Napoli won the Serie A title against the odds this season, securing the Scudetto on the final game of the season with a 2-0 win over Cagliari to win their second title in three seasons, bouncing back from a woeful 2023/24 campaign without any sort of European football.
And the Partenopei have Antonio Conte to thank. The legendary Italian manager returned to coaching after a year hiatus following a disastrous stint with Tottenham Hotspur, guiding a Napoli side back to the summit of Serie A without their two biggest stars, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Victor Osimhen.
But throughout the 2024/25 season, in typical Conte fashion, there were rumors of unrest and a possible coaching change for Napoli, with fans around the world mocking Conte that he’d only spent one season at another club.
Back in 2020/21, Conte brought Inter Milan back to the top of Serie A as champions but left at the end of the season due to a lack of investment in the team. So when word spread of a possible return to Juventus, there was concern around Naples of more coaching instability.
Napoli have a ray of hope
Conte and Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis, who is notorious for letting go of big-name coaches, had an important meeting on Tuesday night to take formal steps towards determining the former Italy national team coach’s future.
With high-profile coaches resigning all around Serie A, including Atalanta icon Gian Piero Gasperini, there was a chance that Conte could be the next coaching domino to fall.
However, Fabrizio Romano is now reporting that the meeting between Conte and De Laurentiis was a “positive” one and that Napoli are now “confident” they can keep the serial Serie A winner in south Italy for the next season.
Per Fab, Conte and Napoli have yet to make a final decision on what happens, but the Partenopei seem to be hopeful that they can keep a great manager two seasons after they let another great coach, Luciano Spalletti, go just as he was creating something special.
Napoli are going to have to show that they are willing to make serious investment in their squad and build on this season in order to keep Conte. That – and the idea of respect – are usually two big sticking points with him.
The Partenopei overachieved this season on the strength of great defense, an organized midfield, and timely goals from Romelu Lukaku and Scott McTominay. But they will need more players to defend this title and actually push a little bit more in the Champions League.
For now, Napoli are getting a positive and surprising twist with the optimism that Conte may stay after all, but they aren’t truly out of the woods yet when it comes to the future of their iconic Italian manager.
Joe Soriano covers Tottenham for FanSided’s Hotspur HQ and writes about Real Madrid for The Real Champs. He has extensive experience covering world football since 2014. Joe is an editor for The Trivela Effect, where he covers the biggest clubs in European football. He has watched professional sports regularly since 2002 and can be found playing the same sports he covers with his friends.