Manchester United have reached out to Antonio Conte to sound out his availability, according to Italian outlet Calciomercato, whose reporting has been picked up across English coverage over the past week.
The 57-year-old has been without a club since his exit from Napoli at the end of the 2025-26 Serie A season. He is understood to want a serious project before he returns to a dugout, and the Italian coverage places him at the top of a shortlist United are drawing up in case results do not turn. Sources close to the club have pushed back on the framing, insisting no formal contact has taken place.
Carrick’s month gets worse
Michael Carrick was appointed on a permanent basis in the summer, after steering United to a third-place finish as interim head coach.
United sit 12th in the Premier League after five games, with one win, two draws and two defeats to their name. Domestic losses have come against newly promoted Hull City and Manchester City, and Brighton knocked them out of the League Cup at Old Trafford. The 5-2 home win over Ipswich Town remains their only Premier League victory.
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Five titles, and a bruising exit
Conte carries as heavy a CV as any manager on the market. Five Serie A titles at Juventus, Inter and Napoli, a Premier League with Chelsea in 2016-17, an FA Cup the following year.
The reservations are just as visible in the reporting. His two spells in England ended messily, and his exit from Napoli was public and bitter. On the day he left, he told reporters after Napoli’s final league match against Udinese:
“I’ve seen a lot of poison, and those who spread it are failures.”
Handing a squad in disarray to a manager who typically demands full authority and clashes with the layer above him is flagged in the English coverage as the central risk, particularly under a structure headed by sporting director Jason Wilcox and chief executive Omar Berrada.
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Juventus in the same race
United are not alone in the market. Juventus are also weighing a move for Conte, according to the same Italian reporting. Alternative names being aired at Old Trafford include Aston Villa’s Unai Emery and former Newcastle boss Eddie Howe, multiple outlets report.
Carrick has the international break to steady the room. United’s next Premier League fixture is at home to Tottenham on Saturday, 10 October, followed three days later by an away trip to Atlético Madrid in the Champions League.
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