Longari: ‘Obsession with victory right from the start’ – Conte wants ‘multi-year’ project at Milan | OneFootball

A journalist has claimed that Antonio Conte would be willing to make concessions on his usual demands in order to join AC Milan and start a multi-year project.

The likes of Sergio Conceicao and Paulo Fonseca are among the names that have been most concretely linked to Milan as they look for Stefano Pioli’s successor, and yet there is still a rather vocal portion of the fanbase calling for Conte.

The Italian has been out of work since leaving Spurs last year and is believed to be keen on returning to his home country to start a new project. Despite this, it seems that Milan are looking for a different kind of profile because of the concerns about salary and investment.

In an editorial on Sportitalia (via Radio Rossonera), the journalist Gianluigi Longari continued the discussion on Conte and whether he could still end up joining the Rossoneri.

“Starting from the factual data, to try to get as close as possible to reality, is an obligatory exercise in relating to the mystery that most holds sway in this phase which anticipates a market session that will be characterised by the waltz of the benches.

“Who will coach Milan? It is the question that everyone would like to answer with even just a semblance of certainty, but at this moment the enigma has not yet found a solution that can be defined as unequivocal.

“The news can lend a hand in this sense, analyzing the genesis of the candidatures that via Aldo Rossi is taking into consideration. The name that ignites the enthusiasm of the square in a natural and unmistakable way is that of Antonio Conte.

“With regards to the former Juventus, Inter and Tottenham coach, it is appropriate to clear the field of any possible preconceptions. When you think of the Salento-born coach, it’s easy to understand the equation that includes a pharaonic salary and a very expensive transfer campaign, too much for a club that makes sustainability one of its flagships.

“The reality we have verified, on the contrary, tells us of an openness on the part of the Conte himself in embracing a project that can have a multi-year duration, which is aimed at construction and not at the obsession with victory right from the start.

“A possible scenario provided there is a clarity of communication that avoids identifying the coach as the man of providence and success at any cost and in the immediate future, but rather sees him as a fundamental piece of a much more structured mosaic.

“The evaluations of the Rossoneri management start from here, with respect to a possible contact of which we are not aware, and which consequently includes the list of candidates for which we also had the opportunity to obtain direct confirmations.

“The Sergio Conceicao idea saw the light in the last days of the past month, when Villas-Boas won the elections as the new President of Porto and consequently Jorge Mendes automatically thought about the opportunity of proposing a winning and top-level coach to one of the most glorious societies in Europe.

“Milan have taken note of the Portuguese agent’s proposal, appreciate it and are evaluating it, with the fear of the risk that tying the arrival of a coach to one of the most influential agents in the football world would entail.

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“A meeting between Sergio Conceicao and Villas Boas is expected in the next few hours which goes beyond that of a few hours ago in the presence of flashes and cameras. We will talk about the project, and about relationships that have not always been idyllic, especially with the Porto legend Jorge Costa.

“Paulo Fonseca is another coach who was proposed to Milan by his agents, and who after an initial stand-by had gained a foothold in the considerations of the Rossoneri management.

“The fiercest competition in this perspective is that of Marseille, who would have no further evaluations to make in order to entrust the former Roma coach with his destiny even in a wide range, and is pushing on the accelerator pedal to receive a positive response which protect yourself from any kind of twist.

“At the same time as these candidatures, Milan were also submitted to that of Maurizio Sarri, as we had the opportunity to report a couple of weeks ago, without there having been any noteworthy development at the moment.

“The widespread impression is that a decision will be made known (therefore not taken) only at the end of the current season, that is when the separation with Stefano Pioli will be reached, who still remains tied to the Rossoneri by another year of contract.

“Not that the Scudetto coach lacks alternatives, for heaven’s sake, because in addition to the courtship of Napoli which we had the opportunity to talk about some time ago with Alfredo Pedullà, it is worth mentioning the concrete appreciation also from Sartori’s Bologna who the AC Milan coach has enormous respect for.”