Italiano & Motta in focus
Despite winning the Italian championship, coach Luciano Spalletti apparently plans to leave SSC Napoli in the summer. That was the result of a dinner with President Aurelio de Laurentiis, as reported by the media. Accordingly, Napoli are already looking for possible successors for the 64-year-old.
“I’m not waiting for anything anymore, everything is clear, everything is defined. It just needs to be said, but we agree with de Laurentiis that we’re waiting to announce it. I don’t know how long this will last, but it’s all clear. Everything was settled after this dinner,” said Spalletti after the 3-1 win against Inter Milan on “DAZN” (quoted via “Gianluca Di Marzio“). There have always been tensions and disagreements between him and the President in the past.
Osimhen ahead of Kvaratskhelia: Serie A Most Valuable Players
Spalletti, whose contract runs until 2024, took over the Azzurri in 2021 and made the club Italian champions again this season after a 33-year wait. Overall, the coach has an average of 2.11 points from 94 games – since 2000 only Maurizio Sarri has also had a two-point average at Naples.
Different visions of the future by de Laurentiis and Spalletti consequential?
Aniello Luciano, Lead of Content at Transfermarkt.it, would not be surprised if Spalletti left. “On the one hand there is a club that has achieved a historic milestone, on the other hand there is a manager who has reached the pinnacle of his career by winning his first title as the oldest Serie A manager ever. I think it’s normal that those involved wanted something to think about, because as they say in such cases: it’s difficult to win – and even more difficult to repeat it.”
For Luciano, the “different ideas for the future” of the president and coach could be the reason for a possible separation. “Certainly the loss of Spalletti would not be good news for Napoli, for the way the team played, for the members of the squad, who were chosen exactly according to the coach’s tactical ideas. Spalletti gave Napoli an identity that was also recognizable at European level. An identity that is difficult to pass on, but over the years the club has always been able to renew itself, choosing coaches with experience (Ancelotti, Benítez) or with an interest in playing quality (Sarri).”
A very strange situation.
Spalletti himself says he doesn’t have any offers from other clubs and doesn’t want to move to other clubs, but his words actually sound like a farewell. Ending his almost 30-year coaching career with the long-awaited Scudetto would be a very nice story for him personally. It’s quite possible that he now wants to spend more time with his family (he lives alone in Castel Volturno, his two sons will/are already…
According to Di Marzios editors, the club want to stick to the successful 4-3-3 formation, which is why Fiorentina’s Vincenzo Italiano and Bologna FC’s Thiago Motta are currently the main candidates to replace Spalletti. If you want to break with the current system, on the other hand, Atalanta’s Gian Piero Gasperini comes into play, whom de Laurentiis is very fond of and with whom he has been in contact in the past. According to the report, there has so far been no contact with Antonio Conte or Julian Nagelsmann. A “more exotic idea” is Marcelo Gallardo, the former coach of River Plate.
SSC Napoli: Sports director Giuntoli also wants to go – agreement with Juventus?
De Laurentiis friend Rafael Benítez could also appear again in the Campanian capital, but more in a managerial role. Because not only Spalletti is about to jump, but also sports director Cristiano Giuntoli: The 51-year-old should be about to sign at Juventus. A verbal agreement has already been reached on a five-year contract, but de Laurentiis’ go-ahead is still missing.
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