<p class="title">Inter Milan on Friday announced the appointment of former Italy manager Antonio Conte as a coach with the ambition of returning to the top of world football.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 49-year-old has signed a three-year contract worth nine million euros ($10 million) plus bonuses, according to press reports.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He replaces Luciano Spalletti who secured Chinese-owned Inter's Champions League berth for a second consecutive year on the final day of the Serie A season last Sunday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">With the 18-time Serie A champions searching for a first trophy since the Coppa Italia in 2011, Conte boasts a powerful pedigree.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He won the first three of Juventus' eight straight Serie A titles and the Premier League and FA Cup as Chelsea boss.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"A new chapter is opening in my life," Conte said. "I can't wait. I have chosen Inter because of the club it is, for its plans and ambition."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Inter chairman Steve Wang added: "I am sure Antonio Conte is one of the best coaches.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I am sure he will help us to reach our target to make this club one of the best in the world again."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Conte had also been linked with a return to champions Juventus after his successor in Turin Massimiliano Allegri was removed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Spalletti took over at Inter in mid-2017 having previously coached Zenit Saint Petersburg and Roma.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But it proved a season of highs and lows with the club eliminated at the group stage of the Champions League in which they were drawn with Barcelona and Tottenham.</p>.<p class="bodytext">They fell in the last 16 of the Europa League.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Inter snatched fourth place, equal on points with Atalanta, but behind the side from Bergamo on head-to-head difference, to edge city rivals AC Milan by just one point in the race for elite European football.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Inter announced Spalletti's departure on Thursday with Zhang paying tribute to the 60-year-old who paid for failing to lift any silverware.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"A coach, a teacher, a friend," Zhang wrote on Instagram with a photo of himself alongside Spalletti.</p>
<p class="title">Inter Milan on Friday announced the appointment of former Italy manager Antonio Conte as a coach with the ambition of returning to the top of world football.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 49-year-old has signed a three-year contract worth nine million euros ($10 million) plus bonuses, according to press reports.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He replaces Luciano Spalletti who secured Chinese-owned Inter's Champions League berth for a second consecutive year on the final day of the Serie A season last Sunday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">With the 18-time Serie A champions searching for a first trophy since the Coppa Italia in 2011, Conte boasts a powerful pedigree.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He won the first three of Juventus' eight straight Serie A titles and the Premier League and FA Cup as Chelsea boss.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"A new chapter is opening in my life," Conte said. "I can't wait. I have chosen Inter because of the club it is, for its plans and ambition."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Inter chairman Steve Wang added: "I am sure Antonio Conte is one of the best coaches.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I am sure he will help us to reach our target to make this club one of the best in the world again."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Conte had also been linked with a return to champions Juventus after his successor in Turin Massimiliano Allegri was removed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Spalletti took over at Inter in mid-2017 having previously coached Zenit Saint Petersburg and Roma.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But it proved a season of highs and lows with the club eliminated at the group stage of the Champions League in which they were drawn with Barcelona and Tottenham.</p>.<p class="bodytext">They fell in the last 16 of the Europa League.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Inter snatched fourth place, equal on points with Atalanta, but behind the side from Bergamo on head-to-head difference, to edge city rivals AC Milan by just one point in the race for elite European football.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Inter announced Spalletti's departure on Thursday with Zhang paying tribute to the 60-year-old who paid for failing to lift any silverware.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"A coach, a teacher, a friend," Zhang wrote on Instagram with a photo of himself alongside Spalletti.</p>