Partnopei edge ahead of Milan in chase for Conte

May 14, 2024Serie A

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.

An astonishing rant from a VERY unhappy Antonio Conte after Tottenham’s draw with Southampton ??pic.twitter.com/zn4JOtddqe

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) March 18, 2023

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.