Antonio Conte is never one to sit still. He's hinting at a Napoli exit and a return to the Italy job
ROME (AP) — Win and then move on to the next challenge. Antonio Conte never seems to stay too long in one place and now the fiery coach appears ready to leave Napoli less than a year after guiding the southern club to its fourth Serie A title . Conte is openly campaigning for the vacant Italy job after the Azzurri failed to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup .
Such a move would mark a return for Conte, who already coached Italy at the European Championship a decade ago. “If I were the federation president I would consider myself,” Conte said after Napoli’s 1-0 victory over AC Milan on Monday. “I’ve already been with the national team and I know what it’s like.
” Currently, though, the Italian soccer federation has only a lame duck president after Gabriele Gravina announced that he is resigning, with new elections called for June 22. Gennaro Gattuso , who coached Italy in the World Cup qualifying playoff loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina, also resigned. In the meantime, Conte can focus on Napoli’s late-season surge after leapfrogging Milan into second place with a visit to Parma coming up on Sunday.
Still, Napoli trails Italian league leader Inter Milan by seven points with seven rounds remaining and Conte is not expecting another title. “It’s not a question of believing or not; it’s about being realistic,” Conte said. “We would have to be perfect and Inter would have to make several missteps.
And from what we’ve seen, that seems unlikely because Inter is strong. ” If Conte does leave Napoli, it would follow similar exits immediately after or soon after titles at Bari (he left immediately after a Serie B title in 2009), Juventus (he left immediately after winning a third straight Serie A title in 2014), Chelsea (he left immediately after winning the FA Cup in 2018 and a year after a Premier League title) and Inter (he left immediately after a Serie A title in 2021). Key matchups Inter visits neighboring Como on Sunday for its shortest trip of the season.