Antonio Conte confirmed he is leaving Napoli after their 1-0 win over Udinese on the final day, but he made clear the decision had already been taken. Speaking after the match, Conte said he had told the president a month earlier that his journey was coming to an end. He framed the exit around a fractured environment rather than results alone.

Why Conte says he is leaving

Conte's strongest explanation was also his bleakest. He told goal.com: "I've seen a lot of poison and those who spread it are failures. Napoli doesn't need failures, those who need a like. It needs serious people who want to love the team, just like the fan who pays for the ticket, instead these people should stay away because they are harmful."

That is not the language of a manager leaving over one bad afternoon. Conte presented the split as something deeper inside Napoli, and he tied it to his own sense that he had not managed to build enough unity around the club.

He also removed any doubt over whose call this was. Conte said: "I called the president a month ago, I didn't want to know anything and I told him 'by virtue of the friendship we have, I perceive that my journey here is about to end'. The decision was taken by me."

That matters because it rules out the lazy reading of this as a post-match exit. Napoli had just beaten Udinese 1-0, but Conte said the break was decided well before the final whistle on the season.

There is one point in the reporting where the timeline gets messy. BBC described Conte as leaving 12 months after winning Serie A, while goal.com and Football Italia framed his spell as two seasons. The latter appears more consistent with the rest of the brief, so the safer read is that Conte is going after two seasons, not one.

The results were good enough, even if Europe was not

Conte's frustration lands differently because Napoli did not implode domestically. They finished second in Napoli's Serie A campaign with 76 points, 11 behind Inter Milan's 87. That is a clear gap to the champions, but it is still the profile of a strong league season rather than a failed one.

Conte hinted at that himself when he told Football Italia: "I think some of what we did this season was under-rated."

He has a point, at least in league terms. Second place with 76 points is a decent return. The bigger problem was that Napoli never looked close enough to Inter across the full race, and their European campaign was much worse. They failed to reach the Champions League knockout phase, finishing 30th in the league phase with 8 points.

So the final picture is awkward rather than disastrous. Conte is leaving a team that remained competitive in Serie A, but not one that convinced him the wider environment was worth staying in.

What Conte said about the Italy job

Conte also tried to cool the immediate speculation over Italy. He did not leave much room for anyone to claim an agreement is already in place.

Speaking to BBC, Conte said: "My advice would be to hire Pep Guardiola." He pushed the point further with Football Italia: "Is the FIGC ready to have a top coach? Right now, there's nothing. Do they have the funds to hire Guardiola?"

That is a fairly blunt dismissal of the idea that his next move is already settled. The Italy links will not disappear, because this is Antonio Conte and vacancy talk follows him quickly, but the brief is clear on one point: there is zero agreement with the federation.

What remains is a split that Conte wanted on his terms. He leaves Napoli after a season that ended with second place on 76 points, a final-day win over Udinese, and a press conference in which he said the decision had been made a month earlier.

FAQ

Why did Antonio Conte leave Napoli after the season ended?

Conte said the decision was his and that he told the president a month earlier his journey at Napoli was about to end. He framed the exit around a toxic atmosphere, saying he had seen a lot of poison and that he had failed to create enough compactness around the club.

Has Antonio Conte agreed to become Italy coach?

No. Conte said there is zero agreement with the FIGC and shut down the idea of an immediate deal. He even suggested Pep Guardiola as the ideal appointment, while also questioning whether the federation has the resources to hire a top coach.

Did Napoli have a bad season under Antonio Conte?

Not in league terms. Napoli finished second in Serie A with 76 points, 11 behind Inter Milan on 87. The bigger blemish was Europe, where they failed to reach the Champions League knockout phase after finishing 30th in the league phase with 8 points.

Did Antonio Conte leave Napoli after one season or two?

The reporting in the brief is mixed. BBC described the exit as coming 12 months after winning Serie A, while goal.com and Football Italia described Conte's spell as two seasons. The stronger weight in the brief points to a two-season tenure, and that is how the exit is most consistently framed.

Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →