Napoli convince Conte to wait before making decision on future after first season success

According to Sky Sport Italia, Antonio Conte is taking a little more time to decide on his Napoli future after today’s crucial meeting with President Aurelio De Laurentiis.

The meeting lasted circa three hours along with lunch, consisting of President De Laurentiis, coach Conte, his wife Elisabetta, director of sport Giovanni Manna, CEO Maurizio Chiavelli and vice president Edoardo De Laurentiis.

It was held at the President’s home in the Eternal City, after they and the entire squad met with Pope Leo at the Vatican City.

Although it was a lengthy encounter, multiple reports had stated that Conte had already made his decision to walk away from Napoli, regardless of their Scudetto success.

Napoli lay out the case for Conte to stay

That no longer seems to be the case, as Sky Sport Italia report that the two parties decided to take some time out before making any decisions.

There has certainly been plenty of pressure on Conte to change his mind and stay, including from wife Elisabetta, who was spotted telling a fan during yesterday’s open top bus parade that she would “do everything possible” to convince him to remain.

Romelu Lukaku said the same, as did other players, while the imminent arrival of Kevin De Bruyne as a free agent could also be tempting for the coach.

The Partenopei pipped Inter to the Serie A title by a single point on Friday evening and have been enjoying the celebrations, including an open top bus parade through the streets of Naples.

Napoli players pushing to keep Conte

As Conte’s intention has been evident for some time, De Laurentiis also prepared for the next step and reportedly agreed terms with Max Allegri for a two-year contract worth €6m per season.

The tension was around strategy and vision, starting with the frustration at their failure to adequately replace Khvicha Kvaratskhelia following his move to Paris Saint-Germain in January.

Conte also vented his irritation in interviews at the lack of infrastructure improvement, specifically the state of the training pitches.

This delay also keeps Juventus waiting, who would be his likely next destination.