There are increasing reports in Italy that Napoli are getting cold feet over hiring Antonio Conte, as Stefano Pioli and even current Belgium coach Domenico Tedesco are options.
The Partenopei have already begun the search for a new boss, eager not to be left in the lurch after last year’s scramble to replace Luciano Spalletti and going through three tacticians this season.
Conte had emerged as the hot favourite with multiple sources suggesting he had given the all-clear, but now La Repubblica newspaper, Sky Sport Italia and more are saying that President Aurelio De Laurentiis is having second thoughts.
Conte would require a certain level of investment in the transfer market and specific types of players that might not already be in the squad.
He also has a strong personality and that might not fit well with a vocal President like De Laurentiis.
Napoli considering other candidates
Pioli is becoming more and more likely to take the job, especially as it would suit Milan if he immediately found a new role, seeing as his contract runs to June 2025.
Another candidate mentioned by La Repubblica is current Belgium manager Tedesco.
Sky Sport Italia note that Gian Piero Gasperini would be on the list, but it remains to be seen if Atalanta would release him, or indeed if he’d be ready to leave Bergamo after the best part of a decade.
Vincenzo Italiano is set to leave Fiorentina this summer and had been an early favourite before falling out of favour.
Much could depend on the views of Napoli’s new director of sport, who is set to be Giovanni Manna, currently trying to negotiate his departure from Juventus.