Antonio Conte has not closed the door on a potential return to coaching the Italian national team.

Italy failed to qualify for this summer's World Cup after losing to Bosnia-Herzegovina on penalties last week.

On Friday, Gennaro Gattuso stepped down as head coach, leaving the position vacant.

Conte coached Italy between 2014 and 2016, leading them to the quarter-finals of the Euros before stepping down to take charge of Chelsea.

Having enjoyed success in his first season at Napoli, winning Serie A last term, Conte has had his troubles with the club this campaign, consistently hitting out at their failure to build a squad capable of competing on all fronts.

However, Napoli are second in Serie A after Monday's win over AC Milan, and Conte is reportedly among the list of candidates Italy's Football Federation (FIGC) are weighing up to take over.

"It's right that my name is included in the list [of candidates] for the national team," said Conte, who is under contract at Napoli until the end of the 2026-27 season.

"I would include it among the others if I were in charge of the federation.

"I've already worked with the national team and I know the environment.

"I was the national team coach for two years. It's not a matter of flattery, but being the national team manager means representing the country. But you know what my contract situation is and at the end of the season, I'll meet again with the [Napoli] president and we'll see.

"We love the national team and we're saddened for what happened.

"Every time we don't qualify we have to rebuild but as national team coach I've seen little help from the teams. There are players of a certain level and something must be done."

Italy, who won Euro 2020 five years ago, have not qualified for the World Cup since 2014.