Antonio Conte has once again aired his frustration at Napoli’s failure to sign an adequate replacement for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, prompting fears that he could quit the club after just one season.
The 2023 Scudetto winners appointed the eccentric Italian to return them to the summit of Serie A after an embarrassing title defence in 2023/24.
Fabrizio Romano Transfer News – Chelsea Maresca SACK TRUTH, Arsenal DEAL CLOSE, Liverpool SELL Nunez
In December, star winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia handed in a transfer request for January after Napoli refused to sell him to PSG in the summer. This time, the club had little choice but to give in to his demands, moving him on for around €75 million.
However, despite spending the entire January window in negotiations with high-profile wingers, Napoli ultimately had to bring in Noah Okafor on loan from AC Milan as a last-minute reinforcement after being snubbed by several targets.
Stay up to date with the latest transfer news with the FootballTransfers app
Conte still bitter about January
Okafor was quite obviously not among Conte’s favoured options to replace Kvaratskhelia. In fact, the Swiss international was only available because he had failed a medical at RB Leipzig earlier in the window.
At the time of writing, Okafor has actually been an unused substitute more often than he has been on the pitch. Conte is still bitter about Napoli’s failure to sign an adequate replacement for Kvaratskhelia and again gave voice to his frustrations ahead of Saturday’s clash with Monza.
“I said a lot early on,” Conte began. “Some still stands, some doesn’t. I don’t take anything back, but you learn. Like with Kvara, I said Napoli shouldn’t be a stepping stone. I’ve realised in eight months that many things here just aren’t possible.”
Conte believes that the Napoli hierarchy has not shown the necessary ambition to return the club to the top of Italian and European football. His argument certainly holds some weight considering that Napoli have been overtaken by Inter since Kvaratskhelia’s exit.
In January, Napoli’s chiefs Aurelio de Laurentiis and Giovanni Manna baulked at Man Utd’s €70m asking price for top target Alejandro Garnacho and also failed to convince Borussia Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi to move to Serie A.
This failure, which could ultimately cost Napoli the Scudetto, has made Conte question his future at the club. Despite being under contract until 2027, it is thought that the 55-year-old could quit this summer.
The FootballTransfers app
Check out FootballTransfers’ new app for all of football’s big storylines, transfer rumours and exclusive news in one convenient place directly on your mobile device.
The FootballTransfers app is available on Google Play and in the Apple App Store. Download here:
