Conte is, on paper at least, the perfect fit. He has won league titles in England and Italy, with the likes of Chelsea, Juventus, Inter Milan and Napoli. He brings trophies, charisma and high standards. He would be a firework appointment, one to immediately ignite sparks within fans and players.
Except United are too scared to hire him.
In 2021, Conte was available when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was dismissed following a dreadful 4-0 defeat away at Watford. Instead, on that occasion, they went with Ralf Rangnick to steady the ship before Erik ten Hag was brought in on a permanent basis. By the time their season had fizzled out under Rangnick, Conte was already back in management at Tottenham. His time in north London failed to live up to expectations but Spurs, to their own dismay, are a cursed club. Nobody, barring Mauricio Pochettino, has really done well there in the past 15 years.
United still carry some scars of the Jose Mourinho era. Mourinho, like Conte, is a combustible champion. After guiding the Red Devils to second in the standings in 2018, he demanded significant investment to help them reach the next level.
