Napoli coach Antonio Conte could be interested in the role of Italy coach, which has been vacant since the departure of Gennaro Gattuso, and the club’s president appears willing to let him take over.
“It’s normal for my name to appear on the list of candidates for the national team. If I were president of the federation, my name would be being considered,” declared the Italian coach in an interview with journalists on Monday night (6), after Napoli’s 1-0 victory over Milan.
“I’ve been on the Nazionale bench (from 2014 to 2016), I know how it works,” he added.
The former Juventus, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Tottenham coach warned that he has a contract with Napoli until June 2027: “I will meet with the president at the end of the season and we will see what happens.”
Crowned Italian champion last May in his first season at Napoli, Conte, 56, came close to leaving the Neapolitan club during the summer break due to disagreements with the president over signings.
Aurelio De Laurentiis, who also owns the club, told sports website Calcionapoli24 on Tuesday (7) that “if Conte asked me to be released so he could go back to being coach of the national team, I think I would say yes.”
“But as he is very intelligent, until there is a serious interlocutor — and so far there isn’t — I don’t think he will imagine himself at the head of a completely disorganized entity,” he added in reference to the absence of a president of the federation following the resignation of Gabriele Gravina, following Italy’s failure to qualify for the World Cup in North America.
The Italian press presents Conte as the man to revive the Azzurri, who, defeated by Bosnia-Herzegovina (1-1 after extra time, 4-1 on penalties), have just failed for the third consecutive time in the play-offs to qualify for the World Cup.
Another name mentioned is Massimiliano Allegri, current Milan coach.
The appointment of the team’s next coach, the fourth since June 2023, will not take place before the end of June, as the Italian federation will only elect Gravina’s successor on the 22nd of that month, during an extraordinary assembly in Rome.
