Antonio Conte has insisted Chelsea would have to sack him if he was to leave this summer while doing little to disguise where the differences between himself and his club lay.

The countdown on Conte’s reign at Stamford Bridge started in earnest the moment he signed a new contract last summer without extending it. That deal has another year to run after this, but there is an expectation Conte and Chelsea will part at the end of this season.

Chelsea’s policy is to pay sacked managers until they get a new job, meaning Conte could earn around £9 million if he is dismissed and does not work for a year.

“Everything is possible,” said Conte, whose Chelsea team entertain Leicester City on Saturday. “But I have another year of contract and in this case I think the club has to decide to send me away. We are not talking about my work. The history of Chelsea is very clear. It is normal for the manager of the club to have this situation. If you won last season the League and reached the final of the FA Cup, this is the history of this club for the manager.”

Asked whether he might decide to walk away from Chelsea at the end of the season, Conte replied: “No. I am fully committed to Chelsea, to work with my players to try also to improve the club in the football aspect. I am fully committed in this and I am happy in what I am doing now and what I did in the past. But I am more happy in what I am doing now.”