Antonio Conte SSC Napoli

‘Too much of a manager’: The real reason Milan did not consider Antonio Conte

Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images

After AC Milan’s defeat to Napoli on Tuesday night, questions have once again resurfaced regarding why Antonio Conte was not hired.

Conte was the coach that some Milan fans had loudly called for during the summer when Stefano Pioli was relieved of his duties, because they believed he represented a step towards more ambitious goals.

He is a proven winner in Italy, and the lesson taught by his Napoli at San Siro on Tuesday night did nothing but confirm the thesis of fans and insiders, who now see Conte’s side 11 points above Milan so early in the season.

Zlatan’s words and Pellegatti’s thesis

Perhaps due to the fact that it seemed to be such an obvious marriage between Milan and Conte heading into the summer, journalists continued to ask questions even during Paulo Fonseca’s unveiling.

Ibrahimovic was asked to explain why Milan seemingly never considered Conte, and his response was that he is ‘too much of a manager’. The Italian was someone that the club did not want/think they needed given the vast range of figures with decision-making power present in the management.

In this sense, Fonseca represented the ‘low profile’ coach, i.e. someone not inclined to exist and potentially thrive within the collegial decision-making scheme, and to not be very outspoken in the media nor demanding in terms of investments.

Yet so far Fonseca has proven to be much less of a ‘yes man’ than was assumed, even taking difficult decisions without hiding behind some circumstantial declarations made to the media.

The Portuguese has ended up becoming a ‘manager’, also because the repeated absence of the directors at Milanello has left him managing the squad alone.

The journalist and insider Pellegatti explained this concept to Pressing, making a comparison with Conte’s style and how there actually might not have been much of a difference.

“Of course there are regrets. Ibrahimovic explained his no to Conte by saying that Milan were looking for a coach and not a manager. But at the moment Fonseca, for better or for worse, is acting like a manager because he is always alone at Milanello,” he said.

“They say that there are always contacts, but telephone contacts are one thing, the players need to see the directors. The day after the heavy 2-0 defeat against Napoli with Milan at -11 or -8 if they win the recovery match against Bologna, there was no one at Milanello from the management.

“Fonseca, for better or worse, is working as a manager. So to leave him alone at Milanello they might as well have got Conte. He would have come running and with great enthusiasm to the Rossoneri.”

Conte, Milan and Napoli
Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images

So why not Conte?

Having chalked off the ‘too much of a manager’ reason, now the question remains: what is the real reason that Milan didn’t hire Conte?

As our colleagues at SempreMilan.it explain, the differences between the Italian coach and Fonseca are there and are also well marked. However, they differ greatly from the theoretically ‘managerial’ motivation put forward by Ibrahimovic and the Milan management.

The main, if not only, reason why Conte’s name was discarded by Milan is purely economic. The Salento coach has in fact signed a contract with Napoli until 2027 worth €6.5m net per season.

That is over €4m more than what Fonseca received at Milan, but it is a gap that Milan would have filled by saving on the salary of the sacked Pioli. The Rossoneri management did not terminate the deal with the previous coach so anticipated having to pay him for 2024-25, before he joined Al-Nassr.

The salary factor is probably not the one that weighs most in the leadership’s decision not to focus on Conte. The real difference lies in the market requests that the former Chelsea and Spurs coach made to Napoli once he took office.

lukaku conte buongiorno

In the 2024-25 summer window, the Neapolitans spent a whopping €149.5m on the arrival of six players. Alessandro Buongiorno, Romelu Lukaku, Scott McTominay, David Neres, Billy Gilmour and Rafa Marìn all arrived – with most specific requests from the new coach – while they only earned €11.5m from sales.

On the contrary, Milan were able to back Fonseca with a summer window that cost half of what Napoli’s did. They spent €71.7m, but they were able to collect €33.3m from the exits of Charles De Ketelaere, Rade Krunic, Pierre Kalulu, Jan-Carlo Simic and Yacine Adli, including some loan fees.

Perhaps Conte at Milan – who finished second and not 10th like Napoli last season, something the coach himself pointed out – would have asked for less investment in the Rossoneri squad, but who can say?

What matters is that the signings and sales Milan and Napoli made produces a difference of €100m, which is more than enough to justify – at least in the eyes of the management – how Conte was perhaps not ‘too much of a manager’, but certainly too ambitious to take the reins of this Milan.

Tags AC Milan Antonio Conte

24 Comments

  1. 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🇵🇹🇺🇲👍🏻‼️🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮‼️‼️‼️

  2. OK, everybody, this needs to be said. Please, stop going on and on and on about Conte. That ship has sailed and plenty has been written about it already. Y’all have no idea, anyway, how the Conte era will end at Napoli. He tends to start well and burn out quickly.
    Regardless, he is not ACM’s coach, find something else to write about.

    1. I totally agree with you on Conte possible changing later. But its Milan suffered a lot from bringing mid to starter managers for a decade now. For us to move the ladder of top performing team again in Europe we need a TOP manager who brings the changes in mentality of a wining team, put a fighting squad and make the best of what we have. ACM lost its ever known defending and literally without a top scoring star player for years now. Believe me money will come with changes from top to bottom then you will see our Milan.

  3. If they don’t compete off the pitch they will never be able to win on the pitch. There is no such thing as little input leading to massive output. No club can survive competition with the bare minimum. Greed is the problem of the management.

  4. IMO two reasons why ACM management & owner didnt want Conte. 1. Too expensive and 2 Conte has a strong character and would not accept b/sh*t from management including Zlatan. This is something no one at ACM wants.

  5. Motta, conte, sarri, de zerbi, should’ve been our shortlist. Instead those geniuses went Lopetegui, fonseca
    Motherfùckers

  6. It’s way too late but it’s clear to everyone that Conte instantly transforms a team into a winning team. Makes all the players play with grinta. But in two years it all blows up, but I would have gladly taken that then what we are currently experiencing.

    Fonseca who I thought was supposed to be a manager that players admire and look up to has been the total opposite. It’s like he came here and flexed his muscles and so did the players and they’re bumping heads. There’s something going on behind the scenes because it’s really weird with players like leao, theo, tomori.

    On a tactical note. I don’t see him being the complete reason on why we don’t win games. When players have over 15 shots per game with no goals and miss penalties how can that blame be put on fonseca? Everybody from the management to players had to take blame for this mess and if the results don’t come should fonseca be sacked? Perhaps. But they better bring in somebody that’s going to change this season around. It’s a brutal year that’s for sure. At this point I enjoyed the youth players in preseason and how great they played than seeing these pretty boys putting up a fight. With their own team.

    With leao, he’s a great player taking nothing away from him but I said from last year he should be sold. He may be great on a team like barcelona but it’s no coincidence nobody wanted him. He’s not a team player and doesn’t fit into many teams tactically.

    1. Conte only coaches Serie A teams well when they play in only one competition.
      Happened at Juve, happened at Inter, and it’s happening now. Every time he won a Scudetto, it was because his team only had the Scudetto to play for.
      Man can’t seem to juggle the needs of more than one competition. Probably also why he hasn’t won a UCL knockout game in over 12 years.

  7. Getting “too much of a manager” to lead Milan would mean smaller role to Zlatan & Moncada. The two who are extremely incompetent in their current roles. So yeah, not going to happen as long as those two have anything to say in the club.

  8. Haha the clown in action. He reportedly wanted Conte this summer. Inject your money, Milan fans, and get the latest lies and pitiful drama. Even the Maldini haters must regret him now, it doesn’t seem so easy to win a Scudetto after all.

  9. Let’s be real folks, the reason Conte or Sarri or whoever weren’t considered was because of their huge wages. The management was still paying Pioli so they had to find a coach who isn’t too expensive and Fonseca is barely earning 2,5M€ a year and has a 2 years contract. Someone like Conte would’ve asked for a good chunk of money and a long contract. That’s also the same reasons why they always go for cheap players from Ligue 1 even if a better FREE player is available (Hummels,..) or sometimes another better cheap player (Hojbjerg). Most of the players targeted ask for a relatively low wage (with the exception of Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Chukwueze and Morata).
    Another thing is that Conte WILL criticize the management if things don’t go in his way. Fonseca so far, aside from benching some players, neved spoke ill of the management.

  10. That’s funny, because a manager – someone with a clear vision – is exactly what Milan is missing.

    Conte doesn’t fit the plans because it doesn’t seem like RedBird is planning any immediate changes. Just long term growth and acquisitions. Gerry playing the long game.

    1. Like I said, getting Conte would have meant smaller role for the egoistic Zlatan and the bum Moncada. They couldn’t allow that even when they knew it would be better for the club.

  11. “Gerry playing the long game.”
    Ah, yes, the famous “long game”.
    The long right now looks more like getting 90 points across 2 seasons instead of getting them in one season.

    1. It feels like an eternity already. Until the next year zero that is. But this time it’s the year zero for the f’ed up management.

    2. Makes sense why they hired Fonseca then, doesn’t it? He has plenty of time to put together a system in place and nobody is going to be breathing down his neck about immediate results. “Just get us top four”…

  12. It is like ‘you but cheap, you buy twice’. Yes Conte’ salary is more and he demanded more for transfer. But think about it, Napoli’s players values are at least maintained or increases. But just look at Leao’s worth now. All Milan players’ value has come down since Fonseca apply.

  13. Imagine you want to get a worse coach because he costs less and has no idea who he wants to sign. What a waste of Milan. Let’s get the guy that has no idea what he wants so we can buy players we thought would be ok. Great idea clowns.

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