Conte Departs Napoli a Year After Winning the Serie A Title

Antonio Conte has officially departed Napoli by mutual consent after the conclusion of the 2025-2026 season, even though his contract ran until 2027.

The club confirmed the decision on Monday with a brief four‑word statement, less than 24 hours after Conte announced his exit during a media conference where he and club president Aurelio De Laurentiis exchanged words.

Napoli finished the season with a 1-0 home win over Udinese on Sunday, securing second place behind Serie A champions Inter Milan.

“Without the injuries, we would have been the champions,” De Laurentiis said.

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The comments prompted an immediate response from Conte, who sat beside the president and urged greater respect for Inter’s achievements.

“That probably would not have happened,” Conte said. “Inter’s merits need to be recognised. I’m sorry, but I don’t like clinging to these things. We have to acknowledge others’ victories and show respect. If we want respect, we have to give it. Inter deserved to win the league, with injuries or not.”

Conte said the toxic atmosphere within the club had forced him to question his position.

“In Naples I failed in one thing – I was unable to unite you,” Conte said. “I have seen so much poison, so many weeds: those who spread poison are failures.”

“Napoli do not need this, these people should move away from Naples, which needs serious people.”

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“I failed from this point of view, and I realised that I would never be able to control the environment.”

“The moment you can’t do that, which for me is a fundamental thing to fight against the superpowers like Milan or Inter, I realised that I couldn’t change things, and I said that I was taking a step back.”

“I thank De Laurentiis because he gave me this opportunity. The Neapolitan fans understood me, this is the most important thing.”