New Napoli coach: De Laurentiis thinks of Conte and Luis Enrique to keep the big names

The German Nagelsmann is also liked for the bench of the Italian champions, but they are all coaches with high salaries

International names. Because that is the profile that Aurelio De Laurentiis wants to give to Napoli about him. And this is the moment of the polls, in which the blue president – already a decision maker in himself – immerses himself before making an important and complex choice, which he often prefers to take on his own, without even discussing it with his closest collaborators. Indeed, as he recently recounted during the delivery of the Bearzot Prize, ADL enjoys setting up misdirections. And such he defined his meetings with Massimiliano Allegri. Which the coach from Livorno certainly won’t be happy with, if it were true. But let’s leave aside De Laurentiis’s James Bond film theories (he also recounted that he was frightened once by not recognizing Spalletti, disguised, at a meeting) and let’s come to a list of names among which the technician who will lead the Italian champion team.

Conte and Luis Enrique

The Spaniard, former coach of Spain and with a past in Barcelona and Rome, is the latest idea, while for the film producer Conte it is an old passion with which there have been contacts and discussions several times in the past. De Laurentiis likes coaches with great personalities and brings one of the most successful coaches back to Italy, fresh from his experiences in the Premier League, which he also won with Chelsea six years ago. The first relief that can be thought of is the technical-tactical one, of the game system, given that for years he has preferred the three-man defense more than anything else. But Conte is a coach capable of adapting his ideas to the characteristics of the players and when you have someone like Kvaratskhelia capable of jumping the man on the wing, moving to the four-man line, even to a 4-2-4 would not be a problem.

Farewell to the Spurs

Among other things, Conte managed to demonstrate that the doubts he had about Tottenham, the team and the environment, weren’t so far-fetched. When he left in March, Spurs were fighting for a place in the Champions League, today with only one match to play in the Premier League, the team is out of European cups. Certainly today Conte has a great desire to get back into the game and the idea of ​​finding a team that is already well set up to compete in Italy and Europe would tickle him. Of course, it remains a major obstacle. Because due to the policy he has imposed on himself to keep the accounts in order, De Laurentiis does not want to go beyond the seven million salary for players and also for the coach. But the reasoning could also change and always to stay in line with a certain policy: a leading coach, even if more expensive, would give the big blues an extra incentive to stay and keep winning instead of maybe “listening” to other sirens.

Unreachable Julian

For similar reasons, De Laurentiis also inquired about Julian Nagelsmann, the 35-year-old sacked by Bayern, a move by the club that turned out to be wrong in hindsight. But here, in addition to talking about salaries of 7 million euros net, there are also penalties to be paid to the Monaco company, which also slow down the richest Premier League clubs. But the information taken by the president in the end is always functional to his projects.

Safe used

Some solutions deemed safer remain on a hypothetical list, which will dwindle as the days go by. If only for the experience of the subjects. Because Rafa Benitez, 63, and Gian Piero Gasperini, 65, are two coaches that De Laurentiis knows intimately. We talk about Benitez separately, while Gasperini was about to arrive at Naples eleven years ago and had even signed a contract before the dialogue with Walter Mazzarri was recomposed, who would remain one more season. And then there are the young players who have grown up in our league. With Vincenzo Italiano and Thiago Motta kept under observation. But for opportunities – the first has two Cup finals to face, the other is the next opponent – it will be better to wait a bit before moving in that direction, if De Laurentiis decides so.

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