Naples, Calzona official in place of Mazzarri

Napoli changes once again: Francesco Calzona has just been announced as the new coach. The appointment was preceded by the classic welcome from Aurelio De Laurentiis, which took place through X, which was followed by the official note from the club. Calzona takes over from Walter Mazzarri, who in turn had taken over Rudi Garcia, and will therefore be the third coach to lead the team in this troubled season. It had never happened in the history of Serie A for a reigning champion team. This is a return because Calzona has already worked in Naples as assistant first to Maurizio Sarri between 2015 and 2018, then to Luciano Spalletti in the first of two years on the Azzurri bench. There will be no Marek Hamsik within his staff, despite the excellent relationship between the two: it was the former Napoli captain, in fact, who personally proposed him the bench of the Slovak national team in the summer of 2022, with which he achieved qualification for the next European Championships. There will be the athletic trainer Sinatti – one of the reasons for discord with the French coach – and Bonomi. Sinatti has a contract with the national team and the FIGC has granted its authorization for the assignment with Napoli.

the day

—

Mazzarri directed the last training session scheduled for early afternoon today, only to receive the notification of his dismissal after leaving the sports center visibly saddened, without making any statements. Meanwhile, De Laurentiis stopped at the Britannique hotel where he discussed the agreement with Calzona with CEO Chiavelli – the figure who deals with the contractual aspects. Especially on the composition of the staff, since Slovakia will be busy at the end of March. So the president met the coach at the Vesuvio hotel, instead of going to Castel Volturno, to define the final details of the agreement that will bind Calzona to Napoli until the end of the season and sort out the implications of the double role. Tomorrow he will hold the first session, on the eve of a very delicate match against Barcelona, ​​valid for the first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League; in the afternoon he will speak at a press conference with a player to present the match. Napoli’s new course begins now.

de laurentiis

—

“It’s painful to thank a friend, I thanked him but we must consider that something more must always be given to Naples and its fans – said president De Laurentiis to the microphone of Sky Sport -. Intelligent choice? We’ll see, let’s welcome Calzona and we try to give him the way to work without conflict, Barcelona is still Barcelona, ​​even if they say it’s not what it used to be. Hamsik is very intrigued to return to work for his former team, he was a blue flag, but I didn’t talk to him today.”