Luciano Spalletti was chosen to lead the Italy national team following Roberto Mancini’s resignation from the dugout, but as FIGC president Gabriele Gravina recalls, luring the ex-Napoli tactician wasn’t an easy task.
Speaking to Corriere della Sera (via TuttoNapoli), Gravina explained the situation that FIGC had to go through and blamed Partenopei chief Aurelio De Laurentiis for delaying proceedings.
“We spoke with Aurelio. But I didn’t expect anything different from what happened. There was a lot of hypocrisy from some detractors, but it’s part of the game. Certain statements seemed inappropriate to me, like when we were told that if we wanted Spalletti we would have to pay. I called Spalletti immediately, the other candidate was Antonio Conte.”
The 2022/23 Scudetto winner was tied to Napoli due to a clause in his contract that would require any suitor to pay.
“The situation was clear right from the start. Luciano himself immediately told me that the clause is a problem between him and Napoli. And the FIGC never thought of taking over. At first, I didn’t even know of the existence of this document, I discovered it from the newspapers. Our lawyers reassured me: we could talk to him, the rest is a matter between Luciano and his old club.”
Spalletti will make his Italy debut in the UEFA EURO 2024 Qualifiers against North Macedonia on 9 September before making his home debut four days later at San Siro vs Ukraine.
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