Antonio Conte eyes under-fire Mourinho’s job at Roma

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 7 Oct 2023 12:50 BST
• 3 min read

Antonio Conte is casting an ever-growing shadow on Jose Mourinho at Roma.

Mourinho is under heavy pressure in the Italian capital after overseeing the worst start to a season of his career - as well as as Roma’s worst start in the three-points-for-a-win era in Serie A.

The Giallorossi have won only two of their opening seven Serie A matches and find themselves down in 13th position in the table.

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Mourinho’s future at the club is very much in doubt as his contract expires at the end of the season.

Conte is the favourite with the bookmakers to replace Mourinho at the end of the season.

The Italian is the highest profile name available on the market, having achieved incredible success with Juventus, Chelsea, the Italy national team and Inter.

His last job at Tottenham ended sourly earlier this year but he remains one of the best managers on the planet.

It is understood that Conte would welcome the job at Roma but his salary could be a contentious aspect in negotiation as he will demand €7-8 million per year.

Another contentious aspect will be Conte’s demands in the transfer market, with Roma having overseen a period of austerity over the last year and having also been affected by FFP sanctions.

The players at Roma would appear to suit Conte as Mourinho already plays in his favoured 3-5-2 formation.

The presence of Romelu Lukaku is also a carrot for Conte, even if the Belgian is only there on an initial loan.

Sections of the Italian media even believe that Conte taking over during the current season cannot be ruled out.

If Mourinho isn’t able to improve the form of Roma in the coming weeks, then the calls for Conte will grow louder.

The Portuguese is still very popular with Roma’s fans after leading the club to historic back-to-back European finals, winning the UEFA Conference League in 2022 and being runners-up on penalties to Sevilla in the Europa League in 2023.