Conte Still at the Forefront of Napoli Coaching Search

2 weeks ago 13

Napoli are mulling a few coaches, but Antonio Conte remains the option should he accept the job, but it's not a done deal yet.

Napoli are mulling a few coaches, but Antonio Conte remains the main option should he accept the job. Despite some reports in that sense, he hasn’t decided yet, nor has he agreed to personal terms at this stage, Il Mattino informs.

Instead, the boss will meet with team president Aurelio De Laurentiis later this week. It could easily be a deciding rendezvous. The patron will see whether the gaffer is truly motivated to take over a team coming off a woeful season, that might not play in the cups and will need a host of reinforcements.

New Napoli director Giovanni Manna strong supports appointing Conte. Instead, the owner is wary that his transfer market requests might exceed their financial capabilities without the Champions League prize money.

According to Rai (via MSN), the contract of the manager wouldn’t be a big hurdle. The two parties could come to terms on a three-year deal with €6.5M/7M wages. De Laurentiis had made a similar proposal to Luis Enrique last summer. Stefano Pioli, Vincenzo Italiano, and Gian Piero Gasperini would gain steam if the former Juventus and Italy skipper refused.

Our Take on Conte and Napoli

The biggest factor working in the Azzurri’s favor is that other Italian teams don’t seem too interested in hiring him, especially Milan, which would be the best positioned to lure him. He’d easily take the Bianconeri job too, but they seem realistic about their prospects in the next couple of years.