It’s been a long time out of the game for Antonio Conte, but he’s set to become the new coach of Napoli, and his first job will be to raid Chelsea for one of their stars.
The Italian hasn’t managed a team since his infamous rant whilst manager of Tottenham Hotspur.
It isn’t clear if there have been offers made to him prior to the Napoli one, but regardless, Conte has seemed perfectly happy waiting in the wings until a job came along that appealed to his sensibilities.
That job, according to Corriere dello Sport, is the challenge to bring Napoli back to the top table of domestic and European football.
Antonio Conte wants Lukaku reunion
The Partnopei, after winning the Scudetto for the first time in three decades the season before last, ended up finishing the 2023/24 campaign in 10th, some 39 points behind champions, Inter Milan.
It’s at the Neroazzurri where Conte enjoyed a fruitful working relationship with Romelu Lukaku, and it’s the Belgian hit-man that the Italian wants to reunite with in Napoli.
Currently plying his trade on loan at Roma, it was thought that the lack of other options would see Lukaku move to the Saudi Pro League this summer.
Whilst that’s still a possibility given the expected salary he would receive, surely the chance to link up with Conte again, in a league he knows well, would be preferable.
What’s more, given that Chelsea are known to want Napoli’s Victor Osimhen but are understood not to want to pay his €130m release clause, allowing Lukaku to move to Naples will bring down Osimhen’s transfer fee.
At present, the deals are a little way from being done, but once Conte signs on the dotted line, it would be a surprise if all parties didn’t then get to work on starting off what’s expected to be a striker’s ‘domino effect’ across Europe.