Manchester United close to 'reaching agreement' with Antonio Conte: report

Manchester United target Antonio Conte looks on from the bench while managing Tottenham, 2022 — Conte is lurking for the Red Devils job (Image credit: Alamy)

Manchester United are in talks with Antonio Conte to take over as manager.

That's according to one report, with the Red Devils already planning beyond Michael Carrick, who took the club to third in the Premier League last season but has picked up only six points from the opening six games of this campaign.

Carrick only signed a permanent contract with Manchester United over the summer and oversaw a summer rebuild – but with the club already 12 points off the league summit, Antonio Conte is looming in the background.

Antonio Conte has teased his desire for the Manchester United job already

Manchester United's soon-to-be replaced home ground, Old Trafford — Manchester United are having a bad start to the season (Image credit: Getty Images)

In an interview with The Athletic, Conte appeared to soft-launch his return to a big European club, hinting that he wanted his next job to be somewhere not “just to take part, but to compete”.

“There are many clubs that have, in some way, lost sight of their history,” the Italian said. “I would like to go to one of those clubs to dust off that history and make it shine again.

“Clubs where there is pressure, where, ultimately, you know very well that you are not going there just to take part, but to compete.”

Italian outlet Tuttomercatoweb have followed up on reports that Conte is in talks with Manchester United, noting he is “reaching an agreement”, which suggests the two parties won't have trouble striking a deal.

Conte most recently took charge of Napoli in Serie A, delivering the Partenopei's fourth Scudetto, leaving a season later.

The Lecce-born coach hasn't managed a club for longer than two years since his silverware-laden spell in Turin with Juventus over a decade ago – but in the time since, he has been at two separate Premier League clubs with a degree of success at both.

In 2017, Conte became just the second manager to win a league title against Pep Guardiola when he lifted the Premier League with Chelsea, revolutionising English football at the time with his back three.

Michael Carrick has struggled this season (Image credit: Getty Images)

Conte left Chelsea in 2018 after lifting the FA Cup in a poorer second season but returned to English football three years later to take Tottenham Hotspur into the Champions League after arriving midseason.

In the interim, he lifted another Serie A title with Inter Milan.

United travel to Atletico Madrid tonight, as Champions League action returns this week.

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Mark White has been at on FourFourTwo since joining in January 2020, first as a staff writer before becoming content editor in 2023. An encyclopedia of football shirts and boots knowledge – both past and present – Mark has also represented FFT at both FA Cup and League Cup finals (though didn't receive a winners' medal on either occasion) and has written pieces for the mag ranging on subjects from Bobby Robson's season at Barcelona to Robinho's career. He has written cover features for the mag on Mikel Arteta and Martin Odegaard, and is assisted by his cat, Rosie, who has interned for the brand since lockdown.