Napoli head coach Antonio Conte responds sharply to explosive claims from former Chelsea striker Diego Costa ahead of a crucial Champions League showdown
Antonio Conte did not hold back during his latest pre-match press conference as the Napoli head coach addressed a war of words involving former Chelsea striker Diego Costa, while also taking aim at comments made by rival coach Luciano Spalletti. With Napoli preparing to face Conte’s old club Chelsea in the Champions League on Wednesday, the Italian coach found himself defending both his reputation and his club.
Conte and Costa famously worked together during Chelsea’s 2016-17 Premier League title-winning campaign, with the striker scoring 20 league goals. However, the relationship has been revisited after Costa launched a scathing personal attack on his former manager while speaking with John Obi Mikel.
“Look, Conte’s OK as a professional coach,” Costa told the Obi One Podcast . “But as a person, he’s the worst thing you can have on a daily basis. It’s very bad. He’s a person who doesn’t trust others, he thinks he knows everything. You don’t enjoy training with him. He’s always angry, always with a long face. He probably doesn’t have sex at home because he’s a very bitter guy.”
Asked about the remarks, Conte responded bluntly, making it clear he had little interest in engaging with the criticism.
“Honestly I’m not a person to lose energy reading what the people say in the paper,” the 56-year-old said. “I know very well that around football, there are intelligent people, clever people and stupid people, so I don’t lose my time to spend my time to read intelligent people or stupid people.”
Conte then reflected briefly on his history with Costa at Stamford Bridge. “Costa was with me for a season, I can talk about the football: We won the league and then he tried to leave three times in the same season. After that, I don’t know what happened.”
Conte takes aim at Spalletti
The Napoli coach also took issue with comments from Juventus boss Luciano Spalletti, who won Serie A as Napoli boss in 2022/23. Spalletti recently referred to Napoli as the “former champions” despite them still holding the Scudetto.
“After the match, I prefer to switch off, especially when there are three games. I didn’t understand what he said. Former champions? If he said something like that, it wasn’t a good thing… it was an unfortunate thing. We still have the Scudetto on our chest and we need to show respect.”
Conte continued: “I would never have dared to say something like that about another team. I hear it now and I’m sorry because Luciano Spalletti is a good coach, but he needs to be a little more careful when he speaks. He can’t say that because there are still 16 games to go.
“And if he saw us so badly… he’s already taken the Scudetto away from us. It’s a shame because we worked so hard to secure it and we need respect. Good luck to him!”
As Napoli prepare for a crucial European night, Conte has ensured the spotlight remains firmly on the pitch, while making it clear he will not shy away from confrontation off it either.