But having outperformed Guardiola and Co, and standing on the brink of a fourth successive league title in club management – the last three of which were with Juventus – Conte believes Abramovich has the perfect chance to prove just how highly he and Chelsea rate him. It is likely to be an expensive summer for Abramovich, who will also have to promise significant transfer funds to keep Conte and offer Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois lucrative new contracts to ignore interest from Real Madrid. “The money is important only at this level to give the real value of a player or the coach,” said Conte. “If you show you deserve it, you have earned the money. I think this. “When you stay at this level, the money only explains to you your value. It tells you your value. Money is not the most important thing, but money is important to understand the real value of a person. “I have a contract for another two years with Chelsea. It is logical when you start the work in a new club, the will is to continue to work for many years. For sure this is my will. But also I like to repeat in this moment, for me and my players, the important thing is to be focused on the moment. “The moment is very important. It's not important for the single person - me, or the future for the players. Now we must be focused on the next few games and try to reach this fantastic target. “It's normal to have a lot of speculation around my players and the coaches, different coaches, so it's important not to lose the concentration and be focused. The moment is fantastic for us and I want to transfer this message.” At this particular moment, Conte’s stock could not be higher. He has won 110 of his last 149 league games in club management and has inspired the remarkable turnaround that has seen Chelsea rise from last season’s chaotic 10th place to the verge of securing the title. He knows that with success comes money and is clear that winning must always be the priority for him and his players. “For me, the most important thing now is to win,” said Conte. “It's the most important thing for me and the players, to write the history of this club. Then the future is important.” Conte’s players will testify to the fact that they have been made to suffer on their run towards the title and the Italian has warned that the hard work on the training ground will not stop next season. Asked if it would be possible to win the title without suffering, Conte replied: “No. It's impossible. “When you work very hard, it's normal to suffer. I've never seen a player who, during hard work, doesn't suffer. I think that when you suffer you become stronger and then you are ready to face every situation, above all problematic situations during games. “Next season will be different because we have to play in another competition (the Champions League). But it doesn't matter because you must find, always, the right time to work. Because if someone thinks that we have to play every three days next season and we don't have to work, then it's a great mistake.” Should Chelsea win at the Hawthorns, then attention will quickly turn to whether or not Conte can repeat his success at Chelsea – assuming Abramovich pays up and keeps him. “It's very difficult to say,” said Conte. “First of all I want to win the first one. I want to repeat this because if the trophy is not in the hands of our captain, I don't want to say something that has yet to happen. “But, for sure, we started a great job this season. If you ask me, honestly, do you believe you’d fight to win the title in the first season, it's very difficult to answer because we are building. “We are building good foundations for this team, for the club and I like to repeat there is a moment for the club, a transitional moment because when you lose players who wrote the history of this club... Ivanovic, Mikel, John Terry, also Oscar, and didn't replace them, it means we must build good foundations. To do this, you need time.”
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