There was no personal or public explanation and no sign of a thank you in Chelsea’s abrupt 61-word statement that accompanied Antonio Conte’s exit, but, more than two years on, the man himself insists he feels no bitterness.

There is, however, a nagging sense of what might have been if Chelsea had managed to secure the two signings Conte wanted above all others after he had become just the fourth manager in history to win the Premier League title at the end of his first season in England.

“I asked for two players and we were very, very close after we won the league,” Conte said, speaking to Telegraph Sport via Zoom from the training base of his latest club, Inter Milan. “One player was Romelu Lukaku, the second player was Virgil van Dijk, and these two players were very, very close. We were in contact every day and I always said that with these two players we would improve my team by 30 per cent.

“I think maybe we lost the momentum to bring Chelsea at the very top and then to stay for many years. It was a pity that it didn’t happen and Romelu is showing with Inter that my idea was right and also Van Dijk has shown with Liverpool that my idea was right for the club.”

Lukaku has certainly blossomed at Inter under Conte, who believes the striker would have suffered none of the disappointment he faced at Manchester United if the pair had worked together at Chelsea.

“For sure, it would have been a different story if I was the coach of Romelu,” said Conte. “Romelu is an incredible player and he has a lot of space for improvement. In one year at Inter, he had a lot of improvement because he wants to learn and I think I am a teacher. But he can continue to improve to become one of the best strikers in the world.”

'We know the truth - Costa asked to leave many times'

Conte’s two-year Chelsea reign and the nature of his departure was one of the most spectacular in Premier League history. He came, he saw, he conquered and he got sacked, despite following up his title success by winning the FA Cup in what proved to be his final season.

Other than the 61-word statement, both Chelsea and Conte have remained silent on their divorce until now. But the 51-year-old has opened up to Telegraph Sport on the transfer hits and misses, joining an exclusive title-winning club, his relationship with owner Roman Abramovich, how he hopes to one day return to England and the infamous Diego Costa saga.

Conte’s preparations for his second season in charge were badly disrupted by Costa effectively using a text message as an excuse to force a move away, which in many ways pre-empted the storm that was to follow.

The striker had scored 20 goals in Chelsea’s Premier League success, but had agitated for moves to Atletico Madrid and China, before seizing on a text message in which Costa claimed Conte informed him he was no longer part of his plans.

Conte stands by his management of the situation and was conciliatory towards Costa. “First of all, I am a person that doesn’t want to speak badly about a situation with a player from a club that I trained,” he said. “It’s right always to keep good memories and I prefer to keep good memories also about Diego Costa because we won together a league title in an incredible season.

“But, for sure, the truth, we know the truth. The player, his agent, the club and I. We know how many times he asked to go away to Atletico Madrid at the start of the season, during the season to go to China, and at the end of the season to join, again, Atletico Madrid.

“This is the truth and, honestly, in my career I want to have players who are concentrated on my team and not to consider my team a second choice. My team must be the first choice.

“It was an incredible season and I managed, together with the club, the Diego Costa situation in the best possible way. But, in the end, the truth was only that the player wanted to leave many times to Atletico Madrid and during the season to go to China because he wanted the best contract.”

'I'm happy that I left a legacy'

Conte is fully committed to his latest project at Inter - this is a manager who cannot help but immerse himself in his work - and he hopes to stay at the club for a long time, but his return to Italy has not diminished his passion for English football and the Chelsea fans who fell in love with the whirling dervish on the Stamford Bridge touchline.

Conte’s English, which he maintains by watching films and television programmes with subtitles, remains good and he smiled broadly as he reminisced about his time in the Premier League.

“Stamford Bridge will always have a place in my heart,” said Conte. “For sure. Because it was two years that I lived with a great intensity and I felt from the first day that the fans were with me in every moment.”

It is sometimes easy to forget the scale of Conte's achievement in that first year at Chelsea. Only one manager - Jose Mourinho, in his first spell at the club - has accrued more points in a debut season in the Premier League, while only three other managers - Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Manuel Pellegrini - have won the title in their first seasons in England.

Conte is particularly proud of the fact he did it on the back of what had been a chaotic season for the club and with only three new signings.

“To win in my first season with Chelsea was incredible because, if you remember very well, the year before Chelsea ended 10th in the table and, if you also remember, our transfer market wasn’t an important transfer market,” he said. “I remember I wanted N’Golo Kante and he was an incredible buy for us. Then we bought Marcos Alonso and at the time he played with Fiorentina and not all the people in the club were 100 per cent on my side in this buy. And then we bought David Luiz, who had problems in Chelsea.

“So we didn’t have an important transfer market, but in that season we won the title and played the final of the FA Cup against Arsenal. I think that period was an incredible success for me, for the players and for the club.”

It was after successive Premier League defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal that Conte made the formation change that has left a lasting mark on English football, both at club and international level. Gareth Southgate is now a devotee of the three-at-the-back system, as are several Premier League managers.

“I’m happy that I left a legacy," he said. “I think football is always an evolution and it’s important for the coach to be ready to find new solutions and to see other coaches, and if they have a new idea to rob them!

“I am happy because to play three at the back before I arrived in England, it was not a problem but I remember very well when Louis van Gaal tried it with Manchester United, there was a lot of criticism of him.”

'Mr Abramovich wanted to know all about our preparation'

Conte was eventually awarded a significant pay-out for unfair dismissal after being sacked in July 2018, shortly after returning for pre-season training. But, despite the timing of his departure and Chelsea’s curt statement, he remains grateful for his time at Stamford Bridge and was generous in his praise for Abramovich.

“It’s always very difficult when there is a stop between the club and the coach,” said Conte. “I think never, never the club try to explain the decision. But in our job we must accept this type of situation.

“To be the coach of Chelsea is not simple. You must live with great pressure, especially from the outside, but it was a pity to stop my coaching after only two seasons because I created a real link with the fans and with the players.

“Sometimes, you can agree because the results are negative and sometimes, you don’t understand why. But I think you must accept and I keep good memories with Chelsea, the club, with Mr Abramovich, who is a very passionate man for his football. It was incredible, especially in my first season, because he was very, very close to me, asking about my football and my ideas.

“Many times he came to the training ground to meet me and I remember he wanted to watch the video about our game and about our preparation - the way we wanted to face the opponent. I think in my career, he was one of the most passionate men about football and I keep good memories about him and about the club, an important club in the world.”

'The expectations on myself are very high'

Conte guided Inter to second place in the Serie A table and to the final of the Europa League last season, and believes he is laying a foundation that will eventually allow the club to be consistently successful again.

Like many clubs that finished last season late because of advancing in European competition, Inter have experienced difficulties at the start of this campaign with Conte’s preparation for games also impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Honestly, last season I think we did something incredible,” said Conte. “Because to finish one point behind Juventus, play the semi-final of the Italian Cup and then to play the final in the Europa League, I think it was a great season.

“Our project is only at the start and we are creating the base, the foundation, to give this club the possibility to stay at the maximum level and be competitive to try to win something during every season.”

Having won titles at Juventus and Chelsea, Conte acknowledges there is an expectation from outside for him to quickly do so at Inter but he stresses the circumstances are different.

“I know the expectations on myself are very high and, for this reason, many times when you don't win there is a lot of criticism of myself,” said Conte. “But, on the other hand, to have this expectation it means the people consider me to be good at my job.

“It’s important to create a solid foundation and to be prepared, and then to win. Sometimes you arrive and you can do an incredible job. It happened with Juventus and it happened also with Chelsea. But in Inter Milan, I arrived 10 years after the club had won and when you don’t win for 10 years, it means you have to change many, many things and you need to have time to do this.”

'My family and I want another experience in England'

Conte believes Chelsea have tried to put themselves in a position to start winning the top prizes again and he has been impressed by the work of head coach Frank Lampard.

“I think that the club wants to come back to win,” said Conte. “I think, honestly, now in this moment Chelsea is a really good team, a strong team, a large squad to face many, many competitions. They worked very well and in this moment they have many, many players.

“I remember when I arrived at Chelsea and the situation wasn’t this. Because I remember in my first season, we faced the season with only 16 players. But, in this year, the club worked very well. I know they are doing a really good job because I continue to follow Chelsea. I am a fan.

“Lampard is, for sure, doing a good job and he knows very well the club because he’s a legend for Chelsea. I think it was the same when I started with Juventus because I knew very well the club and the way that you had to follow to reach your target. Lampard is the right coach for Chelsea.”

Having felt he did not get the chance to properly build on what he achieved during his first year at Chelsea, Conte believes he has unfinished business to attend to in England - but only once his time at Inter has run its course.

“I have this season and another year of my contract at Inter and I started a project here, and, honestly, I want to continue this project and stay for many years because we are building the bases,” said Conte.

“But, for sure, in my future, I want to come back to England to have another experience because I enjoyed my stay there a lot and to breathe the atmosphere in England. For me, for my family, I’d like to one day come back to England because we lived an incredible experience and we want to continue to have another experience in England.”