Italy CT and former Napoli head coach Luciano Spalletti has commented on the potential appointment of Antonio Conte at the Stadio Maradona, while also reflecting on his own Partenopei exit just over a year ago.
The national team head coach spoke to Sky Sport Italia on Monday ahead of EURO 2024 this summer, but he was also asked for his opinion on the current state of affairs in Naples.
Despite leading Napoli to their first Scudetto in over 30 ears last season, Spalletti made a swift departure, leaving his position just a few weeks after the end of the 2022-23 campaign.
He was then appointed as the successor to Roberto Mancini as the head coach of the Italy national team a few weeks later.
Spalletti on Conte and Napoli
Antonio Conte is widely expected to be appointed as the new head coach of Napoli after a turbulent year that has seen Rudi Garcia, Walter Mazzarri and Francesco Calzona take charge of the team since Spalletti’s departure.
The former Juventus, Inter and Chelsea coach is in advanced talks and is now reported to be discussing the finer details of a potential contract.
Spalletti labelled Conte “a very experienced coach.”
He then added: “Napoli has a great team, otherwise it wouldn’t have been possible for me to do what I did there. I don’t know what is happening, you will know more than me. Changing coaches three times definitely creates some problems, but the squad is top notch.”
Spalletti was also asked what advice he would give to any coach beginning life under Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis.
He replied: “At a certain point, I stopped listening. He knows a lot about lots of things, he brought top level football back to Naples and created some great teams.”