Former Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is out of work and has been linked with Manchester United once again

Manchester United reportedly decided against appointing Antonio Conte as manager in 2021 due to his coaching style and the club's lack of leaders. The 57-year-old is out of work after leaving Napoli at the end of last season and has hinted he would be open to taking the job at Old Trafford.

United were rocked by a 4-1 defeat to Como in the Champions League, increasing pressure on manager Michael Carrick, who is expected to be in charge against Bournemouth on Sunday. The Red Devils are without a win in seven matches, prompting speculation about possible successors in the dugout.

“There are many clubs that have somewhat lost sight of their history. I’d like to go to one of these clubs to dust off that history and make it shine once more,” Conte told The Athletic, which has been viewed by many as a come-and-get-me plea to United. “Clubs where there’s pressure, where, ultimately, you know full well that you’re not going there just to take part, but to compete.”

Conte won a Premier League title with Chelsea in 2017 and most recently triumphed in Serie A with Napoli in 2025. However, United’s reasons for overlooking the former Italy boss in 2021 remain relevant five years later.

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The Daily Mail previously reported that United considered an approach for the ex-Chelsea boss shortly before the end of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's reign in November 2021. However, the Red Devils decided against targeting Conte as the club felt the United squad would not respond well to his micro-managing style.

Conte’s attention to detail and expectations for players to immediately carry out his instructions were claimed to be ill-suited to United’s squad at the time. There was also a concern that the team lacked leaders, which would also make adapting to Conte’s style challenging.

The Italian was out of work after leaving Inter Milan in 2021, where he had won Serie A, and was ultimately appointed Tottenham Hotspur boss that November. Meanwhile, Solskjaer left United later that month, with Ralf Rangnick arriving as interim manager.

Five years on, United displayed a stark lack of leadership in their 4-1 loss to Como and Conte has been linked with the job once more. While Carrick is set to take charge against Bournemouth, United would fit the criteria that Conte has outlined for his next test.

“If you go to a club where the history speaks for itself — a history made up of trophies, league titles and victories — you can only honour that history in one way: by having the ambition to bring that club back — if it isn’t there today — to fight for those goals,” he said to The Athletic. “I know full well that only one team can win every year, but I must carry in my heart — and instil in the hearts of the fans, my players and my directors — that spark, that hope that makes you say, ‘F***, we can win’.”

On the attraction of working in England, Conte added: “In England today they’re using bazookas, while everywhere else they’re still using a pistol. But we also need to be careful about how the money is spent. That’s why we were talking earlier about making the right assessments, about having a vision, because you may well have the money, but you have to spend it wisely.”

Conte boasts a significantly impressive coaching career, having won the fifth Serie A title of his career last year. However, former United star Ashley Young, who previously played under the coach at Inter, has warned that he may not be a good fit at Old Trafford.

“I think that’s one of the reasons why he doesn’t last long at places because not just the players, he tries to test mentally, but the board as well and the owners,” Young said on The Overlap Daily. “There has been a lot of talk about Man United’s running stats. If they’re not going to run and Antonio Conte goes in there, it’s going to be a disaster.”