Conte Leaves Napoli – Will That Finish His Career in Serie A?
NAPLES, ITALY – MAY 24: Antonio Conte SSC Napoli head coach greets his supporters after the Serie A match between SSC Napoli and Udinese Calcio at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on May 24, 2026 in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)
Manager Antonio Conte recently announced that he’ll leave Napoli this summer. He spent only two years in charge, but he guided the club to the Serie A title in 2024/25 and finished in a close 2nd place for the 2025/26 season.
If it wasn’t for Inter having an insanely good year, Napoli would have finished first, and if you were following the sports betting site at 10bet, a lot of the odds were putting Napoli to win the games.
No doubt most fans will wish he were extending his contract.
The question now lingering is whether Conte will stay in Serie A or move. Some rumours flying around hinted at a move to the Italian national squad, although Conte has now squashed those rumours.
Is his departure the end of his career in Serie A? Read on to find out.
Conte is Leaving Napoli
Antonio Conte officially announced his departure from Napoli after the final Serie A round of the 2025–26 season. He might not have spent long at the club, but his impact was phenomenal, with his final game ending in a 1–0 win over Udinese that secured second place behind Inter.
Conte confirmed the decision publicly alongside Aurelio De Laurentiis, revealing that it had been decided privately around a month earlier.
Napoli then confirmed the exit with a short social media message: “Thanks for everything, coach.” The confirmation came after a tense press conference. If you watched it, Conte and De Laurentiis disagreed over how much injuries had damaged Napoli’s title defence. De Laurentiis blamed injuries to key players, and Conte insisted Inter deserved the title.
Conte’s Time at Napoli
Conte joined Napoli in June 2024 on a contract running until 30 June 2027, but he didn’t see it out, citing a lack of unity as the reason for his departure.
He won the 2024–25 Serie A title in his first season, making him the first coach to win the Scudetto with three different clubs, adding Napoli to his name after Juventus and Inter. Napoli also won the Supercoppa Italiana under Conte, and De Laurentiis publicly praised the team after the win in December 2025.
But the ending fits a familiar Conte pattern. Conte seems to make a quick impact, brings high standards, creates tension with ownership, and leaves before the contract naturally expires. Tensions grew after a loss to Bologna and disagreements over January signings, while both Conte and De Laurentiis acknowledged the exit had been decided earlier in the season.
Where Could Conte Go Next?
The biggest link was the Italy national team job, and it still could happen despite Conte trying to squash the rumours. Multiple Italian reports in April and May placed Conte high on the shortlist.
That would mean Conte is finished with Serie A but not with Italy, and a move to a national-team role would remove transfer-market conflict.
That said, there are also Serie A rumour links. Football Italia reported talk of a possible coaching shuffle, with Milan pushing for Conte. Reuters also reported that Allegri, after being sacked by Milan, has been linked with Napoli or the Italy job, so maybe we’re about to see a manager swap.
Will This Finish His Serie A Career?
Probably not permanently, but it may close this chapter.
Conte’s Serie A reputation is still elite. Perhaps one of the most elite. He has won league titles with Juventus, Inter and Napoli, and he has repeatedly shown he can transform teams quickly. Clubs have and will still keep coming back to him.
But the same things that make him effective- his intensity, demands, pressure on ownership, transfer-market control- also make his club relationships fragile. He has literally struggled with every club, but he did rebuild Juventus, ended Inter’s long wait for the Scudetto, and brought Napoli back to the top.
And there are very few managers who don’t seem to clash with clubs, but Conte is famous for it, with his most explosive being from Tottenham after slamming his players and club ownership.
We’ll have to wait and see whether Antonio Conte will go to the Italian national team or move elsewhere. If he does leave Serie A, we doubt it’ll be forever. He definitely has a love/hate relationship with the league, and we don’t think he can leave the locker room yet.
