De Laurentiis Opens Door for Conte’s Italy Return
In a Los Angeles cinema, with Napoli’s “AG4IN” documentary on the big screen, Aurelio De Laurentiis ended up talking less about film and far more about the future of Italian football. Specifically, about Antonio Conte – and the Azzurri.
Conte is the pillar of Napoli’s current project, the man De Laurentiis hired to drag the club back into the Scudetto fight. Yet when asked whether he would stand in the way of Conte returning to the Italy job, the president’s answer was as striking as it was simple.
“Conte to the national team? Yes, I think I’d lend him if he asked me,” De Laurentiis said, as quoted by Gianluca Di Marzio.
No hedging. No political sidestep. If Conte wants the Azzurri, De Laurentiis won’t chain him to the dugout in Naples.
That doesn’t mean he’s impressed with the current state of the Italian federation. Far from it.
“Until there’s a serious partner, I think he’d refrain from imagining himself leading something completely disorganized,” he added, firing a clear shot at the FIGC’s structure and direction.
The timing of his comments is no coincidence. Italian football is in flux after the resignation of Gabriele Gravina, and the race to reshape the FIGC has already begun. De Laurentiis, never shy of a strong opinion, has his candidate ready.
He wants Giovanni Malagò.
“He would be perfect to be first the commissioner and then the president of a new federation,” De Laurentiis said, backing the former CONI president as the man to drag Italian football into a new era.
The Conte question will not go away. A second stint on the Azzurri bench would be a powerful storyline, and De Laurentiis has just poured more fuel on that fire by publicly admitting he would not block it. The allure of the national team remains unique, even for a coach central to a club’s ambitions.
For now, though, Conte’s job is clear. Napoli are second in Serie A, seven points behind leaders Inter Milan, and clinging to the belief that the title race is still alive. Parma await on Sunday, another must-win if the Partenopei are to keep the pressure on.
The debate over Conte’s future may rumble on for months. The reality of the present is more brutal: if he wants to make any decision from a position of strength, he first has to prove he can turn Napoli’s promise into a genuine challenge to Inter.
