Antonio Conte’s recent interview where he let it be known that he didn’t want his Chelsea staff to celebrate finishing in fourth place indicates his winning mentality, and the game has been much the poorer without him in it.
The Italian is an acquired taste for some, but there’s no doubting his credentials. Whether or not his rant whilst at Tottenham was advisable, he didn’t say anything that most football supporters haven’t thought for many years.
It isn’t clear if his words on his time at Chelsea were designed to bring him back into the public consciousness after some time spent out of the limelight, however, it does seem to be the right time for him to return.
“Antonio Conte has appeared in the media again, to remind everyone that he’s still a winner,” Fabrizio Romano said in his exclusive Daily Briefing for CaughtOffside.
“He was of course referring to his time with Chelsea in his recent interview, and the time now seems right for him to get back into football management after his sabbatical.
“Although there have been rumours in the Italian press regarding a possible move by Napoli president, Aurelio de Laurentiis, to hire Conte from next season, I’ve nothing confirmed on this one honestly.
“Conte said no to Napoli in October and I’m not aware of fresh contacts at this stage.”
There’s plenty of time before the start of next season for Conte to land a role somewhere, likely back in Serie A.
However, given that he will want to bed down what sort of project he’s coming into, how much money he will have to spend, which of his preferred backroom staff he can bring etc., discussions with interested parties really need to begin now.
From what we see of the Italian, he’s a straight talker, perhaps to his detriment sometimes, but everyone knows where they stand with him.
He doesn’t suffer fools gladly and isn’t a time waster, so if there’s definitely no interest in a move to Napoli on either side, he’ll quickly look elsewhere for a new project.