'It's been an honour': Conte confirms exit from Napoli after two years at club

[p][b]"It's been an honour, really special to coach [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/napoli/69Dxbc61/"]Napoli[/a]... It's been two great seasons, an exceptional experience,"[/b] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/conte-antonio/23vSAc12/"]Conte[/a] told reporters.[/p][p][b]"It was my decision, I told the chairman a few weeks ago... Napoli will always be home."[/b][/p][p]Conte, who won last season's league title with Napoli, is widely tipped as the favourite to take over as Italy coach once a new president of the country's football federation is elected next month.[/p][p][b]"My advice would be to hire Pep Guardiola,"[/b] said Conte.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hojlund-rasmus/0lk9Mt7D/"]Rasmus Hojlund[/a], now a permanent signing after Napoli qualified for the Champions League last weekend, rattled in his 16th goal of a successful first season in Italy to give his team [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/napoli-69Dxbc61/udinese-rXw8YKDE/?mid=2kS4uVhK"]a win on the final day of the season.[/a][/p][image alt="Napoli finished the season in second place" id="d01341e8-727e-438d-bccc-da54dc9e207f" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="b1867d2c-b40c-406d-abe5-065a18f71819" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p][b]However, it will be a summer of changes in southern Italy, with Bologna's Vincenzo Italiano the man most cited as Conte's replacement.[/b][/p][p]Napoli's owner, Aurelio De Laurentiis, has rejected a $2 billion offer to acquire the club from a group of investors led by Underdog Global Partners.[/p][p]De Laurentiis has enjoyed frequently tense relations with Napoli fans despite being the man who saved the club from bankruptcy in 2004, and who ended a 33-year wait for a league title.[/p][p]That 2023 Scudetto, one of the biggest stories of the century in European football, was followed up by another last season under Conte, who, after the match, did a lap of the pitch to bid the fans farewell.[/p][embed guid="fa06a34e-22e5-43e9-9eb7-1777c4450a7c" url="https://x.com/sscnapoli/status/2058607949459677623" social-type="twitter" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/soccer/italy/serie-a/"]Follow the Serie A results with Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]