Serie A’s managerial rollercoaster is just warming up with Gattuso, Conte, Pirlo and Co on the move

The season may only just have come to an end in Italy, but clubs are already looking ahead to preparations for the next campaign.

Just days after the final ball was kicked, Fiorentina have named a new manager in the form of Gennaro Gattuso, who leaves his role at Napoli, leaving the Europa League qualifiers with a vacancy of their own to fill.

And the south coast side are far from the only ones looking for a new leader. Here, Sportsmail takes a look at the names closely linked with new roles around Italy this summer…

Gennaro Gattuso

Gennaro Gattuso is the right coach for any Italian and European club with Champions League ambitions, but he is still a little short on experience when it comes to running clubs with Scudetto ambitions.

Napoli had a man capable of transforming a locker room as soft as butter into a steel fist. His ability to motivate his players revived the club’s ambitions, but Napoli’s European failure prompted owner Aurelio De Laurentiis to change coach.

Gattuso now has the opportunity to make his mark with Rocco Commisso’s Fiorentina, a club with which he hopes he can acquire the experience necessary to become a top coach at a top club.

Gennaro Gattuso has left his role at Napoli and will take charge at Fiorentina from next season

The club has handed Gattuso a two-year deal with an option for a third, earning him €2.4m (£2.1m) a year.

According to the Corriere dello Sport, Gattuso was waiting until the final moments to accept the deal, holding out for a phone call from Juventus that never arrived. Despite interest, however, he did not speak to another club.

The priority of the former Napoli coach is to embrace a lasting technical project without external interference. Gattuso wants to be able to work and propose his own idea of ​​football without being considered the only culprit in the event of failures on the pitch.

Antonio Conte

Antonio Conte and Inter have, as was only to be expected, parted ways. The Scudetto party did not improve relations between manager and owner, borne out of an irredeemable fall-out.

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, after months of diplomatic problems between President Zhang and Conte, there was no hope of peace breaking out ahead of the 2021-2022 season, the last on the former Chelsea boss’s contract. And so it proved -with the news that the 51-year-old had left the club on Wednesday night.

Inter intend to move on a number of their top earners this summer in a bid to mitigate the substantial losses caused by the pandemic. The loans received by the club, most recently a €250m (£215m) agreement with Oaktree, merely prolongs their financial issues, as they look to tackle the suspension on wages already in place.

Antonio Conte has left Inter Milan, with his relationship with the owners beyond repair

Inter are serious about retaining the Scudetto, having won it for the first time in 10 years this season, but Champions League ambitions will not be a priority.

After the latest loan received from Zhang, club director Giuseppe Marotta will be charged with introducing wage cuts and getting the best price possible for players they want off the books. At least two major departures are expected.

The head coach will have to accept this strategy. That was something Conte just could not bring himself to do.

The coach wants to win and does not want to lower his earnings and the technical strength of the club. Conte wants to be a contender in every national and international competition and does not accept taking backward steps.

Christophe Galtier

Napoli president De Laurentiis called Christophe Galtier, the man who led Lille to Ligue 1 success this season, offering a three-year contract to take charge of the Serie A club.

According to L’Equipe, Galtier reportedly told reporters: ‘I spoke to Napoli, I leave Lille’. On the pages of the French newspaper, the coach talked further about the offer received from Italy.

‘I spoke to the president of my club, my story with Lille ends here,’ he continued. ‘Napoli is interested in me but also in other coaches. I don’t know what my ranking is in the Napoli hierarchy but this morning they called me.

Christophe Galtier has confirmed to the French press that he has held talks with Napoli 

‘Mine will never be a financial choice. If I had chosen the economic side, I would not be here in Europe.’

While Galtier protests there are other offers, there are several clues that suggest Napoli is the perfect venture, according to Gazzetta dello Sport.

The Frenchman works very well with young players and is the coach that launched Victor Osimhen’s rise to fame in France. Being reunited with the Nigerian forward could be a huge draw. Galtier is very attracted to the opportunity to gain experience in Serie A, a competition that has always fascinated French coaches.

Massimiliano Allegri 

Another name strongly linked with Napoli is that of Massimiliano Allegri. The 53-year-old has been without a job since leaving Juventus in 2019 and had long been linked with a move back into work.

Most of the jobs the former Milan boss has been linked with were on the continent – with Paris Saint-Germain once thought to be interested. With Zinedine Zidane having left Real Madrid, he had once again being touted for a job abroad.

However, with many clubs looking for a new man at the helm, Juventus have decided to act quickly to secure the return of their former boss. 

Massimiliano Allegri (right) is still a free agent but is heading back to manage Juventus again

Parting with club legend Andrea Pirlo – despite securing Champions League football on the final day of the season – Allegri will be installed for the upcoming campaign after two years away. 

That news will now force De Laurentiis and Napoli to look elsewhere, as there had previously been suggestions that Allegri was the top target at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.  

Luciano Spalletti and Simone Inzaghi, who Lazio confirmed was leaving his post on Thursday following a change of heart on his future, now appear frontrunners for that role, though that hasn’t always been the case…

Sergio Conceicao 

Whatever is still to come this summer, it will take something special to outdo the bizarre reports surrounding Napoli’s attempts – or non-attempts as might be the case – to land Sergio Conceicao.   

Conceicao’s incredible brush with Napoli was over in less than 24 hours. 

The young Porto coach had impressed De Laurentiis during this season but it has since become clear that he will not be the one to replace Gattuso in the shadow of Vesuvius.  

Sergio Conceicao was reportedly a top target for Napoli, but their owner played down interest

Speaking with Maisfutebol, De Laurentiis announced that he already has an agreement with the new coach but that ‘it won’t be Conceicao’.

‘I’ve never talked to him, it’s all false.’ According to counter claims, this couldn’t be further from the truth and is something quite altogether more incredible.  

As Corriere dello Sport attempted to explain, the 46-year-old had already booked a flight to Rome and, on the recommendation of Napoli, a room in a luxury hotel in the city for presentation to the media. 

Napoli president De Laurentiis had already organised the press conference in a well-known Roman hotel, only for the mood music to drastically shift. 

Aurelio De Laurentiis is busy searching for a new manager after Gattuso left Napoli 

During a sleepless night, president De Laurentiis completely changed his tact, and instead began looking for a different solution to his managerial vacancy.

The large hall of that Roman hotel near via XXIV Maggio, not far from the Filmauro headquarters, home of De Laurentiis, remained empty the following day. 

All media calls were cancelled after a 24-hour reflection and brought with it the abrupt halt of an agreement virtually already reached.