Former Tottenham manager Antonio Conte has seemingly decided to take a longer break from football after deciding not to take the Napoli job, according to Fabrizio Romano in his exclusive column for the Daily Briefing.
The Italian tactician had some discussions over potentially replacing Rudi Garcia at Napoli, but it seems he’s not ready to return to management, while the Serie A giants are also looking set to continue with current manager Garcia for a few more games.
The Frenchman has not made the best start at Napoli, but Romano says it seems that Aurelio De Laurentiis is not particularly convinced by any of the candidates out there right now.
Conte would surely have been a strong candidate for Napoli after previously doing impressive work at Juventus and Inter Milan, as well as with Chelsea in the Premier League, even if his time at Spurs didn’t quite go to plan.
Romano has now named Marcelo Gallardo as someone he’d like to see at Napoli or another European club.
“There were talks yesterday between Antonio Conte and Napoli, but this potential deal has now collapsed after the two parties failed to reach an agreement,” Romano said.
“In the end it was just Conte’s personal decision. The former Tottenham manager doesn’t feel ready to return yet, he prefers to wait some more time before returning to coaching.
“There are other candidates to the job but at the moment no one is convincing the president, and so that’s why Rudi Garcia is still in the job and is expected to stay for three more games.
“From my personal point of view, I’d love to see Marcelo Gallardo in Europe, Napoli or any other club. He did hugely impressive work at River Plate and has been linked with some European jobs, but without anything concrete yet.”
Conte is yesterdays man why would any club want his toxic style of management. He wants a successful club and a big budget forget about bringing young players through.