Aurelio De Laurentiis has never been one to whisper his opinions. Faced with a broken federation, a vacant national-team bench and Antonio Conte’s name swirling around both, the Napoli president has walked straight into the storm – and lit a few fires of his own.
Conte, the Azzurri and an open door from Napoli
The Italy job is open again after Gennaro Gattuso stepped down in the wake of the World Cup play-off final defeat to Bosnia-Herzegovina, a loss that plunged the FIGC into full-blown crisis. With calls growing for a complete reset of Italian football’s leadership, the search has turned towards a strong, unifying figure. Inevitably, it has turned towards Conte.
He knows the seat, and its heat, better than most. Conte took charge of the Azzurri in 2014 after leaving Juventus, overseeing 25 matches, winning 14 and losing five. His Italy side went out fighting at Euro 2016, falling to Germany on penalties in the quarter-finals, and he walked away with his reputation enhanced.
His club career since then has only hardened that profile. A Premier League title with Chelsea. A Scudetto with Inter. A turbulent but high-profile spell at Tottenham. Then the crowning achievement: guiding Napoli to the Serie A title last season. If the federation wants a serial winner with the scars and authority to rip up a failing system, Conte sits at the top of the list.
De Laurentiis, speaking to CalcioNapoli24, did not try to lock the door.
“Conte new coach of the national team? If Antonio asked me, I think I would say yes,” he said, making it clear Napoli would not stand in the way if the Azzurri come calling and Conte wants to answer.
A job offer wrapped in a warning
The apparent green light came with a sting. De Laurentiis did not hide his contempt for the current state of the FIGC or its leadership vacuum.
Because Conte is “very intelligent,” he argued, the coach would not rush into a role at “something completely disorganised” without a “serious interlocutor” in place – and, in his view, such a figure simply does not exist at the moment.
It was more than a swipe. It was a diagnosis.
Italy’s failure against Bosnia-Herzegovina capped a catastrophic World Cup qualification campaign that began under Luciano Spalletti and ended under Gattuso, who was brought in as a late firefighter. Eight games, six wins, and yet two defeats – to Norway in the final group match and then to Bosnia-Herzegovina in the play-off – left a permanent stain on his short reign.
The consequences are historic. Italy will miss the World Cup in 2018, 2022 and 2026. Three consecutive absences from the sport’s biggest stage for a four-time world champion. It is not a blip. It is a collapse.
The fallout hit the federation’s top floor. FIGC president Gabriele Gravina resigned, followed by delegation chief Gianluigi Buffon. The power structure is cracking, and De Laurentiis wants it rebuilt, not patched up.
“Cinderella” Serie A and a federation in revolt
The Napoli owner has used the chaos to push a long-held agenda: a radical overhaul of how Italian football is run.
He has a name ready. Giovanni Malagò, the current president of CONI, is, in De Laurentiis’ eyes, the right man to step in as commissioner and then as permanent FIGC president. A technocrat with political weight, a cleaner pair of hands to present to someone like Conte.
But De Laurentiis’ anger runs deeper than personalities. He attacked what he sees as a warped power balance that leaves Serie A clubs short-changed despite bankrolling the game.
“Italian football is Serie A which is considered like a Cinderella, it only has 18% in terms of the federation, while the amateurs and the players have the majority,” he argued. “This is an absurdity considering that without Serie A the federation would not exist and considering that we finance it with a good €130 million a year.”
That figure is not a throwaway line. It is a weapon. In his telling, the league that generates the money and the global visibility sits in rags in the corner, while those who depend on it hold the votes and the power.
Conte at the crossroads
All of this loops back to one man. Conte stands at the crossroads of club and country, of a broken federation and an impatient football culture.
On one side, a Napoli project he has just driven to the title. On the other, a national team stripped of aura, a federation stripped of leadership, and a fanbase stripped of patience.
De Laurentiis has made his stance brutally clear: Napoli will not chain Conte to the dugout if Italy come with a serious plan and a serious leader. Until that happens, he expects Conte to look at the federation’s chaos and walk away.
Italy wants a strong figure to fix the mess. The question now is whether the FIGC can become the kind of place a coach like Conte would even trust to start.
