CalcioMercato.it have claimed that Antonio Conte came really close to returning to management over recent months, having entered talks with Napoli but the deal fell through at the last moment.
Conte has been out of management for almost a year since parting ways with Tottenham back in March of last year.
Recently, some outlets have named the Italian as a contender to replace Thomas Tuchel at the helm of Bayern Munich (La Repubblica via Football Italia).
Antonio Conte came close to accepting Napoli job
CaclioMercato.it have now said that the former Tottenham head coach was on the verge of finding an agreement to replace Walter Mazzarri as Napoli’s head coach.
It is revealed that the reigning Serie A champions offered the 54-year-old a contract worth €28m (£24m) net for three and a half years, and he was ‘really close’ to taking it.
However, the agreement collapsed in the end due to a clause in Conte’s contract, whereby the Italian coach would initially be offered a deal until the end of the season, with the contract only getting renewed if he and president Aurelio De Laurentiis agreed about ‘the market objectives’.
This was considered ‘inadmissible’ for the experienced manager, who chose to wait for a better offer, with Napoli instead turning towards Francesco Calzona instead.
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Knowing how demanding Conte is in the transfer market and his tendency to sulk if he does not get what he wants, Serie A clubs would be wary of appointing him, especially given the financial situation most Italian teams find themselves in.