May 23, 2024
Napoli, capital of Campania region of Italy
-According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Napoli's new sporting director, Manna, recently recommended that
Conte
to be the team's new head coach.
Earlier this week, Juventus announced the termination of the contract of U23 director Manna. Manna then showed up at Napoli's headquarters and is about to officially become Napoli's sporting director. According to sources, Manna has already had a long exchange with Napoli CEO Chiavelli, and has already begun to participate in the team's selection of the team, and strongly recommended Conte to coach Napoli.
Napoli president De Laurentiis' previous favorite candidate for the new manager was
Gasperini (name)
. However, trying to convince Gasperini to leave Atlanta won't be easy. Gasperini has coached Atlanta for many years, building a competitive team, and Atlanta just won the UEFA Cup this season and qualified for the Champions League next season.
Nonetheless, Manna expressed great recognition of Conte's coaching ability, believing that Conte's joining could enhance Napoli's competitiveness and bring in a new mentality. In fact, Napoli approached Conte in November last year to replace then manager Garcia, but Conte failed to agree at the time. Recently, the situation has changed, and Napoli has once again made several contacts with Conte to understand his financial and technical requirements. However, to meet Conte's requirements, Napoli would need to make significant financial sacrifices and break the team's salary cap, while De Laurentiis has always emphasized salary control and financial balance.
La Gazzetta dello Sport also mentioned that Pioli is another new managerial candidate that Manna appreciates. Pioli has rich coaching experience, having led AC Milan out of the difficult period and won the Serie A title. In addition, Pioli's tactical style is similar to Napoli's current tactics, which helps to maintain the team's tactical continuity without the need for drastic adjustments. However, Pioli's contract with AC Milan still has one year left to expire, and he needs to negotiate the termination of his contract with Milan before he can accept other clubs' invitations.
In addition, Manna has held talks with Pastorello, the agent of Napoli goalkeeper Meret. Meret has only one year left on his contract, but he has not yet decided whether to renew his contract or move.
Manna's arrival has brought new ideas and energy to Napoli's selection process, which will become clear in the coming weeks.
