ANTONIO CONTE has left his position as Inter Milan coach, the club announced Wednesday. The move comes three weeks after Conte led the club to the Serie A title.

“FC Internazionale Milano can confirm that an agreement has been reached with Antonio Conte for the termination of his contract by mutual consent. The club would like to thank Antonio for the extraordinary work that he has done, culminating in Inter’s 19th top-flight title. Antonio Conte will forever remain a part of our club’s history,” the club said in a statement.

Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport suggested the move was in part due to the club’s need to cut operating costs amid the coronavirus pandemic. The newspaper claimed Inter wanted to cut salary costs by 15-20 percent and player departures would be necessary, with Conte not keen to work with a “downsized” project.

Former Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri and current Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi have been named in Italian media as potential successors.

Inter made the high-profile signings of players like Romelu Lukaku, Christian Eriksen and Achraf Hakimi during Conte’s tenure and their arrivals spurred the club to great success.

“We had many moments to work together but only God knows why it never happened earlier. You came at the right time and basically changed me as a player and made me even stronger mentally and more importantly we won together,” Lukaku wrote on Instagram.

Inter was also part of a group of 12 clubs that had planned to launch a breakaway European Super League, before backing out.

Conte joined Inter in 2019 and steered the club to second in Serie A behind champion Juventus in his first season at the club, as well as losing the Europa League final to Sevilla FC. This season, he masterminded the club’s first Serie A title success in 11 years, and 19th overall, breaking Juve’s nine-year stranglehold on the trophy.

(SD-Agencies)