11 October 2023 , 14:11
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Antonio Conte has spoken of a potential return to football amid speculation linking him as the next Napoli boss.
The Italian has been out of football for six months after leaving his role at Tottenham after 18 months in north London. The decorated and highly successful coach is now being mentioned as a potential candidate for the Serie A champions, where Rudi Garcia is under pressure.
Luciano Spalletti left Napoli at the end of last season after leading the club to their first league title in 32 years. He was replaced at the helm by Garcia, but they have made an underwhelming start to the campaign with just 14 points in their opening eight league games and winless in the Champions League.
This week, Conte played in a commemorative match celebrating the Agnelli family's 100th anniversary running Juventus. It marked a return to the public sphere for Conte, who has kept a low profile since his exit from Spurs earlier this year.
"For now I'm enjoying my family, I made a clear choice when I left England," Conte said in relation to the rumours linking him with a move to Naples. "You know that many things can happen along the way. Going to Naples? We must always have great respect so let us enjoy this evening."
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Former Italy national team coach Conte has previously won multiple Serie A titles as boss of Juventus and Inter, while his future appears to lie back in his home nation after spells with Chelsea and Tottenham in the Premier League.
Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis has already clarified he would not make a hasty decision regarding Garcia's position but failed to rule out the possibility of the coach being moved on by the club if results did not improve.
Have Your Say! Was Conte’s time at Spurs a failure ? Tell us what you think here.
Conte was playing in a friendly of former Juventus stars (Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images)"I am having a bad time with him. I am an entrepreneur and I must be interested in what happens inside the company," De Laurentiis said, as cited by Sky Italia. "The coach and the sports director are at your service. I will make appropriate decisions at the right time. The environment can’t influence me, one must always take time to think. Every hasty decision is a wrong decision.
"In life, it’s not possible to have everything here and now. It is necessary to keep our heads down and work hard. When you hire a coach who no longer knows Italian football, it’s normal to struggle, the same would happen to everyone.
"It’s useless to blame newcomers, football is not like a building under construction, which won’t collapse if you are sure it was built well. In football, there are incidents, injuries, and suspensions. There is no mathematical solution to win the title and I believe we’ll be in the race until the end of this season."