Conte, Ancelotti...? FIGC chief reveals his top-3 choices for Italy manager
Costacurta has been appointed as a sub-commissioner of the Italian FA (FIGC) with the responsibility of finding and appointing a new head coach to succeed Gian Piero Ventura, who was sacked after Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup.
Conte led Italy to the quarterfinals of Euro 2016 after an inspiring two years in charge of the national team before returning to club management at Chelsea.
He still has 16 months on his contract at Chelsea, whom he guided to the Premier League title in his first season, and he has said he intends to fulfil it. Costacurta nevertheless plans to discuss the possibility with him when the current season ends, having identified the 48-year-old former Juventus coach as his primary candidate.
"I've not decided yet, but I think that the person who could do the best job would be Conte," Costacurta told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "I'll definitely speak to him in a few months' time.
"Conte has already shown that he knows how to be Italy coach, as we saw at the European Championships, whereas the others haven't."
Other high-profile candidates who have been linked to the job include former Roberto Mancini, the former Inter Milan and Manchester City boss; Carlo Ancelotti, most recently at Bayern Munich; and Claudio Ranieri, now at Nantes after leaving Leicester City.
"That does not mean I wouldn't be fine about having Mancini, Ancelotti -- who, however, appears to have pulled himself out of the running -- or even Ranieri, who had a difficult experience with Greece, but emerged from that strengthened and then went to Leicester.
"I'm looking for a coach, not just somebody who picks players, so I won't ignore the coaches in Serie A either. [Atalanta's Gian Piero] Gasperini and [Sampdoria's Marco] Giampaolo are great and would do well."
Current Italy under-21 coach Luigi Di Biagio has been placed in temporary charge of the senior national team and he will soon name his squad to face Argentina and England in two prestigious friendlies next month.