Press conference of the Azzurri president: “I don’t give a damn about the referees. I’m already thinking about 2030′.
“Spalletti, Super League, Champions League ambitions, and the relationship with referees. Napoli’s president, Aurelio De Laurentiis, held a press conference as announced after the 1-1 draw against Monza. .
“Spalletti had the same contract as Benitez,” he explained. “The option included was unilateral, and within a certain period, I could exercise it, and I did the right thing. There’s no room for sentimentality when you run a business, and in the United States, they consider me a trouble-making lawyer. On April 21st, I sent him the certified email exercising the option; I wanted to spur him on after the three games against Milan. I never expected Spalletti to inform me a month later of his intention to take a sabbatical year.”
THE BREAKUP WITH SPALLETTI
Spalletti’s departure surprised Napoli and De Laurentiis himself, who took several weeks to find a replacement, eventually identifying Rudi Garcia as his successor. “When you’re looking for someone, you find even those who aren’t interested,” revealed the Azzurri president. “But I didn’t give up; I wanted to retain Spalletti both legally and amicably, even though I doubted whether Gravina had already contacted him, but I have no evidence. My mistake was not standing firm and go to court. I let him go out of gratitude.”
De Laurentiis attempted to find a technical explanation for Spalletti’s decision to leave the club: “Perhaps he imagined he had gotten the most out of the group, but I can’t understand his choice. It’s normal for someone who has never won anything in Italy or Europe, with many problems in the locker room, to want to leave as a big winner with a success. This is the only non-malicious interpretation I want to give, leaving aside the idea of the national team, otherwise he already had a deal.”
THE CHOICE OF THE NEW COACH
“Thiago Motta was one of the possible coaches I considered,” De Laurentiis confirmed during the press conference. “I talked to him for six hours in Rome last year, and already there he told me that his ambition is to coach a club outside Italy. The choice of a coach must be bilateral. Even with Luis Enrique‘s lawyer-agent, we talked for three days, then he chose PSG. There are more prestigious clubs than Napoli that have greater attraction. Even Dragusin is an example; despite offering him more money, he chose England.”
DE LAURENTIIS’ CHARACTER AND REJECTIONS
The idea that he might be the problem, with his character and way of working, and the cause of the many rejections received, does not occur to De Laurentiis: “I don’t think so,” he reiterated. “I brought in and handled the most important players myself, even Gattuso was brought by me, not Giuntoli when he wasn’t feeling well due to an eye problem, I went to Milan and convinced him to accept the job. He finished third and was criticized for everything; Naples is a complex city, and you have to have the humility to please. If it weren’t for me, Napoli’s stadium wouldn’t be built as well as the sports center. My personal money is guaranteed.”
THE ARRIVAL OF RUDI GARCIA, THE DISMISSAL, AND ATHLETIC PREPARATION
During the press conference, De Laurentiis also spoke about the choice of Rudi Garcia to replace Spalletti on the Napoli bench: “I would sue anyone who says he was washed up given everything he has accomplished in his career. At Capodimonte, he told me he hadn’t seen Napoli’s games, but I took it as a joke. Later on, however, he showed that he wanted to move forward with his own path. Spalletti used new players immediately, I don’t know why Garcia didn’t use Lindstrom and Natan? If I had fired him immediately, what would you all have said? Same thing if I had brought in Mazzarri right away. I gave Garcia several opportunities, and when he listened to my instructions, as in the game against Lecce, we won 4-0z.”
Then the dismissal: “Against Empoli, ahead of the game I told him he was making mistakes. At halftime, I went down to the locker room and said to him, ‘What the hell are you doing? Do you really want to get fired? He told me ‘arrogantly’ to leave him alone, and that’s how it went. After the match, I told him to go f*** himself.”
Regarding athletic preparation: “We had Sinatti, and Garcia, with his nose-up attitude, told me he wanted to get rid of him. The two argued, and in the end, I made a mistake by letting Sinatti go. I should have dissmised Garcia instead.”
