Inter, Sergio Conceiçao for the post Inzaghi. There are also Conte, De Zerbi and Motta

When Antonio Conte decided to end his Nerazzurri adventure early, with a Scudetto in his pocket and many unknowns about the future of the squad, the Inter management met to quickly find a solution. The list included several Italian nominations, but there was also a great “foreign” temptation for an old acquaintance of our football: Sergio Conceiçao entered the list of possible Inter coaches in the summer of 2021 and has never been out since from future assumptions. Ambitious and well-prepared, young but with a great deal of international experience, and then also a “corporate” one, in the sense that he knows how to embrace the whole club project and in return only asks for maximum trust.

Dismiss clause

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He takes care of the rest, with work on the pitch and that strong personality that gets under the skin of the players. Inter have had the opportunity to see him at work again recently, as a rival. And he saw how a technically inferior team took the field with the soul and awareness of a big name in European football. Daughter of the history of the club, of course, but also – if not above all – of the leadership of his coach: Conceiçao at Porto is considered an institution and still has one year on his contract. In the city he is very popular and for the fans he is the real untouchable. It won’t be easy, therefore, to succeed and snatch him from the very president Pinto Da Costa, but Sergio’s ambition is enormous and it would be difficult for him to say no to Inter, even if it were a reconstruction project. There was a first contact, an exploratory one. We’ll see. Sure, making the Champions League or not makes all the difference in the world and could be the most important variable, while to date the real stumbling block for Inter seems to be the termination clause. Also because dealing with Porto is anything but a walk in the park and they know this well in Viale della Liberazione. But Sergio’s desire to one day return to Italy as a coach is also known to all, to confront the championship that saw him explode when he was a footballer. “How exciting it is to return to San Siro – said Conceiçao before the double Champions League match in the round of 16 -, everyone knows the bond I have with Italy: it has always remained in my heart”.

Two years after

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Conceiçao and Inter have known each other for some time and know what one can give to the other. Two summers ago he was “burned” on the final straight by his friend Simone Inzaghi also because he was not convinced that he had concluded his adventure at Porto. Inter and Napoli probed the ground, but in the meantime Sergio was discussing his new contract, as a top coach, with the Lusitanian management. And in the end he was right, as he won his third championship with the Porto club last year. This year, however, Sergio has had some difficulties which, however, have not held back his desire to grow and emerge, as evidenced by the group win in the Champions League. And two days ago he also indulged in the whim of beating Benfica (Inter’s next opponent and first in the standings) at home.

The others

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Conceiçao has grown over the years and has many pros to take into account. Meanwhile, he is a flexible technician, not tied to a single game system. Porto constantly sheds his skin, even if the reference system remains the 4-2-3-1. The ability to adapt to the material available and the ability to improve the players have made Sergio a highly respected coach even outside Portugal. Inter like him, but he’s clearly not the only name on Marotta and Ausilio’s list. The dream of Antonio Conte’s return is always alive, even if – at least to date – it is always a dream. Then there are the strong candidacies of two young players on the rise, such as Roberto De Zerbi and the former Thiago Motta, one of the men in the 2010 Treble, already much loved by the Nerazzurri. De Zerbi is amazing England with his courageous and positional football. Of course, the current squad doesn’t go well with the key concepts of De Zerbi’s football beliefs and it is logical that a choice of this type would mean knowing that you have to intervene heavily on the transfer market. But De Zerbi is very popular and his candidacy remains strong. But Motta’s run-up shouldn’t be underestimated either, much more malleable than De Zerbi in terms of technical requests. Motta is experiencing a great season at the helm of Bologna, close to the European zone. He aspires to become a top club coach (the dream of coaching PSG, where he trained, has been known for some time) and at Inter he could have the great chance to start competing for the title. He has personality and ideas: the perfect mix to form the basis for a possible revolution.