Conte will never abandon Napoli at the last minute, says president De Laurentiis

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis believes Antonio Conte will stay on as head coach next season despite reports linking him to the Italy job.

Conte led Napoli to the Serie A title in his first season last year, though the Scudetto holders have been plagued by injuries this term.

Long-term problems for the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne and Giovanni Di Lorenzo have seen Napoli fall nine points behind Inter in the title race, while they were knocked out in the league phase of the Champions League.

Napoli have enjoyed a resurgence in form as of late, winning five of their last six games (D1), which coincided with another World Cup heartbreak for Italy.

The Azzurri failed to qualify for their third consecutive World Cup finals, losing on penalties in their play-off final against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

FIGC president Gabriele Gravina and head coach Gennaro Gattuso both stepped down from their roles, with Conte backed to replace the latter.

De Laurentiis, however, insisted that Conte would not “abandon” him at Napoli.

“Number one, we [Italy] don’t have, as of now, a head of the federation, so nobody can decide to ask him. So first, we must solve the problem of the federation,” De Laurentiis explained to The Athletic.

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“Antonio Conte is a very serious man. He has a contract with me. He will never abandon me at the last minute. Because it will create for Napoli a big problem.

“If he sacrifices himself after two years of creating a very strong Napoli, it is also his creation. So he will kill his baby, abandoning him just at the last minute.

“Or, he decides immediately and says ‘I would like to go’. Then I have the time during April and May to find somebody else to make the substitution. Otherwise, I don’t think Mr Conte will ever abandon Napoli.

“He’s a serious, professional man. If I was a coach, before to accept, I will think 100 times.”