Over the past week or so, the Italian slant on Antonio Conte has been that he’s really not interested in taking over at Newcastle United.
The Italian manager left Inter Milan at the end of last season, having won the Serie A title. Conte felt that the change in direction, in terms of a complete stop in financial support and no new money being pumped in for signings, would make it hard to fight for titles this season.
So off he went.
Given his thirst to fight for titles, taking over at Newcastle right now doesn’t appear to fit with his outlook. That’s perhaps why this week has seen claims Conte would like to take over at Manchester United now, even giving up severance pay, because there’s still time to fight for trophies there.
They’d give him control over the market, and the ability to go for players such as AC Milan’s Theo Hernandez.
Conte taking over now seems unlikely, but if he hasn’t got a job next summer, and Newcastle have concrete spending plans, then it may be a different story. The Italian has shown repeatedly that he wants to be in charge of transfers, and if the Premier League side offered that, it could be tempting.
