Carlo Ancelotti has claimed that Antonio Conte has always had the right "kind of quality" needed to succeed in management.

The Chelsea boss, who played under the veteran Italian at Juventus between 2009 and 2011, has taken the Blues to the top of the Premier League after 20 games, a stark contrast from 12 months ago, when they were 14th in the table.

Bayern Munich boss Ancelotti told ESPN: "They'd had a bad season but now the players are motivated.

"The manager put a new idea of football and good chemistry and they were able to have a really good result. [They have] a lot of possibility to win the Premier League this year.

"I think that Conte had this kind of quality, also for his style of play. He was a really tactical player. He was intelligent on the pitch, really focused. He was the captain of Juventus at the time. I thought he could be a good manager at the time."

Conte's managerial career started in July 2006 as head coach of Serie B side Arezzo but he was sacked three months later following a series of disappointing results, although he was rehired the following year.