[Simon]

Real Madrid contacted Antonio Conte to become their new head coach, but he told them he intends to respect his contract with Chelsea, according to Sky Sport Italia.

The current European champions were keen on bringing the former Italy boss to the Santiago Bernabeu, and spoke to him about taking over from Zinedine Zidane, who resigned from the job days after winning a third successive Champions League title.

However, Conte turned them down for a number of reasons.

First, is that he intends to respect his contract with Chelsea.

Also, if Blues owner, Roman Abramovich is to fire him, they will need to give him €10m as pay-off.

Thirdly, Conte is said to be concerned about the work ethics of the Real Madrid squad and their focus on star names, as those would not suit his style.