Luciano Spalletti stopped short of announcing his departure from Napoli, but he heavily alluded to it, and the club is looking for a new coach. The gaffer claimed that the decision had been made and that the team would officialize it at a later time. He spoke to various outlets after beating Inter (via EuroSport).
“If you are not certain you can give this city everything it deserves, it’s fair to give it some thought. We resolved everything. It’s not like you change your mind every day. It comes from afar. When you tend to the daily work, some reasonings harbor because you have to put up this show every time. It didn’t come out of the blue. The squad doesn’t need anything or anybody. It knows how to play football and was well-constructed by Aurelio De Laurentiis and Cristiano Giuntoli.”
Spalletti dismissed some rumors.
“I’m not waiting for anything. It’s all clear, and we just need to announce it. The president and I agreed that it would be better to wait. Don’t make stuff up. There was no negotiation, and we settled anything at dinner last Friday.”
According to Gianluca Di Marzio, Spalletti will step down, barring a U-turn. The Azzurri have begun their coaching search. The owner would like a gaffer that uses 4-3-3 to have continuity. The leading candidates are Vincenzo Italiano and Thiago Motta.
Rafa Benitez is an option too, as De Laurentiis often turns to him for advice. There have been no contacts for Antonio Conte or Julian Nagelsmann for now. If the chairman wanted to go in a different tactical direction, Gian Piero Gasperini and Raffaele Palladino would be in the running. Marcelo Gallardo is a possible outside-the-box solution.
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