Conte back in Italy with Napoli and one of 14 coaching changes in Serie A
MILAN (AP) — He’s back.
Antonio Conte has returned to Serie A with the mission of helping Napoli recover from one of the worst title defences in Italian league history.
Napoli ran away with the title in 2023 but had a torrid time last season and finished a woeful 10th.
Instead it was one of Conte’s former teams, Inter Milan, which stormed to the Serie A crown, ending up 19 points ahead of closest challenger AC Milan.
Conte is Napoli’s fourth coach since Luciano Spalletti left after steering the southern team to its first title in more than 30 years. Rudi Garcia, Walter Mazzarri and Francesco Calzona all had spells in charge last season but couldn’t stop the slump.
They didn’t have Conte’s pedigree, however.
Conte set Juventus on the way to a decade of dominance when he led the Bianconeri to the first three of its nine straight Serie A titles. He was then the man to end that streak in 2021 when in charge of Inter.
In between that he also bagged a Premier League title with Chelsea.
However, Conte has been away from the dugout for more than a year after leaving Tottenham by mutual consent in March 2023 and it remains to be seen whether the 55-year-old — who has a long history of falling out with club owners — will clash with the equally fiery Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis.
Napoli kicks off its league campaign at Hellas Verona on Sunday.
Here are some other things to know about Serie A this season:
Managerial merry-go-round
Napoli was not the only Serie A team to change coaches in the offseason.
No fewer than 14 out of the 20 teams have a new face on the bench.
Paulo Fonseca replaced Stefano Pioli at Milan and has his first match in charge on Saturday at home to Torino, which also has a new coach in Paolo Vanoli.
Thiago Motta left Bologna last season after guiding it to a first-ever qualification for the Champions League. He stepped into the hotseat at Juventus and the Bianconeri open their season on Monday against promoted Como, where Cesc Fabregas will be making his full managerial debut after a brief stint as interim coach last year.
Vincenzo Italiano replaced Motta at Bologna, with Raffaele Palladino stepping into his position at Fiorentina.
Palladino was coach at Monza, which in turn has hired Alessandro Nesta.
Marco Baroni has taken charge at Lazio and there are also new coaches at Hellas Verona, Udinese, Cagliari, Venezia and Empoli.
Inter and its challengers
Inter is one of only six teams to have stuck with its coach. No surprise there as it dominated Serie A last season under Simone Inzaghi, who won his first league title as a coach after earning a reputation as a cup specialist.
The Nerazzurri could be distracted by an even bigger prize this season in the Champions League. Inter reached the final in 2023 — where it lost to Manchester City — but was eliminated in the round of 16 a year later after losing to Atletico Madrid on penalties.
Inter has made some smart signings in Poland midfielder Piotr Zieliński and ex-Porto forward Mehdi Taremi but perhaps its biggest move was tying star striker and captain Lautaro Martínez to a new five-year deal.
Only two of Inter’s likely challengers have stuck with their coach. Gian Piero Gasperini is heading into a ninth season at Atalanta, while Roma extended Daniele De Rossi’s contract after he was a revelation as Jose Mourinho’s replacement, turning the team’s season around when he was appointed in January.
It will be interesting to see what De Rossi can do with a full season in charge. Juventus will also be expected to put up a stronger challenge for the title after finishing third last season despite a year of turmoil for the storied Italian club.
New signings
While the transfer window is far from over, Milan has made what is likely to be the marquee signing after bringing in Spain striker Álvaro Morata last month.
The 31-year-old Morata captained Spain to the European Championship title in July and joined from Spanish club Atletico Madrid, where he scored 21 goals last season.
Morata is familiar with Serie A, having had two spells at Juventus.
He also played for Real Madrid and Chelsea and brings a wealth of experience to Milan’s frontline, much like his predecessors Olivier Giroud and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, two veteran forwards who played a key role in the club’s recent successes.
An interesting signing at Juventus is Khephren Thuram. The 23-year-old midfielder is the son of former Juventus defender Lilian Thuram and will be hoping to have as much of an impact in his first season as older brother Marcus Thuram, who was an important part of Inter’s title-winning team.
Former Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea has joined Fiorentina, while Nicolò Zaniolo has returned to Italy to join Atalanta.
Promoted teams
Como is the most intriguing of the promoted teams.
Fabregas has been given his first managerial role after helping the club earn promotion last season as an assistant. He also served as an interim coach in November but was only allowed to do so for a month, because he did not have the required license to take charge of the team on a permanent basis.
Fabregas and his former Arsenal teammate Thierry Henry are minority shareholders in the club, located on the shores of the picturesque Lake Como, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Milan.
Como finished second in Serie B last season to end a 21-year absence from the top tier and has signed several important players to try to ensure it doesn’t go straight back down.
Former Real Madrid and Manchester United defender Raphael Varane has joined, along with ex-Liverpool defender Alberto Moreno and 42-year-old goalkeeper Pepe Reina.
Italy’s European Championship-winning forward Andrea Belotti has also moved to the club.
Serie B champion Parma and playoff winner Venezia are the other two promoted teams, taking the total number of top-flight clubs under American ownership to eight. The others are Inter, Milan, Atalanta, Fiorentina, Roma and Genoa.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
