Il Mattino: ‘Napoli-Milan, battle for Conte’ – Rossoneri plan meeting with entourage

Napoli are once again concretely exploring the idea of hiring Antonio Conte, a report claims, but AC Milan are set to meet with his entourage in the coming days.

According to Il Mattino, Napoli are no longer hesitant about the idea of appointing Conte but they now face the task of convincing him to join, something that will not be easy if other clubs come into the equation.

The approaches from Aurelio De Laurentiis in October and January were rejected with great grace by Conte with the promise that they would talk again towards the end of the season. Now, the Napoli president will meet Conte in person to see if anything has changed.

Napoli want a coach who restores ambition and excitement, while Conte’s financial demands are much lower than in recent times: he asks for between €4-5m net per season, obviously plus bonuses linked to results and some image rights.

There are many other issues on the table, those linked to the project itself. You don’t hire someone like Conte just with promises, nice words and so on: he wants guarantees about being able to bring in players he wants without much interference.