'I need to rest' - Luciano Spalletti to take year-long sabbatical after Napoli Scudetto triumph
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Updated 29/05/2023 at 18:23 GMT
Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis confirmed on Monday that the club's title-winning coach, Luciano Spalletti, will take a year-long sabbatical from football, despite having a year left on his contract with the club. Spalletti delivered the first Scudetto for Napoli in 33 years, with a third-place finish in the previous season. De Laurentiis may now appoint Luis Enrique.
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Napoli manager Luciano Spalletti will take a year-long sabbatical from football, according to the Italian club’s president.
The 64-year-old coach became Napoli manager in 2021, and finished third in his first campaign. He then delivered the Naples-based club the Scudetto at his second attempt with the side, the first time they have won the trophy in 33 years.
Speaking to Italian broadcaster Rai, Napoli’s president Aurelio De Laurentiis said he accepted the decision of the manager to step away for a year despite having 12 months remaining on his contract.
De Laurentiis said: "He's a free man, he's given us something and I thank him, it's right that he does what he wants."
The team last won the Serie A table in 1990, and also reached the Champions League quarter-final stage, where they suffered defeat to domestic rivals AC Milan.
“Sometimes, even with so much love, you have to leave. Now, I’m not able to give everything that Napoli deserves. I need to rest. I feel tired. I need to disconnect for a while. I won’t coach Napoli or any other team, I’ll be off for a year,” Spalletti said in his own statement.
Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport has already reported that Luis Enrique is the frontrunner for the job.
Enrique has coached at Barcelona, Celta Vigo and Roma in club football, and was the Spanish national team boss up to and including the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
He had been linked with the managerial vacancy at Chelsea but that job has been awarded to former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino.
Napoli sit 16 points clear at the top of the table and their last game of the season is at home to Sampdoria on Sunday.
Our view: Eurosport Italy's Davide Bighiani on Spalletti's decision and possible replacements
In the last few weeks everybody understood that the coach would leave and even president Aurelio De Laurentiis made it clear in his last interviews. Explaining his decision, Spalletti says that he is tired and wants to take a year's break from football.
He had a wonderful relationship with the city of Naples and the club - as evidenced by the tattoo he got after winning the title - but perhaps too much love for this project has dried up his energies.
Impossible to say [if he will return to the post]. A lot will depend on how things will go with the next manager - whoever he will be - and whether he will be able to continue along the path traced out by Spalletti. Comebacks are not usually synonymous with victory, at least in the Italian Serie A.
According to the Gazzetta dello Sport, De Laurentiis is working to seat Luis Enrique on Napoli bench after an initial contact in which the president listened to the requests of the Iberian coach.
Corriere dello Sport considers among the alternatives the names of Thiago Motta (whom he met in the away match in Bologna on the penultimate matchday) and Sergio Conceição of Porto. For the moment the negotiation with Luis Enrique is still on the high seas.
The demands of the Spain coach are high and De Laurentiis will have to deal with competition from many other important clubs. Considering that the Napoli president prefers a manager who works more on the tactical aspect and not on the value of the players, Thiago Motta and Conceição could be two interesting options, however there is the doubt that they can withstand the pressure of a demanding city like Naples is.
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