FORMER CHELSEA AND Tottenham coach Antonio Conte was hired by Napoli on Wednesday as the deposed Serie A champions try to bounce back from their disastrous league title defence.
“Welcome Antonio,” the club’s president and owner Aurelio De Laurentiis wrote on X, formerly Twitter, accompanied by a photograph of Conte signing his contract.
Conte, who has also coached Juventus and Inter Milan, has signed a three-year deal which according to Italian media is worth €8 million per season.
He is the fifth Napoli coach of the last year in a chaotic period for the club which in the 2022-2023 season won their first Serie A title since 1990, when Diego Maradona was still strutting his stuff.
But the coach who won the title, Luciano Spalletti, left last summer and southern Italy’s biggest club went through three managers on their way to a dismal 10th-place finish this season.
Napoli ended the season 41 points behind new champions Inter as Rudi Garcia, Walter Mazzarri and Francesco Calzona all failed to live up to Spalletti’s historic title win.
Spalletti is now in charge of the Italian national team.
Conte has been charged with taking Napoli back up the table, and has a pedigree which will give fans hope of a quick turnaround in fortunes.
The 54-year-old has won four Serie A titles, three with Juve and one with Inter in 2021, and was also a Premier League winner with Chelsea in 2017.
Conte will almost certainly have to do without star striker Victor Osimhen, who is a target for some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
However Napoli’s other key forward Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is under contract until 2027 and Conte has reportedly demanded that the Georgia winger not be sold despite reported interest from Paris Saint-Germain.
He says he feels more British then Irish. Good on him but as a news story in irish media in sport sure he may as well be ian poulter, lee Westwood, jamie Donaldson or justin rose or even sergio Garcia. The difference between them and rory? They are not confused about any aspect of their nationality.
Well he’s undoubtedly Northern Irish, and there’s a much larger readership of TheScore in Northern Ireland than in England, so maybe people do want to hear about Rory. If you don’t, don’t bother clicking on it, let alone commenting.
@larrybird
Sure you Norn Iron people from your wee country, do tend to like a good confrontation now and again. Dead wide, with an oul edge to earn a few bob down in the foreign country when it suits which could also be termed as the Irish free state. Interesting that the folk from the so called mainland of the UK regard you all as paddy’s or micks or other derogatory labels when it suits unless of course an exceptional sportsman like Mcilroy, Georgie Best or even Barry Mcguigan from county monaghan comes along and is immediately classed as British,upon succeeding in whatever sport they are at. A strange bunch you’s are but sure that’s grand. Hoping Shane Lowry has a great tournament. He is a great ambassador for Irish golf both amateur and pro. Expecting a few trolls from a few keyboard Norn Iron warriors or from wherever now probably, but it bores the bejaysus out of me, even the accent is like ffs. Good and bad in every race of people I just haven’t met the good which come out of Ulster so that’s ok. Rory good luck to you but this stuff of not wanting to alienate people has all the political correctness with Mcguigan in the 80′s and that was painful enough because ultimately he was chasing the sterling (UK public) and the punt (Irish public) and whatever currency he could get hold off. Say what you feel, represent GB and be proud of it. The Irish Americans may not like you in the same way but who cares, you will make a sh$tload of money regardless.
It’s all right, Patrick. I’ll put the toys back in the pram for you!