Serie A: Man United optimistic as Conte quits Juventus

During his three-year Juventus reign, Antonio Conte oversaw both an unbeaten season and a record Serie A points haul

Juventus' Serie A odds are on the drift and Arturo Vidal could be off following Antonio Conte's shock resignation...

It is almost unheard of for a coach to resign on the second day of pre-season training, let alone a club legend who has been in charge of the country's most successful side for three years, dominating with a squad expected to reach the Champions League last 16.

No surprise then that Antonio Conte's sudden Juventus exit has left the land of calcio perplexed. The questions are almost endless. Who will take over? Has he quit for Italy? Was it due to a dispute over transfer policy? Is it because they have agreed to sell Arturo Vidal? Will Vidal leave now even if he was happy? What about Paul Pogba? And can they win a fourth straight scudetto without Conte?

Let's tackle them one at a time. The first potential successors named were Roberto Mancini and Max Allegri, whose greatest Serie A feats were finishing first with Inter and AC Milan. Working with rivals rarely rules you out in Italy, but the damage to their CVs over the past 24 months should.

More enticing options are Luciano Spalletti, a Russian title winner and Champions League knockout-phase explorer when at Zenit who also worked wonders at Udinese and Roma, and former boss Didier Deschamps, though he is unlikely to leave Euro 2016 hosts and 6.86/1 second favourites France. Fabio Capello has been mentioned too.

As for Conte and Italy, it seems a strong possibility given the lack of attractive club vacancies and his superiority over the other candidates (who may rate the Old Lady a better job opportunity anyway). He refused to dismiss the prospect of an Azzurri switch in his heavily thumbed-down farewell interview.

Was transfer irritation the cause of his departure? Man United fans will hope that it means there is substance behind the loud speculation over Vidal moving to Old Trafford, yet the official line is that there has been no communication between the teams.

This writer has a theory that Conte going might actually make it trickier to prise Vidal away. Juventus have lost by far their most important employee, so it would be a disaster to surrender their star player in the immediate aftermath, or second most valuable asset in Pogba.

Doing so would tear up three years of phenomenal progress, earning three successive scudetti for the first time since 1934/35 following two seasons stranded in seventh, and render wooing a top-class tactician difficult. Their financial position is healthy, so it is vital that they display resolve.

It is feasible that Conte walked having been told that either Vidal or Pogba would be sold, but it is just as probable that the explanation is entirely innocent.

The 44-year-old wavered over his future in May, perhaps suspicious that he had achieved everything. Two days of training, coupled with a chance to try the Italy job and/or recharge batteries after three sapping years, might have confirmed to him that his race was run, while long-term target Alexis Sanchez joining Arsenal may have caused him to judge Champions League glory out of reach.

The final question is the hardest to answer: can they win a fourth straight scudetto without Conte? Even if Vidal or Pogba flee, they still have a rather special squad: Gianluigi Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini, Andrea Pirlo, Claudio Marchisio, Carlos Tevez and Fernando Llorente should all remain.

However, it is impossible to overstate how integral Conte's force of personality was to Juventus' triple triumph, the way that he kept them hungry when the ease with which trophies arrived invited complacency. Inter's post-Jose Mourinho collapse is proof of how quickly an empire can crumble.

It doesn't help that the competition is fiercer than it has been for a while. Roma were magnificent last term and Napoli showed plenty of promise. Both have coaches who have won major European leagues before in Rudi Garcia and Rafael Benitez and are strengthening rather than weakening.

That's another worry for the Bianconeri: even if they retain their core, will anticipated additions like Patrice Evra, Juan Iturbe and Alvaro Morata reconsider signing? There is talk that Iturbe already has.

Juventus have drifted significantly from 1.7 when rumours of Conte going first surfaced to 2.01/1 to be champions, yet they remain a reasonable distance clear of Roma at 4.47/2 and Napoli at 6.411/2. So much depends on the appointment, and whether they recruit a proven winner.