Conte confirms Napoli exit
Antonio Conte has confirmed he is leaving Napoli at the end of its Serie A campaign, saying there was too much "poison" around the club.
Conte led Napoli to its fourth Scudetto, and its second in the post-Diego Maradona era, in his first campaign in charge in 2024-2025.
His second season was an underwhelming one, though, as the Partenopei had to settle for the Supercoppa Italiana as their only trophy and finished second to Inter in Serie A.
Napoli beat Udinese 1-0 in its final game of the season, with Rasmus Hojlund scoring the only goal, and in a post-match press conference, he confirmed his long-rumoured exit.
Sitting alongside club president Aurelio De Laurentiis, Conte said the toxic atmosphere around the club had forced him to question his position.
"In Naples I failed in one thing – I was unable to unite you," Conte said. "I have seen so much poison, so many weeds: those who spread poison are failures.
"Napoli do not need this, these people should move away from Naples, which needs serious people.
"I failed from this point of view, and I realised that I would never be able to control the environment.
"The moment you can't do that, which for me is a fundamental thing to fight against the superpowers like Milan or Inter, I realised that I couldn't change things, and I said that I was taking a step back.
"I thank De Laurentiis because he gave me this opportunity. The Neapolitan fans understood me, this is the most important thing."
Napoli ended the season with 76 points, the first time a team coached by Conte has ever failed to bring up 80 points in a single Serie A campaign.
Considering Europe's top five leagues, only with Chelsea in 2017-18 (70) and Tottenham in 2021-22 (71) has Conte ever accrued fewer points in a season.
Conte has been strongly linked with a return to the Italy job after the national team's failure to qualify for the World Cup, though the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has also been tipped to make an ambitious move for outgoing Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola.
Asked about those rumours, Conte said: "There's nothing between me and the Italian Federation to become Italy head coach. Zero so far. Let's see in the future.
"There's not even a new Federation president yet… but let me say this, are Italy ready to appoint a top coach?
"I read about Pep Guardiola. If I was to suggest a name, I'd say Pep. But do they have the funds to make it happen? It's too early to say. I have zero agreements so far."
