Club president gives green light to manager to succeed Gennaro Gattuso as Italy boss

Antonio Conte has been told by the Napoli president that his club commitments won’t be an issue if he wants to become the new Italy manager.

Gattuso’s departure was made official on Friday after Italy’s embarrassing defeat on penalties to Bosnia-Herzegovina in their World Cup play-off.

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The defeat means the four-time world champions will be absent from a third consecutive World Cup.

The 48-year-old left his role after only ten months in charge having replaced Luciano Spalletti last summer.

Gattuso’s exit came just 24 hours after Gabriele Gravina resigned as the head of the Italian Football Federation.

talkSPORT understands Conte, Massimiliano Allegri and Roberto Mancini are the three favourites to lead the rebuild.

Despite Conte being under contract at Napoli until 2027, club president Aurelio De Laurentiis has confirmed he will not stand in the coach’s way if he seeks a return to the national team.

De Laurentiis said: “If Conte asked me to allow him to become the national team coach again, I would say yes.

“But as he’s very intelligent, as long as there’s no [federation] president, and up to now there hasn’t been, I don’t think he sees himself in charge of something so disorganised.”

The former Premier League manager currently has his team seven points off the top of Serie A and has publicly invited the federation to call him up.

Conte said: “It’s expected that my name appears on the list of candidates for the national team.

“If I were the federation’s president, I would consider my name.

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“But, you know my contractual situation, I’ll meet with my president at the end of the season and we will see.”

The 56-year-old led Italy to the Euro 2016 quarter-finals during his first stint in charge between 2014 and 2016. Italy were eliminated on penalties by Germany in the tournament under Conte.

He has coached at Napoli since 2024 after he left Tottenham Hotspur, with the club sitting in fourth in the Premier League at the time of his departure.

The ex-Chelsea boss won Serie A in his first season at Napoli and achieved his fifth championship in Italy as a coach.

There will not be new leadership within the Italian federation until the elections take place for a new president on June 22.

Mancini has been suggested the ‘easiest appointment’ for a second spell in charge of the national team, having won the European Championship in 2021 where Italy beat England in the final on penalties.

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Allegri, who is currently in charge of AC Milan, has also been heavily linked with the post.

Italy are not scheduled to return to competitive action until September, when they face Belgium, Turkey, and France in the Nations League.