Naples, Conte and De Laurentiis friends beyond the divorce

“I met Antonio many years ago in the Maldives, he was with his daughter Vittoria and his wife Elisabetta. We went swimming together and talked about football.” Thus was born the friendship between Antonio Conte and Aurelio De Laurentiis. Word of the president of Napoli, who has never made a secret of it, also admitting at the Gazzetta Sport Awards 2025 his admiration for the coach who signed Italy’s fourth scudetto: “At the time I didn’t know football perfectly, but I immediately sensed his desire to win, his hunger”. The relationship between De Laurentiis and Conte is not just a relationship of professional esteem, but much deeper, sublimated by the bond between the wives Jacqueline and Elisabetta and by the friendship between Conte’s daughter, Vittoria, and Adl’s nephew, John. It’s a family story, made up of evenings together and boat trips.

between friendship and work

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Precisely one year ago, on the occasion of the championship triumph, Antonio Conte joined the president in Ischia so as not to miss his seventy-sixth birthday. The images of Jacqueline and Elisabetta are memorable, side by side on the open-top bus during the celebrations of the fourth championship. Chatter, confidences and winks, which must have had a significant specific weight in Conte’s choice to stay in Naples, given that only a few hours earlier De Laurentiis had wished him good luck. In short, from the crystal clear waters of the Maldives, to the Gulf of Naples, De Laurentiis transformed what at first might have seemed only a suggestion (Conte on the Napoli bench) into a reality, made up of results, trophies, but also compromises.

confidentiality

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Courted already in the tenth place season, Conte declined the invitation, not wanting to take on a team in the running, postponing the discussion until the end of the season. Only a few months later he said yes to Adl, who gave his friend and new coach a royal presentation at Palazzo Reale. From that moment, ADL began to practice the art of confidentiality. In Conte’s two-year period at Napoli, Aurelio De Laurentiis reduced his public appearances, interviews and statements to a minimum. And, judging by his constant and at times cumbersome presence in the year of tenth place, ADL’s discretion was an irrefutable demonstration of friendship, esteem and respect. For the first time in the recent history of Napoli, the Azzurri owner left the reins of the club in Conte’s hands, restoring the image of a manager-coach. The coach took care of the transfer market, of the management of the dressing room, and became the direct expression of SSC Napoli in public. So much so that the president has found the time and tranquility to dedicate himself to his great passion, cinema. Trying his hand at new productions and often flying to Los Angeles.

support

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Even in difficult moments of the season, De Laurentiis always made his support for Conte felt. During the post-Bologna mini crisis, last November, when the coach indulged in rather harsh statements with days of leave in Turin, De Laurentiis reassured everyone with a long post on

peaceful farewell

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Two intense years, which could have become three if Conte had not announced that he was leaving Napoli early. Without disagreements, amicably. Without pec, penalties and any type of claim. The manner of the professional separation between De Laurentiis and Conte gives the idea of ​​the true and sincere relationship between the two. A friendship that will not end with the coach’s departure from Naples. De Laurentiis has already invited Antonio to his residence in Los Angeles, on the occasion of the stay scheduled for next June. Who knows, out of friendship, he might have asked him for advice on the new coach to place on the bench.