An anonymous notebook reportedly found on the Turin-Lecce train has produced a peculiar imagined tour of Antonio Conte’s possible next moves across Italian football and beyond. Investigators currently believe the document is a fake, comparing its status to the notorious fake Modigliani heads, but its dated notes have nevertheless sketched out a fantasy season of managerial ambition.
Quick facts
- The notebook was said to have been discovered on the Turin-Lecce route and was tentatively linked to Antonio Conte.
- Its entries run from 16 September to 12 October.
- The notes touch on Milan, Juventus, Napoli, Italy’s political scene, Roma, Tottenham and Ferrari.
- Investigators’ current view is that the notebook is not genuine.
The 16 September entry places the writer at San Siro for Milan-Benfica. It reflects on Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s reported distinction between appointing a coach and a manager, questions who at Milan understands football matters, and judges the squad to be decent.
It also compares Yunus Musah with the early Emanuele Giaccherini and considers the appeal of managing Milan after Juventus and Inter, a path followed by very few coaches. Winning a derby against Giuseppe Marotta is presented as a particular attraction.
Juventus appears the following day, with the Stadium described as home and the Bianconeri supporters as the writer’s people. The note insists that someone who played and won with Juventus cannot be anything else, before claiming that goals could be extracted from Randal Kolo Muani and Nick Woltemade after working with Simone Zaza and Graziano Pellè.
On 19 September, the supposed author rejects a possible political approach from Roberto Vannacci, thanking him but ruling out politics for the time being.
Napoli enters the picture in a 21 September passage about a meeting on a boat with Aurelio De Laurentiis. The entry boasts that Conte’s Napoli was comparable with Brazil’s 1958 side when set beside Massimiliano Allegri’s team, and recalls complaints despite the title success.
It adds that winning five Scudetti in Turin came after Conte’s three, before challenging others to repeat the feat after his historic Napoli campaign. The note closes by borrowing a line associated with Mario Merola: “Come back, this home is waiting for you.”
A 4 October entry imagines a dinner in Rome with Giovanni Malagò, supposedly arranged in advance should Roberto Mancini lose his first three matches. It also claims that the writer had joined Circolo Canottieri Aniene.
The October notes then leave Serie A territory. After Manchester United-Tottenham and a dinner with Spurs on 10 October, the writer takes a swipe at Roberto De Zerbi, calling him a lesser Guardiola and asking whether Tottenham miss him.
The final entry, dated 12 October, moves to Maranello. It entertains the idea of taking technical control of Ferrari, on the condition that Kimi is signed, before ending with a complaint that a €10 budget does not cover a meal in a €100 restaurant.
For all the familiar themes of Conte’s career — Juventus identity, Napoli’s unfinished pull and the demand for proper backing — the investigation’s conclusion remains decisive: this is being treated as fiction rather than a genuine window into the coach’s plans.
