The Italian team is eager to secure the renowned manager, aiming to assemble a solid, competitive team to fight once again for the Serie A title. Antonio Conte, the Italian manager, has been jobless since parting ways with Tottenham in the latter half of the 2022-23 Premier League season.
“According to Rai Sport’s transfer specialist Ciro Venerato on Friday evening’s edition of TG Sport, Conte is now ‘ready’ to sign for Napoli, and Italian Rai outlets reported that Friday’s report detailed that Napoli has reached an agreement with Antonio Conte over a three-year deal”, said Onefootball.
The Negotiation Between Napoli & Conte
In 2023, Napoli completed an impressive season that saw them as the Serie A champions in a thrilling way, securing the title five dates in advance. However, their latest performance in the Serie A was far from expected, as French manager Rudi Garcia and Italian Walter Mazzarri never managed to turn the team around.
“Napoli, who have already had three different coaches this season: Rudi Garcia, Walter Mazzarri, and now Francesco Calzona, had also been evaluating moves for either Vincenzo Italiano or Stefano Pioli, but Conte remained the first choice, even if he has made them wait”, assured OneFootball.
OneFootball also stated that “economic details have reportedly also been agreed upon, although the specifics have not yet been disclosed. But, according to OneFootball outlets, including Calcionapoli24”, the figures could be €6.5m per season.
Napoli’s chairman, Aurelio De Laurentiis, said earlier this week that the next ten days would be decisive. Nonetheless, multiple reports claim the Italian tactician already has an agreement in principle over an €8m-a-year deal until 2027, while the latest report from Italian newspaper Il Mattino claims Napoli will invest €60m gross in three years in the Italian tactician.
According to Il Mattino, “Antonio Conte has demanded a clause that allows him to leave Napoli at the end of every season, while Aurelio De Laurentiis will make €230m available for the summer transfer window”. In fact, According to the report, Conte has been promised a €230m transfer budget, which probably includes the €130m Napoli plans to get from Victor Osimhen’s sale.
Conte’s staff would include Christian Stellini, the coach’s brother Gianluca, and former Italian striker Elvis Abbruscato, who played under Conte at Arezzo. Anyway, Conte had reportedly been waiting to evaluate all the offers that had come or might have come his way over the last few months.
For now, the big target is Antonio Conte, coach of the Nazionale (Italian national team) and champion in Italy with Bari (from Serie B), Juventus, and Inter, who last wore the manager sweatshirt when he left Tottenham in England.
Napoli’s Latest Performance in the 24/25 Season
They rounded off a disappointing performance in the local tournament by finishing in ninth place with 53 units, 41 from Serie A champion Inter, and out of the positions that provide tickets to international competitions. To make matters worse, they were eliminated from the round of 16 of the Copa Italia by losing 4-0 to Frosinone. Also, they bid farewell in the last 16 of the Champions League against Barcelona.
The southern Italian club began the year with Rudi García as a replacement for Luciano Spalletti, who went to the Italian National Team. Then came Walter Mazzarri, and the tournament ended with Francesco Calzona on the bench, but Aurelio De Laurentiis wants to fight again at the top, so, besides the historic manager Conte, he will seek strong movements in the transfer market.
In this scenario, the Napoli management, with President De Laurentiis and the new Sports Director Giovanni Manna at the helm, seeks to close the arrival of Conte as soon as possible.
Possible Transfers and Future Napoli’s Team
As a result of this imminent arrival, the Italian media delved into the team that the new manager would have in mind, highlighting the possible signings of two figures from the Argentina national team: defender Lucas Martínez Quarta and attacker Paulo Dybala. The Jewel was the big and surprising absence on Lionel Scaloni’s list.
Defense
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Napoli plans to bet on a 3-5-2 scheme, so they will have to reformulate the defense. Amir Rrahmani would be the last man, but two new faces would be added to his side. For the left wing, they want to add Feyenoord’s David Hancko from the Netherlands. On the other hand, there is the old desire of the Azzurri, Argentine Lucas ‘Chino’ Martínez Quarta.
The center-back, who emerged from River Plate, is a key piece for Fiorentina, where he has eight goals and one assist in 40 appearances. The 27-year-old ‘Chino’ has a contract with the Florentines until mid-2025. He will try to lift the Conference League with Fiorentina before joining the training sessions of the Argentina National Team before the Copa América.
Midfield and Offence
After his good run in Hellas Verona, Michael Folorunsho could earn a place in midfield, and they would bet on adding the young Dane from Lecce, Patrick Dorgu, to the left wing.
One of the great desires for the offense is to add Paulo Dybala. He is doing great in Roma, but his release clause (only 12 million euros) makes him attractive to several of the main teams in Europe, like Chelsea of England or Atlético de Madrid. Napoli, of course, is no exception, but from an economic point of view, it remains to be seen how far Napoli can go with the proposal.
Despite some muscle injuries, ‘La Joya’ managed to show all his talent on the field by contributing 16 goals and 10 assists in 39 games with the Loba. Will he stay in Italy’s capital? Will he move to Naples? Will his future be in the Premier League or another European league? For now, what awaits Dybala is part of the uncertainty.
Although the Argentine Gio Simeone is in the squad, the future coach would like to have the Belgian Romelu Lukaku again, who shone under his command with the Inter shirt. They will also try to retain Georgian Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, another player with several interested parties, like Barcelona.
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