Spalletti Needles De Laurentiis Revisiting Napoli Exit

Italy coach Luciano Spalletti has revealed that his decision to leave Napoli wasn’t born out of thin air after winning the title but had been a long time coming. He spoke about it to Corriere dello Sport.

“I’ve chosen and embraced the sadness by departing them after our triumph. It would have been easier and more natural to continue working with a group that we brought to the top and relish in that kind of happiness. I’m lucky because I’ve always obtained what I deserved. Luck is occasionally a factor in other instances, but it wasn’t our case. You can’t teach cynicism. Being a manager means to love and nurture footballers and add something through your work.”

Spalletti considered fleeing Napoli before their title-winning campaign.

“I’ve always decided for myself. After my first year here, my collaborators asked me what would have been the point of staying since many key players had left: Dries Mertens, Kalidou Koulibaly, Faouzi Ghoulam, David Ospina, Lorenzo Insigne, and Fabian Ruiz. That’s a lot of quality out the door.”

“When you meet with Aurelio De Laurentiis, the first thing he says to you is that they already finished second and must always play in the Champions League. So I restarted to target that. I could have continued, as we made the team perform at a higher level. The president is a strong communicator, but it depends on which version of him you’re dealing with each time. There are three of four at least.”