It’s been a while since we’ve seen Antonio Conte sat on the bench at any football club, however, it appears that that 54-year-old Italian is back in vogue – at least in his home country.
His famous meltdown/rant, call it what you will, whilst in charge at Tottenham Hotspur, will go down in Premier League folklore in the same way that Kevin Keegan’s ‘love it’ post-match interview for Newcastle back in the 1990s still does the rounds today.
What that showed of course is that Conte had lost none of the passion that made him a hugely successful player and manager in Serie A.
He has exacting standards and woe betide any player or member of staff that doesn’t live up to them.
That sort of fight and spirit hasn’t been on display during 2023/24 at Napoli and might go some way to explaining why the Partnopei appear desperate to land Conte as their manager for next season.
Napoli want Antonio Conte
According to Il Mattino (subscription required), Napoli have edged ahead of AC Milan in the race to land Conte.
It’s perfectly understandable as to why last season’s Serie A champions would want someone with Conte’s experience on the bench.
Despite being crowned as Scudetto winners 12 months ago, the club are currently down in ninth place and a cavernous 41 points behind this season’s champions Inter Milan.
By any standards that is an incredible fall from grace.
A strong hand will be required to get the club back to where they need to be, particularly if they are to lose front man, Victor Osimhen, this summer.
Conte has had long enough out of the game now to be able to be selective about his next project.
The Partnopei would represent an exciting challenge and it remains to be seen if Conte is up for it or not.