Antonio Conte has admitted that he could have moved to Manchester United during his playing days.
Conte had a distinguished playing career, starting out at his hometown club Lecce before moving to Juventus, for whom he made over 400 appearances (TransferMarkt).
He was a mainstay in Juve’s midfield during the majority of his 13 years in Turin, helping the club win five Serie A titles, a Coppa Italia and a Champions League among other accolades.
The 52-year-old has arguably been even more successful in his managerial career, boasting of quite an extraordinary record of having won league titles in five of his last seven full seasons as a manager at Juventus, Chelsea and Inter Milan.
Conte was linked with the Manchester United hot seat back in October when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was coming under pressure (Guardian) but it was Spurs who pounced on the Italian first, appointing him as Nuno Espirito Santo’s replacement at the start of November.
Conte has now admitted he could have moved to Old Trafford in the past – not as a manager but rather as a player.
The Spurs boss told Football.London: “In the past, I would have liked to play in the Premier League. I tried to get this experience.
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“I know that Alex Ferguson liked my football. I know that in the past it was a moment that maybe Manchester United wanted to bring me there. My agent told me this but I don’t know if this is a lie or the truth!”
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During Conte’s playing days, the Serie A was far superior to every other league in Europe, including the Premier League, which is probably why the best players gravitated to Italy.
The opposite is certainly true now, with the Premier League draining the likes of Serie A and La Liga of their best talents regularly.
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