Antonio Conte is one of the most volatile but entertaining managers in world football. He is the heartthrob clubs know will ultimately turn on them and hurt them, but for those chasing that one fleeting season of glory – or, more foolishly, thinking they can change his ways – Conte is the Siren’s Song of managers. He’s undoubtedly one of the best managers in the world, and although he blew things up in smoke at Napoli, pretty much everyone expected that. I mean, Aurelio De Laurentiis is so difficult to work with that even Carlo Ancelotti said he couldn’t deal with him anymore and escaped to Everton, of all places.
As far as Conte goes, his reputation is actually even higher than it was before, because I still don’t know how he turned Scott McTominay into a Serie A MVP and Napoli into Scudetto winners after De Laurentiis literally drove his three biggest stars (Victor Osimhen, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, and Kim Min-jae) out of the club for his own profit.
But where will Conte go next? That’s the real question I have, and in order to answer the impossible, I will systematically go through each league from bottom to top. I want to find clubs that will appeal to Conte: clubs that are a big deal and will attract his ego, clubs that will try to cater to him on the transfer window, and clubs he hasn’t already burned bridges at. And I also want to find clubs that will actually want to take the Conte plunge, which means, as above, they are either desperate to win a title or they are crazy enough to think they can change him, no matter how many years and cycles he has been through of falling in love and breaking up with clubs
Antonio Conte reuniting in Serie A seems unlikely
Let’s start with Ligue 1. There is only one club that Antonio Conte would even think of joining, and that’s PSG. And they would actually make a lot of sense in one big way, because they are capable and willing to spend big to support their manager. But they already have a lover in Luis Enrique, and they are not going to let a guy who gave them their first two Champions League titles, back to back.
I can already tell you that every club in the Bundesliga is automatically disqualified. Their sporting model never puts the manager above the sporting director, so Conte is not going to have even a quarter of the power he would want in Germany. Conte has never coached at Bayern Munich, and they are the only Bundesliga club with the clout to appeal to him. Borussia Dortmund are a notorious selling club – and RB Leipzig are even more notorious, as are the rest of the Bundesliga like Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen. But Bayern have ambition. The thing is, they are very strict with their hierarchy. Even Hansi Flick couldn’t get more than scraps like Bouna Sarr and some guy named Tiago Dantas.
OK, a reunion to Serie A? Back to the revolving door that cycles through managers? The problem is Conte has burned too many bridges there. Inter Milan isn’t going to want him back. Juventus might, but even if there were mutual interest, Juve have gutted themselves by signing so many crappy, second rate players over the years that they should be totally unappealing to Conte. I mean, if they can’t even put something legitimate on the table for Luciano Spalletti to work with, why would Conte trust them? AC Milan are even worse. RedBird Capital has turned that club into an absolute joke, and there is not a single competent person in management left. I still can’t believe they canned Paolo freaking Maldini after he got them a Scudetto. Napoli are obviously out. And the rest of Serie A just don’t have the clout, financial power, or ambition to interest Conte.
Manchester United are the one big club that actually makes sense
La Liga. Barcelona and Atletico Madrid love their managers and aren’t hiring. How about Real Madrid? They actually thought long and hard about Conte back in 2021 when Zinedine Zidane resigned (for a second time) before settling on a reunion with Carlo Ancelotti, which turned out to be a brilliant decision. They have since kicked around Conte, too, after firing Ancelotti, Xabi Alonso, and Alvaro Arbeloa, but the prevailing belief is that Florentino Perez and the club don’t want to work with someone as volatile as Conte. They love and respect his tactical ideas, but they know it’s not a good combination, especially with how volatile Madrid is. Now, Jose Mourinho seems like another volatile hire, too, but he succeeded in Madrid before, and Florentino trusts him. He is also the only manager Flo has ever given a lot of power to, as even Ancelotti and Zidane frustratingly did not get enough say over decisions.
Now we are picking the bones and going back to the Premier League. Manchester City are doing well with Enzo Maresca, and their formal charges officially disqualify them. Conte won’t want to deal with all that. Liverpool just hired Andoni Iraola and seem to be improving already. Tottenham Hotspur already had a terrible time with Conte and have his footballing son in Roberto De Zerbi anyway. Chelsea could reunite and are struggling a bit under Xabi Alonso, but even after Todd Boehly sold the club, they are unlikely to give Conte what he wants in terms of power dynamics.
Manchester United and Newcastle United are interesting scenarios, though. They are clubs with a lot of money, for different reasons, and have been underperforming lately. Michael Carrick’s purple patch and inexperience are showing, and United have been willing and able spenders in the market, even somehow giving patience to Erik ten Hag – a manager with twice the ego and a tenth of the brains of Conte. Man United might actually make a lot of sense. They haven’t won a title in ages and are desperate to win. They are already unstable and would take the risk of a Conte blow up if it means winning something more meaningful than a stupid cup. And they would appeal to Conte more than Newcastle, who do have money with Saudi Arabia investment but have been bigger sellers than buyers, seeing as how they sold their four best assets in the last two summers (Alexander Isak, Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali, and Anthony Gordon). So yeah, I would circle around the Conte to Man United rumors, because they – and I can’t believe I’m saying this – actually make sense.
Purveyor of footy since the 90s. Favor the Premier League and old school Serie A with a touch of Bundesliga. More than a touch. Professional writer for 20 years, covering every sport but now focused on the Premier League and world football. You won’t be able to guess my favorite team.