Alejandro Garnacho ought to tread carefully amid reports linking him with a move to Napoli.

The Manchester United winger, 20, has started just once since being brutally left out of the squad by manager Ruben Amorim ahead of the Manchester derby in December. As such, talk of a January exit is intensifying, particularly with Napoli eyeing him as a possible replacement for PSG-bound Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

But while a move to the Serie A club may seem alluring, Garnacho would be wise to heed the cautionary tales that swirl around playing under Napoli boss Antonio Conte. The Italian typically wears his heart on his sleeve, and is no stranger to animosity, be it with an individual player or his entire squad.

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During his recent stint at Tottenham, he clashed with several senior stars and publicly lambasted the squad's mental fortitude. Shortly before being dismissed in March 2023, Conte unleashed a furious tirade during a post-match press conference after Spurs conceded two late goals in a 3-3 draw with Southampton.

He branded his players 'selfish' and accused them of having a loser's mentality. "They are used to it here," he raged. "They don't play for something important. They don't want to play under pressure. They don't want to play under stress. It is easy in this way. Tottenham's story is this.

"Until now, I try to hide the situation but there are 10 games to go and some people think we can fight. Fight for what? With this spirit, this attitude, this commitment? What? For seventh, eighth, 10th place?"

Tottenham's players were reportedly stunned by the outburst, even though the atmosphere in the dressing room had been 'toxic' for some time. Unsurprisingly, Conte was sacked a few days later.

Even at Chelsea, where Conte won the Premier League and the FA Cup, tensions between him and his players were often high. He infamously told Diego Costa to find a new club via text message in June 2017, mere days after the Blues were crowned Premier League champions, thanks in no small part to Costa's 20-goal haul.

The striker had attempted to engineer a move to the Chinese Super League a few months prior, and had openly talked about re-joining former club Atletico Madrid at some point. But Conte's brutal decision nonetheless left Costa's team-mates in shock.

"I was in Australia with Brazil and Diego texted me," ex-Chelsea star Willian explained to ESPN Brazil. "He said 'I'm leaving, Conte said he doesn't need me anymore'. I said 'What do you mean?' And he said 'He texted me saying that he doesn't need me on the team anymore and I'm not supposed to go back'.

"You don't lose a player like Diego Costa. It was a difficult situation... he also had a problem with David Luiz," added Willian, who admitted he would have left as well had Conte not been replaced by Maurizio Sarri at the end of the 2017/18 season.

Following Chelsea's victory over United in the 2018 FA Cup final, Willian uploaded a photo of the celebrations to Instagram, but blocked Conte out using emojis. "Conte was a coach I found very hard to work with. The philosophy, his logic, I found it very complicated," Willian said. "Some games I was playing well, and was taken off. I couldn't understand."

It isn't just Conte's personality that causes friction, it's his ruthless training regime too. He tends to work players very hard physically, and drums a significant amount of tactical information into them as well.

Chelsea legend Eden Hazard played some of his best football under Conte, but recently admitted that he hated the Italian's training methods. "All the week training. I was going out Saturday, I need to enjoy a little bit because I know the day after is going to be back on the training ground. I have to do something, it's my only 90 minutes I can enjoy," Hazard said on former Blues team-mate John Obi Mikel's Obi One Podcast.

"You remember him, stopping, tactics, 'No we have to do that'’. Saturday [game day] was the best day for me."

It suggests Garnacho might want to think twice about playing under Conte, despite the fact ex-United midfielder Scott McTominay seems to be flourishing under the coach following his £25million move to Napoli last summer.

United aren't completely ruling out a sale amid mounting Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) concerns - particularly since, as an academy graduate, Garnacho can be sold for 'pure profit' - but are expected to demand upwards of £60m for the player. As such, a departure is unlikely.

Amorim recently confirmed that the youngster was in his plans, but stressed that he needed to "improve" certain aspects of his game. "That is clear," the Portuguese said when asked if Garnacho had a bright future at Old Trafford.

"He has talent. He needs to learn to play in a different position. He needs to play better inside. He improves a lot in the recovering position when he doesn't have the ball. But doing that, sometimes he's not in the right place to make transitions like he was in the past. I prefer to defend and then build up with all the team to reach the final third.

"He's finding the best way to play in this system. He's improving during training. He started the last game. Let's see tomorrow. I think he changed the way he sees himself."