Cassano: ‘Conte will leave Napoli, wants Juventus, Roma or Milan’ success in 2025-26

epa11788782 Napoli’s head coach Antonio Conte looks on before the Italian Serie A soccer match Genoa CFC vs SSC Napoli at Luigi Ferraris stadium in Genoa, Italy, 21 December 2024. EPA-EFE/STRINGER

Antonio Cassano predicts Antonio Conte ‘will leave Napoli and seek a winning project’ even if they take the Scudetto, believing Juventus, Roma or Milan could hire the coach.

The Partenopei had the opportunity to close the gap at the top of the Serie A table to just one point after Inter were held 2-2 by Parma, but Napoli also failed to get the full points against Bologna, so it remains three points.

Going into the final seven rounds of a tight race, Cassano has already made up his mind about what Conte will do this summer.

Cassano sees end of Conte era at Napoli

“I think that after selling Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Conte got p***ed off,” Cassano said on podcast Viva El Futbol.

“You give away your best player and don’t sign any replacement, what he’s doing at this club goes well beyond that. I think that whether or not he wins the Scudetto, in June Conte will dump them and leave.

“Napoli had an incredible opportunity this season, playing only one game per week, top of the table in January, you can do something even more enormous than Luciano Spalletti did, and what do you do? You wreck it.”

Cassano reserved his ire for Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis, who he accused of penny-pinching with his players after winning the Serie A title.

“He only wants to qualify for the Champions League to get money. I think that next season, Conte will go looking for a winning project, so he can try to win silverware for real. The only two clubs that could take him into consideration for me are a return to Juventus or go mad at Roma. Milan might also be an option, but I think he wants to go and win where there is a high status.”

Conte had taken time out in his career after terminating the contract with Tottenham Hotspur early and got back onto the bench for Napoli last summer.

There are repeated rumours that he could ask to be released by Napoli at the end of this season, as there is no release clause in the contract, so he could in theory just walk away by giving up any outstanding wages.