Napoli market, Antonio Conte’s future to be written: three names for the bench
In the Napoli household, the statements first by Antonio Conte and then by Aurelio De Laurentiis on the possible return of the Salento coach to the national team continue to make noise. A hypothesis, that of the farewell of the current coach of the partenopei, which will have to be carefully evaluated in order not to arrive unprepared if at the end of June, when the new Federcalcio summits will be defined, Conte should actually return to the bench left in the aftermath of Euro 2016.
In this sense, there are at least three names on the list of the Napoli management, one of which is not currently committed: it is Thiago Motta, who is looking for an experience to relaunch himself after the setback at Juventus in the 2024-2025 season, which ended with his exoneration in the spring. La Gazzetta dello Sport reports the Neapolitan club’s interest in the former national team player: freeing himself from his remaining contract with Juventus (which expires in 2027) would be a mere formality.
There is, however, not only Thiago Motta among the papabili: sources close to the Neapolitan milieu speak of an important appreciation for Fabio Grosso’s 4-3-3 at Sassuolo, launched toward a very quiet salvation in the year of his return to Serie A, but also for Vincenzo Italiano’s vertical play at Bologna, which in recent seasons has done well not only in Italy (also winning the national cup last year) but also outside the borders, qualifying for the quarterfinals of the Europa League.
In the meantime, all talk must be managed in the light of a Serie A championship that is far from over: Napoli, after its Easter Monday success against AC Milan (its fifth consecutive in the league), has moved up to second place in the standings, seven points behind Inter, a gap that is certainly important with seven days to go but which in any case the Neapolitan club aims to reduce further in the coming days, trying to defend the Scudetto it won last year, again with Conte on the bench, until the triple whistle on the last day.
