Conte grateful to 'one of the best' Pochettino

CHELSEA manager Antonio Conte has praised Mauricio Pochettino ahead of Saturday's Premier League encounter with Tottenham and feels the Argentine is one of the best around in the profession.

Conte paid Pochettino a visit when he was still in charge of Italy to discuss their football philosophies and to get an idea of what it is like to work in the Premier League.

And the former Juventus coach has fond memories of his meeting with the Spurs boss.

"My relationship with Pochettino is fantastic, it's good," Conte said at a news conference.

"I see him as one of the best managers around in the game and I am still grateful that he gave me the chance to visit their training ground and to speak with him. We discussed our ideas and philosophy. It was great.

"I spoke with him and his staff, we watched a video. We spoke a lot about football. I am always happy when I get the chance to speak with other managers about football.

"I visited their training ground, which is a good training ground. I did not speak to him before. I was surprised about his hospitality. It will be good to talk to him again before and after the game.

"I have a lot of respect for him and consider him to be a real good manager."