Gian Piero Gasperini has revealed he was ready to leave Atalanta at the end of last season, but decided to remain in Bergamo due to his respect for the club's owners and love for the fans.
Gasperini took charge of Atalanta in 2016, with the club having posted five consecutive bottom-half Serie A finishes.
The former Inter boss immediately oversaw a dramatic transformation in the club's fortunes, implementing a relentless attacking style while securing fourth place in his first season at the helm, before leading them to three consecutive third-place finishes between 2018-19 and 2020-21.
Atalanta scored a staggering 188 league goals across the latter two of those campaigns, also reaching the Champions League knockout stages in both seasons.
But their momentum stalled last season as they finished eighth in Serie A, leading to speculation 64-year-old Gasperini could depart.
Gasperini said he was unsure of his future in May, but has now confirmed his desire to remain in Bergamo and build a new "young and strong" team.
"With [Atalanta president Antonio] Percassi there is a relationship of esteem and gratitude. I told him, 'maybe I'm the one who has to go away', but he absolutely didn't want it," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
"Now the momentum to start again is with us. If I am still here, it is because of the strong bond with the city.
"I perceived the demand of the people strongly and this conditioned me, because I was really ready to leave, if the club had wanted me to.
"Atalanta will be young and strong. I stayed for the people. There is a desire for revenge.
"We are not big, we are working to become big. In the meantime, we will fight, we will have fun."
Gasperini's men were hampered by the unavailability of strike duo Duvan Zapata and Josip Ilicic for long periods last season, as the two forwards hit just 13 league goals between them and managed only 1,732 and 836 minutes of Serie A football respectively.
And he believes the club's failure to invest heavily in the transfer market after benefiting from Champions League revenue exacerbated their issues.
"New energies would have helped us," he added. "We have had some important sales, substantial revenues from the Champions League, but we have remained very static, especially up front.
"In the last two years, with the resources available, it was the right time to introduce a new champion like [now-Sevilla attacker Alejandro] Gomez and Ilicic. Other profiles have arrived.
"What I asked for was not done and we found ourselves on the edge."
Gasperini's seventh Serie A season with Atalanta will begin with a trip to Sampdoria on August 13, before they host champions Milan eight days later.
Conte's Spurs exit no surprise to Vieri: 'He goes into conflict with everyone'
Tottenham should not have been surprised by how Antonio Conte's time at the club ended as he "goes into conflict with everyone", says Christian Vieri.
Conte joined Spurs in November 2021 after the sacking of Nuno Espirito Santo and guided the north London club to a top-four Premier League finish at the end of his first season.
Despite sitting fourth again this season, performances under Conte were hugely inconsistent with Spurs falling to disappointing exits in the Champions League and FA Cup in recent weeks.
Following an explosive press conference in which the Italian labelled his players "selfish", he left the club on Sunday.
However, the breakdown in relations between Conte and the club was something former Juventus, Inter and Italy striker Vieri was expecting.
"Antonio goes into conflict with everyone, it's his character," he told Corriere della Sera.
"If you take him, you can't expect someone who shuts up and everything is fine with him. He is always on the edge, it's his way of being; you can like it or not, you know who you get.
"Every two years does he fight with everyone? Yes. Does he always leave with problems? Yes.
"You know he's demanding, serious, and it's hard to have him in your club, he doesn't let you sleep peacefully.
"They are choices. There are coaches like Conte and Mourinho who hammer at all hours, put pressure and always demand the best.
"And then there are those who are fine with anything, they stay there. Everyone trains and sees football in their own way, and it doesn't mean that this or that coach is right."
Conte's former assistant Cristian Stellini is set to take charge of Tottenham alongside Ryan Mason until the end of the season.
Wenger: Arteta names ex-Arsenal boss as Premier League's most influential manager
Mikel Arteta labelled Arsene Wenger as the most influential manager in Premier League history, after the former Arsenal boss was inducted into the competition's Hall of Fame.
On Wednesday, Wenger was inducted alongside Alex Ferguson, with the pair becoming the first managers to go into the Hall of Fame after 16 players had already been added.
Wenger won three Premier League titles – including with the 2003-04 'Invincibles' – and seven FA Cups during his long stint in charge of Arsenal.
He is renowned for introducing a revolutionary football philosophy, which included a commitment to attacking football.
"I don't think any other managers have had a more impact," Arteta said.
"Some managers have brought different ideas, different characters, different competitions.
"He opened the Premier League to the world in a different way to other managers. He had a vision that was much wider than any other manager had at the time.
"England and the Premier League have to be very grateful forever to this man."
Arteta played under Wenger for five seasons between 2011 and 2016, before becoming Arsenal boss himself in 2019.
After winning the 2020 FA Cup, Arteta has the Gunners leading the Premier League by eight points with 10 games to go.
On track for Arsenal’s first title in 19 years, Arteta has credited Wenger for helping him as a player and then in the next step of his career.
"I had a dream to play for this club and that was because of the way Arsenal played," added Arteta.
"It was so attractive. I had a phenomenal time with him. He pushed me as well at the end of my career to become a coach.
"We had a conversation and I asked him what he would do in my position because I had doubts in my career over whether I wanted to continue my journey as a coach.
"He helped me at the club and at the academy to do my badges and again, he was an inspiration."
Criticism of Retegui call-up 'dinosaur stuff', says idol Vieri
Christian Vieri believes criticism of Roberto Mancini's decision to call up Argentine-born Mateo Retegui to the Italy team is "dinosaur stuff".
Retegui was born and raised in Argentina, has spent his entire career in South America and cannot speak Italian, but he qualified for the Azzurri through a grandparent.
The striker, who counted Vieri as an idol, made his Italy bow this month, scoring against both England and Malta to prompt links to Inter.
There has still been scepticism around his role in the Italy side, with Mario Balotelli among those to suggest Mancini should be relying on players closer to home.
But that is not an assessment Vieri agrees with, having grown up in Australia before representing Italy at two World Cups.
"They are poor people," Vieri told Corriere della Sera of the critics. "It is an ancient mentality, dinosaur stuff.
"In Australia, I grew up with kids from all over the world."
He added of Retegui: "It is promising, a positive impact. A really nice goal against England, perfect control and immediate, precise shooting, and a pure centre-forward's goal in Malta.
"Mancio was right once again: if he sees a good player, he throws him in without much problem. In any case, Mateo has to play and still improve a lot."
Mancini has repeatedly pointed to the lack of Italian talent in forward positions in Serie A, perhaps best illustrated by runaway league leaders Napoli.
Georgia's Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Nigeria's Victor Osimhen have inspired their outstanding campaign and are counted among Vieri's stars of the season – all of whom play for the Partenopei and none of whom are Italian.
"In first place is Kim [Min-jae]," Vieri said. "Kim Kardashian, I say.
"Seriously, I didn't even know who he was. And here I think back to [the work of Napoli sporting director Cristiano] Giuntoli. I was very impressed by the personality of the Korean.
"Then, of course, there's Kvaratskhelia – he seems to me George Best for the way he walks, dribbles, even for his hair.
"I say Osimhen, devastating. Italy completed him from all points of view, and today he is among the three strongest strikers in the world.
"Finally, we mustn't overlook the 'old' [Stanislav] Lobotka, who reminds me of Xavi, someone who made a mistake every 10 to 12 months."
Can Napoli win the Champions League as well as the Scudetto then?
"It wouldn't be a surprise for me, even if they'll have to be very careful about Milan," Vieri said.
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