Antonio Conte has been away from Italy for over a year now, but at times it feels like he never left. In part, that's because of how closely his work at Chelsea is followed back home. There were times last season when Chelsea games drew higher audience figures than some Serie A matches on Sky Italia.
Maybe it was the job Conte did with Italy at Euro 2016? Maybe it's because he is no longer stopping other teams winning the Scudetto. But appreciation for Conte extends far beyond the cult hero personality he established among Juventus fans.
The mark he left was so profound it's rare to have a conversation about football in Italy without mentioning Conte. Look at the title race at the moment: Napoli won their first eight games of the season and look unstoppable. But that's what they said about Rudi Garcia's Roma who set a record to win their first 10 in 2013, only for Conte's Juventus to overtake them and become the first team to break the 100 point barrier.
Inter Milan are still unbeaten and finally look like they're back after six years in the wilderness. A lot was expected of new manager Luciano Spalletti because of what he achieved at Roma but everyone knows he wasn't Inter's first choice. That was Conte.
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