Rudi Garcia agreed to a two-year contract with an option with Napoli and will earn €3M per season. The wages would have changed, but president Aurelio De Laurentiis had prepared the same deal for all the candidates.
The gaffer is back in Italy after seven years abroad. He succeeds Luciano Spalletti, who had previously taken his place on the Roma bench. He had tallied a new all-time club point record with the Giallorossi, which was then beaten by the Tuscan boss. Despite coming up short, his squad was Juventus’ main rival for a pair of seasons, La Repubblica informs. He was sacked in January in his final year. Afterward, he finished 5th and 4th at Olympique Marseille, reaching the Europa League final, and 7th and 4th with Olympique Lyonnais, going far in the cups in this case as well. Instead, he flopped in Saudi Arabia and didn’t click with Cristiano Ronaldo and the rest of the group.
According to Alfredo Pedullà (via Sportitalia), Garcia wasn’t the top choice for Napoli but lingered in their search. The owner’s favorite option was Luis Enrique, but he turned them down despite being offered €8M wages. Christophe Galtier was a serious contender, but he’s embroiled in the PSG drama. The timing of his release was uncertain. The Partenopei brass touched base with Paulo Sousa, and agreeing to that could cost him his Salernitana gig. In the end, the Azzurri didn’t want to wait any longer and picked the French boss, who was free.
 |
Follow us on Google News for more updates on Serie A and Italian football |