Alejandro Garnacho might approach a potential switch to Napoli with caution, given who their manager is.
The 20-year-old Manchester United winger has started just once since being brutally dropped from the squad by boss Ruben Amorim before the Manchester derby in December. Consequently, talk of a January departure has intensified, particularly with Napoli considering him a potential successor to PSG-bound Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
According to reports, Garnacho has agreed personal terms with the Serie A club. United are open to letting the Argentine leave, but are holding out for a fee upwards of £60million, a sum Napoli are unwilling to pay at the moment.
But while a move to Naples is being talked up, Garnacho may want to pay attention to the many concerning stories about playing under the club’s fiery manager, Antonio Conte, before making his final decision. The Italian, who typically wears his heart on his sleeve on the touchline, is no stranger to conflict, whether with a single player or his entire squad.
At Tottenham, he clashed with several first-team stars and infamously criticised the squad’s mental fortitude. Prior to his exit in March 2023, Conte delivered a scathing critique in a press conference following Spurs’ 3-3 draw with Southampton, in which his side conceded two late goals.
He labelled his players ‘selfish’ and condemned them for having a loser’s mentality. “They are used to it here,” he exploded. “They don’t play for something important. They don’t want to play under pressure. They don’t want to play under stress. It is easy in this way. Tottenham’s story is this.
“Until now, I try to hide the situation but there are 10 games to go and some people think we can fight. Fight for what? With this spirit, this attitude, this commitment? What? For seventh, eighth, 10th place?”
The Spurs squad was left reeling after Conte’s rant, despite the already ‘toxic’ atmosphere that had been brewing behind the scenes. It was claimed that some of the players wanted him to go after the tirade, and unsurprisingly, he was sacked shortly afterwards.
Conte’s time at Chelsea, although successful with a Premier League and FA Cup win, was also marred by strained relationships. His blunt way of managing came to the fore when he informed Diego Costa via text message that he was surplus to requirements, shocking not only Costa but the entire team, especially after the striker’s pivotal role in securing the league title weeks earlier.
Costa had previously pushed for a move to China and expressed a desire to return to Atletico Madrid, but was nonetheless taken aback by Conte’s harsh approach. As was former Chelsea star Willian, who recounted the incident to ESPN Brazil: “I was in Australia with Brazil and Diego texted me,” he said.
“He said ‘I’m leaving, Conte said he doesn’t need me anymore’. I said ‘What do you mean?’ And he said ‘He texted me saying that he doesn’t need me on the team anymore and I’m not supposed to go back’.
“You don’t lose a player like Diego Costa. It was a difficult situation… he also had a problem with David Luiz,” added Willian, who confessed that he would have left the club had Conte not been succeeded by Maurizio Sarri in the summer of 2018.
The Brazilian winger didn’t hide his feelings towards Conte, especially after Chelsea’s triumph in the 2018 FA Cup final against United, where he famously covered his manager up with emojis on Instagram. “Conte was a coach I found very hard to work with,” Willian explained. “The philosophy, his logic, I found it very complicated,” and added, “Some games I was playing well, and was taken off. I couldn’t understand.”
Conte’s intense training sessions are similarly notorious, not just for their physical demands but also for the heavy tactical drilling. Even Eden Hazard, who shone brightly under Conte, recently confessed his aversion to the Italian’s regimen on former Blues team-mate John Obi Mikel’s Obi One Podcast.
“All the week training. I was going out Saturday, I need to enjoy a little bit because I know the day after is going to be back on the training ground,” Hazard said. “I have to do something, it’s my only 90 minutes I can enjoy. You remember him, stopping, tactics, ‘No we have to do that’. Saturday [game day] was the best day for me.”
It suggests that Garnacho might want to tread carefully when it comes to joining Conte, despite former United midfielder Scott McTominay thriving under the coach since his £25million move to Napoli. United are open to letting him leave, not least to ease their Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) concerns (as a homegrown talent, Garnacho can be let go for ‘pure profit’).
However, unless they lower their asking price, a departure seems unlikely. Amorim recently confirmed that Garnacho was part of his plans moving forward but emphasised the need for improvement. “That is clear,” he said when asked if Garnacho had a bright future at Old Trafford.
“He has talent. He needs to learn to play in a different position. He needs to play better inside. He improves a lot in the recovering position when he doesn’t have the ball. But doing that, sometimes he’s not in the right place to make transitions like he was in the past. I prefer to defend and then build up with all the team to reach the final third.”
“He’s finding the best way to play in this system. He’s improving during training. He started the last game. Let’s see tomorrow. I think he changed the way he sees himself.”
The Red Devils are lining up a £40m move for Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo in the event Garnacho departs. That said, with both Marcus Rashford – who openly expressed a desire to leave the club last month – and Antony eyeing January exits too, Garnacho might be forced to shelve his plans, at least until the summer.
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