ROME — Antonio Conte never seems to stay too long in one place and now the fiery coach appears ready to leave Napoli less than a year after guiding the southern club to its fourth Serie A title.
Campaigning for Italy Job
Conte is openly campaigning for the vacant Italy job after the Azzurri failed to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup. Such a move would mark a return for Conte, who already coached Italy at the European Championship a decade ago.
"If I were the federation president I would consider myself," Conte said after Napoli's 1-0 victory over AC Milan on Monday. "I've already been with the national team and I know what it is like."
Currently, the Italian soccer federation has only a lame duck president after Gabriele Gravina announced that he is resigning, with new elections called for June 22. Gennaro Gattuso, who coached Italy in the World Cup qualifying playoff loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina, also resigned.
Napoli's Title Hopes Fade
In the meantime, Conte can focus on Napoli's late-season surge after leapfrogging Milan into second place with a visit to Parma coming up on Sunday.
Still, Napoli trails league leader Inter Milan by seven points with seven rounds remaining and Conte is not expecting another title.
"It's not a question of believing or not; it's about being realistic," Conte said. "We would have to be perfect and Inter would have to make several missteps. And from what we've seen, that seems unlikely because Inter is strong."
Pattern of Departures
If Conte does leave Napoli, it would follow similar exits immediately after or soon after titles at several clubs.
He left immediately after a Serie B title at Bari in 2009, immediately after winning a third straight Serie A title at Juventus in 2014, immediately after winning the FA Cup at Chelsea in 2018 and a year after a Premier League title, and immediately after a Serie A title at Inter in 2021.
Around Serie A
Inter visits neighboring Como on Sunday for its shortest trip of the season. Inter routed Como 4-0 in December, but Como held Inter to a 0-0 draw in the first leg of the Italian Cup semifinals last month.
Inter's 5-2 thrashing of Roma last weekend marked its first victory since February. Meanwhile, Cesc Fabregas' Como is unbeaten for nearly two months and is looking to hold on to fourth place and the final Champions League berth.
Inter midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu produced one of the goals of the season against Roma with a 30-meter blast that dipped in under the bar. It was his ninth Serie A goal of the season, to go with three assists.
Juventus center forward Dusan Vlahovic will miss another three weeks with an injured calf muscle after only recently recovering from another muscular injury that occurred in November.
Asked for solutions to the national team's problems, Juventus coach Luciano Spalletti suggested requiring every Serie A club to use at least one Italian under-19 player in its starting lineup.