Napoli may be Serie A champions, but what must Antonio Conte's crew do to truly compete in Europe?

The 2024-25 season ended up becoming one of the most rewarding ones in the history of Napoli, as the Azzurri managed to win their fourth Scudetto in history in the first year under new manager Antonio Conte. Napoli won a head-to-head race against Inter on the last matchday of the season after the two teams struggled to confirm their dominance until the very end of the season. Despite the issues, Conte managed and deserved to win the Scudetto, the first manager to ever win the Serie A title with three different teams (Juventus, Inter and Napoli). 

The Bianconeri wanted to hire him again, but then the Italian manager decided to stay at Napoli after speaking with club owner Aurelio De Laurentiis, who convinced him to stay with the promise of signing more players ahead of the 2025-26 season. Conte wants to win, and him staying at the club means that at Napoli is where he thinks he can win more in the future, but can he also make that step outside of the country? 

Conte is well known to be a serial winner in the domestic leagues but was never able to win at the international level for multiple reasons. Can he make that step at Napoli? 

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Francesco Porzio

Why Conte decided to stay 

After winning the 2024-25 Serie A title, Conte took some days to reflect on his future as Juventus were pushing to appoint him again. Refusing to join the club of his life was a difficult decision to take for the Italian manager, but he stayed at Napoli mainly because he didn't want to start a new project from zero again, after doing so at Napoli in the summer of 2024. Last year, Napoli decided to make some key signings after a disappointing spell, which included former Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku, center back Alessandro Buongiorno and former Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay, who immediately became a key player for Conte and was named MVP of the 2024-25 season, scoring, among others, the key goal in the last match of the season. 

Despite the excitement of the first months at the club, Napoli's project under Conte had a setback in January when former team star Kvicha Kvaratskhelia was sold to PSG for around $75 million in the winter transfer window, and Napoli didn't immediately replace him as they were going to wait until the summer of 2025. It was a decision that left many doubtful about the impact it could have on their race for the title. Conte had to wait until July 2025 to see Napoli sign the replacement of the current Champions League winner, landing Noa Lang from PSV. 

Looking at the competitors right now, Conte's side is already the frontrunner to win another title. Inter replaced former manager Simone Inzaghi with Cristian Chivu and are going through some big changes this summer, while AC Milan appointed former Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri to start a new era at the club, and the same happened at Roma, where former Atalanta man Gian Piero Gasperini was appointed and replaced by Ivan Juric at his former club. Lazio and Fiorentina both changed their managers, and only Bologna with Vincenzo Italiano and Juventus with Igor Tudor decided to keep going with their coaches, if we only look at the top teams besides Napoli. 

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The KDB effect

It took a few weeks to understand why Conte agreed to stay, as Napoli are by far the most active Italian club when it comes to transfer business. The Azzurri already signed Noa Lang for $25 million and striker Lorenzo Lucca from Udinese on loan with an obligation to buy for a total of $30 million, and they are in advanced talks to sign both Sam Beukema and Dan Ndoye from Bologna, meaning Napoli are dreaming big while the competitors are struggling so far. On top of that, Napoli signed former Manchester City legend Kevin de Bruyne as a free agent, the cherry on top of the cake that Conte wanted to create this summer. The Belgian midfielder not only brings the quality and the experience Napoli needed but can also attract the interest of other players to the club, creating an exciting duo with McTominay. Napoli can dream big with De Bruyne, who can help the team, especially when it comes to the Champions League matches next season. 

Will Lukaku's injury impact the title race?

With a few days left to go before the start of the 2025-26 Serie A season, Napoli received a big setback with star striker Romelu Lukaku undergoing a medical test following an injury suffered during the friendly match against Olympiacos. The Belgian striker's evaluation "revealed a high-grade injury to the rectus femoris muscle in his left thigh" and he will "also undergo surgical consultation."

According to multiple reports, Lukaku is set to miss at least three months of action and the team coached by Conte might now need to look for a new attacking player in the last days of the summer transfer window, despite already signing Lorenzo Lucca from Udinese earlier this summer for around $30 million. Lukaku's injury is sure to have a big impact on the title race, as the former Chelsea player was one of the most important players on Napoli's march to their fourth Scudetto during the 2024-25 season, thanks not only to his goals, but also his leadership. 

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Will Napoli win outside Italy?

De Laurentiis was clear at the end of the 2024-25 season and over the years as well. After acquiring the club from bankruptcy, in 20 years, he was able to win two Serie A titles. However, De Laurentiis knows that the next step for the historical Italian team is to establish themselves outside the Italian Serie A, and this is also what Conte wants. It's not going to be easy, especially because the Azzurri want to continue winning in their domestic league, but it's the step needed right now. And by saying that, it doesn't necessarily mean winning the Champions League in the short term, but at least advancing and competing with the biggest teams around Europe. 

Conte was never able, for different reasons, to make it happen, but he also worked before to create the mentality needed for teams like Juventus and Inter that, immediately following his spells, reached European finals multiple times. He never had the chance to manage a team ready to win an international trophy, and this is probably the first team where this can potentially happen. There is a lot of work to be done, but the summer signings are telling us that Napoli are headed in the right direction, not only to confirm themselves in Italy but also outside of the country.