Napoli: Can Antonio Conte And Aurelio De Laurentiis Coexist?
Buckle up, as fireworks are pending.
Antonio Conte is officially back in Serie A, three years after his departure from Inter. The former Juventus, Chelsea and Italy coach has taken the reins of Napoli, with the announcement coming yesterday after weeks of speculation. Conte has signed a three-year deal with the Partenopei, and immediately ingratiated himself to the Napoletani by declaring he would ‘give the maximum’ to the club cause.
“Antonio is a top coach, a leader,” said the Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis. Of that there’s little doubt, Conte has won more Serie A titles than all of the current coaches in Serie A combined, but it’s not just winning that Conte brings, but an insatiable demand.
As fiery a coach as one can find anywhere, Conte isn’t afraid to go public with his grievances. He did it at Juve, Chelsea, Inter and Tottenham when he felt it was needed for. A decade ago, he resigned from Juve three days into pre-season training after the club lost out on the signing of winger Juan Iturbe to Roma. He rallied against fixture congestion in England when at Chelsea; bemoaned a lack of funds while at Inter and went on an astonishing rant about his ’selfish’ players at Spurs and the club’s history of winning little.
In short, hiring Conte doesn’t come without its risks.
How Conte and De Laurentiis — two men who could start a fight in an empty room even at the best of times — will get along remains to be seen. De Laurentiis is as every bit the tempestuous character Conte is, yet after a horrendous season in which Napoli produced one of the worst title defences in Serie A history, De Laurentiis knows he needs to let Conte have his way.
Conte wouldn’t have likely taken the job without receiving a list of assurances beforehand. One of them was no doubt keeping Georgian star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, with Victor Osimhen out the door the moment someone makes a suitable offer it’s vital Napoli keep hold of Kvaratskhelia. Other stalwarts of the title-winning season: Stanislav Lobotka, Franck-Zambo Anguissa, Amir Rrahmani and Matteo Politano are all likely to remain. The same applies to Giacomo Raspadori and Mario Rui, unless very good offers arrive for the pair.
Read the full article by Emmet Gates on Forbes SportsMoney