Aurelio De Laurentiis sets the record straight on Luciano Spalletti

Credit: Photo by Icon sport

Luciano Spalletti has been tipped to take over the reins of the Azzurri following the resignation of Roberto Mancini. However, rumours suggest that Aurelio De Laurentiis could demand 3.2 million euros from the FIGC or prevent the Tuscan coach from joining the national team. On the club’s official website, the Azzurri president has shed some light on the matter.

“After the avalanche of abstract considerations that have appeared in many media, led by authoritative commentators and media operators, I believe it’s necessary to clarify the Spalletti affair, linked to his possible engagement as coach of the Italian national soccer team. I’ve always had great respect for the national team, and when I was young, apart from Napoli, it was the only team I was passionate about. Luciano Spalletti, even though he has one final year left on his contract with Napoli after winning the Scudetto, has expressed his desire to take a break from coaching because he is “very tired”. Out of gratitude for his work, I didn’t bat an eyelid when I could have asked him to respect his contract. So I gave him the opportunity to take this long rest.

So I started looking for a coach to replace Spalletti, someone with a great deal of experience and prestige. I’m very happy to have identified Rudi Garcia, who will certainly do a good job. Returning to Spalletti, in listening to the voice and feelings of the millions of Napoli fans who feel deeply attached to the coach of the Italian champions, and in granting him the possibility of not fulfilling his contract, I have asked for guarantees that this sabbatical period will be respected, including a sanction in the event that his commitment is not respected. As far as the Federation is concerned, looking at the case in question, what seems most surprising to me is that it comes just a few weeks before two very important competitions for the national team, suffering from the resignation of coach Roberto Mancini. In this respect, two main considerations stand out: we don’t know how to maintain relations with our collaborators by encouraging them to resign; we lack suitable legal instruments to retain them by determining compliance with signed contracts, including by providing for specific sanctions.

And if the choice is rightly made for Spalletti, a great coach with 25 years’experience at top level, who expressed the best soccer in Europe during the last season, by offering him a salary of 3 million net for three years, we can’t stop at assuming (paying in the coach’s name) a gross million a year to release him from his contractual obligation (a commitment not only to Napoli but also to all its millions of fans). It’s all incoherent,” declared Aurelio De Laurentiis.