Coach Antonio Conte is not expected to take charge of Napoli.
Fabricio Romano, a transfer market expert, said on his social media on the 12th (Korean time), "Coach Conte had a direct conversation with the Naples club for a long time today. However, the discussion did not go in a positive mood. Coach Conte said a new “I plan to wait longer for the opportunity,” he said.
In addition, Italy's 'Football Italia' also said, "Napoli's president Aurelio De Laurentiis tried to appoint coach Conte as coach Rudi Garcia's successor, but he was rejected. The reason why coach Conte rejected Napoli's offer was not due to economic or technical factors, but to the mid-season. “It’s because they are reluctant to take office,” he said.
Napoli achieved great results last season. There were many changes in Naples before the season opened. All key players who were responsible for offense and defense for a long time have left. Offensive one-two punches Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne ended their company, and starting center back Kalidou Koulibaly also left for Chelsea.
Recruitment of their replacements was carried out. Hvica Kvarachelia joined the attack where Mertens and Insigne left. Since there was already a frontline attack card in Victor Osimhen, there was a need to strengthen the flanks.
Kvaratshelia is a Georgian striker born in 2001. After playing mainly in the outskirts of Europe, including the Georgian League, he moved to Russia's Rubin Kazan and worked together with Hwang In-beom. Rubin played for Kazan for about three years before briefly playing for Georgian side Dinamo Batumi before donning the Napoli uniform.
Kim Min-jae is a new addition to the defensive line. Minjae Kim made his first European debut by leaving Beijing Guoan (China) to join Fenerbahce ahead of the 2021-22 season. However, he quickly proved his skills and played as a starting defender, attracting attention from many teams. And in his second season in Europe, he entered Italy's Serie A, one of the top five leagues.
Napoli did not spend a lot of money to bring in the two players. Kim Min-jae's transfer fee was about 18 million euros (about 25.6 billion won), and 10 million euros (about 14.2 billion won) were invested in recruiting Kvaratshelia. However, recruiting these two players was an excellent choice.
Kim Min-jae played in 35 Serie A games last season and played an active role as the starting center back. Showing off his excellent defensive and build-up abilities, he even won the league's Best Defender award in his debut season. Kvaratshelia also performed well with 12 goals and 10 assists in 34 league games. He was also selected as the league's best player.
Thanks to their performance, Napoli won the Serie A championship for the first time in 33 years since the 1989-90 season. However, after the season ended, there was once again a huge change. First of all, coach Luciano Spalletti left. He decided to take a break instead of renewing his contract, and soon after, he was appointed as the head coach of the Italian national soccer team.
Additionally, general manager Cristiano Giuntuli also headed to Juventus, and key center back Kim Min-jae transferred to Bayern Munich. Their replacements are all newly joined. Coach Garcia took over as coach in place of Coach Spalletti, and general manager Mauro Meluso took office. And in Kim Min-jae's place, 22-year-old Brazilian Nathan was recruited.
Napoli is currently ranked 5th in Serie A. This is a different move from the one in which he quickly rose to the leading position from the beginning of last season. However, there are still 30 games left, and the gap with the 4th place, which has a ticket to the UEFA Champions League (UCL), is still not large, so meaningful results can be achieved.
However, criticism toward Coach Garcia arose as the team recently lost 2-3 to Real Madrid in the UCL group stage and lost 1-3 to Fiorentina at home. There was news that the club had also fired him and was looking for a successor.
That candidate was Coach Conte. Coach Conte took charge of Tottenham during the 2021-22 season. During that time, he led teams such as Juventus, Chelsea, and Inter Milan, winning numerous championships. He always brought positive results, especially on the Italian stage. He won Serie A Manager of the Year four times, winning Serie A titles with both Juventus and Inter Milan.
Tottenham had great expectations upon hearing 야구중계 the news of the appointment of the great general. Tottenham, which had performed poorly under coach Nuno Espirito Santo, rebounded after the appointment of coach Conte and finished last season in 4th place in the Premier League (PL).
Although we didn't win, it was not a bad achievement. Because of this, Tottenham was able to appear on the UCL stage for the first time in three years. The club carried out a large-scale reinforcement of its strength in the transfer market last summer in order to appoint manager Conte. Richarlison, Ivan Perisic, and Clement Lenglet joined.
But the ending wasn't good. Tottenham were eliminated from all cup competitions they participated in, including the UCL, which they participated in for the first time in a long time, as well as the FA Cup and League Cup. The league also gradually became farther away from winning, and reaching fourth place became a realistic goal.
In the midst of this, Coach Conte even made a bombshell remark. After the game against Southampton before the international break in March, he said, "We have shown once again that we are not a team. We see selfish players, players who do not want to help each other. The club is responsible for the transfer market. The coaches. “It’s a problem that also applies to us,” he argued.
He said, "Tottenham has had the same owner leading the team for 20 years. And they have not achieved anything. Why? Until now, they tried to hide the situation, but not now. I am really angry, and everyone is responsible. The manager can be changed, but the situation is different. “No,” he said in a blunt interview criticizing the club and players.
Eventually, Coach Conte left. Tottenham spent the remainder of the season with Christian Stellini (sacked midway) and Ryan Mason as his replacement. And this summer, a new coach, Enze Postecoglou, was appointed. Tottenham is showing a positive start to the season by going undefeated (6 wins, 2 draws) in 8 league games.
Coach Conte was also mentioned as a candidate for the position of head coach of the Italian national soccer team last August. However, Coach Spalletti was selected as the final candidate, and after that, Coach Conte was once again taking a break as an unemployed person. He was recently linked with Napoli and the possibility of a return to the Italian stage arose, but he himself turned it check here down. Coach Conte hopes to lead the team from the start of the season.