mourinho, and Klopp, Conte came out as the ultimate best in England last year.
However, a manager always becomes great, courtesy of the players he works with. It's his duty to bring out the best in his players. In his two spells with Juventus and Chelsea, the Italian has had quite an amount of world-class talent at his disposal.
Here are ten of the best players who have worked with the Italian in his short yet incredibly successful managerial career.
#10: Diego Costa (Chelsea)
Brazilian-born Spanish striker Diego Costa made his name after banging in goals week in week out for Atletico Madrid, and Jose Mourinho was quick enough to snatch the talented forward in 2014.
Diego Costa was thought to be the perfect replacement for the mercurial Didier Drogba at Stamford Bridge. After proving himself under Mourinho, the striker was scoring goals for fun in Chelsea's title-winning 2016-17 campaign. He scored 22 goals in a total of 42 matches for Chelsea, becoming the spearhead of Conte's attack.
Diego Costa invited after being on a poor run of form that totally wrecked Chelsea under Jose Mourinho. However, the Spaniard found himself hitting form following Conte's appointment as the head coach. He improved his average goal tally to 0.57 from 0.43 in Chelsea's title-winning 2016-17 campaign. Also, Costa proved to be a major threat in set-pieces, scoring an average of 0.20 goals per game to his 0.07 tally in the season 2015-16.
Costa also emerged as Chelsea's top scorer with 20 goals as the Blues lifted the Premier League title. He also won a personal accolade for the Premier League Player of the Month in November 2016.
However, the relationship between Conte and Costa has totally gone down the drain this year, with the Spaniard warming Chelsea's benches after falling out with the manager. He will leave for former-club Atletico Madrid in January.
Although a healthy relationship would have benefited Chelsea a lot more this season, it is a point of debate as to whether Costa is, in fact, one of the best players to have played under Antonio Conte.