Former Chelsea and Tottenham manager Antonio Conte was hired by Napoli on Wednesday as the Serie A champions try to bounce back from a disastrous defeat in the defence of their league title.
“Welcome Antonio,” club president and owner Aurelio De Laurentiis wrote on Twitter, along with a photo of Conte signing the contract.
Conte, a former manager at Juventus and Inter Milan, signed a three-year contract worth 8 million euros ($8.7 million) per season, according to Italian media.
He is Napoli’s fifth manager in a tumultuous period last year that saw the club win its first Serie A title since 1990, when Diego Maradona was still at the helm, in the 2022-2023 season.
However, since title-winning manager Luciano Spalletti left last summer, southern Italy’s biggest club has had three managers this season and finished a dismal 10th in the table.
Napoli finished the season 41 points behind newly-crowned champions Inter, with none of the managers – Rudi Garcia, Walter Mazzarri or Francesco Calzona – able to match Spalletti’s historic title triumph.
Spalletti is currently the manager of the Italian national team.
Conte is tasked with leading Napoli back to the top of the table and has the credentials to give fans hope of a quick turnaround in fortunes.
The 54-year-old has won four Serie A titles in 2021 – three with Juventus and one with Inter – and also won the Premier League with Chelsea in 2017.
Conte will almost certainly have to play without star striker Victor Osimhen, who is in hot pursuit of a deal with one of Europe’s biggest clubs.
However, Napoli’s other key forward, Hubica Kvaratskeria, is under contract until 2027 and Conte has reportedly requested that the Georgian winger not be sold, despite reported interest from Paris Saint-Germain.
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