Napoli expecting Conte to stay next season
Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis believes Antonio Conte will stay on as head coach next season despite reports linking him to the Italy coaching job.
Napoli has enjoyed a resurgence in form as of late, winning five of its past six games, which coincided with another FIFA World Cup heartbreak for Italy.
The Azzurri failed to qualify for a third consecutive FIFA World Cup finals, losing on penalties in their play-off final against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
FIGC president Gabriele Gravina and head coach Gennaro Gattuso both stepped down from their roles, with Conte backed to replace the latter.
De Laurentiis, however, insisted that Conte would not "abandon" him at Napoli.
"Number one, we [Italy] don't have, as of now, a head of the federation, so nobody can decide to ask him. So first, we must solve the problem of the federation," De Laurentiis explained.
"Antonio Conte is a very serious man. He has a contract with me. He will never abandon me at the last minute. Because it will create for Napoli a big problem.
"If he sacrifices himself after two years of creating a very strong Napoli, it is also his creation. So he will kill his baby, abandoning him just at the last minute.
"Or, he decides immediately and says 'I would like to go'. Then I have the time during April and May to find somebody else to make the substitution. Otherwise, I don鈥檛 think Mr Conte will ever abandon Napoli.
"He's a serious, professional man. If I was a coach, before to accept, I will think 100 times."
Conte led Napoli to the Serie A title in his first season last year, although the Scudetto holder has been plagued by injuries this term.
Long-term problems for the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne and Giovanni Di Lorenzo have seen Napoli fall nine points behind Inter Milan in the title race, while it was knocked out in the league phase of the UEFA Champions League.
