ANTONIO Conte IS interested in managing Manchester United – but only if the board wants to back his bid to win the Champions League, reports say.
The Italian is being linked with taking over from under pressure boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
And according to journalist Duncan Castles, Conte is interested in the prospect of returning to the Premier League should he have significant resources behind him and be allowed to play whichever formation he’d like.
Castles told the Transfer Window podcast: “I think there are two obvious candidates in terms of coaches who have achieved at the top level of the game, who are out of work and would be available to Manchester United without compensation fees.
“One is Zinedine Zidane and one is Antonio Conte. Conte’s position, I’m told, is that he is interested in the Manchester United job but not without restrictions.
“Antonio Conte, when he chooses his next club, wants a club where he can win the Champions League.
“He wants to demonstrate, he’s wanted to do it for a long time, that he is one of the very best coaches in world football.
“To do that he knows he has to win the Champions League, so Manchester United are interesting because of the squad they’ve got, because of their status and because of the resource that is behind them.”
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Despite United’s 3-2 comeback in the UCL against Atalanta mid-week, Sunday’s derby against rivals Liverpool is said to be a crucial decider in Solskjaer’s future.
But should Solskjaer get axed, club legend Peter Schmeichel believes Conte isn’t the man for United.
He told The Times: “You can say, ‘Conte is brilliant’. But he doesn’t stay anywhere for more than a couple of years.
“We are not that football club. We tried that already. It doesn’t work.
“Louis van Gaal didn’t win the Premier League, Mourinho didn’t. You say Conte or another name, it’s no difference.
“It’s about them and what they want to do in a small window of Manchester United’s big history.
“The problem Ole has is that in this world of quick fixes and fast news he has to win yesterday.
“It has to be delivered now. But it’s not the real world. We stopped that development for a period and our competitors closed the gap then ran away.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
