Doubts are now emerging about Luciano Spalletti’s future at Napoli, amidst signs of a deteriorating relationship with club owner Aurelio de Laurentiis.
Corriere della Sera today have shed some light on the relationship between the manager and owner at the Partenopei, stating that an ‘air of divorce’ lingers over the two and replacements are already in mind for De Laurentiis. It has been described as a ‘crisis’ situation, because of which Spalletti could end up departing this summer.
While De Laurentiis has given the word that Spalletti will stay and he wants to keep the Italian at Napoli, the manager would have liked a face-to-face meeting to talk about the situation. Both of them will be present at the Scudetto party today at the Maradona but they will have a dinner meeting after all of it ends later.
Spalletti received a note of gratitude from De Laurentiis and he appreciates it, but he wants to hold some talks with the owner soon to seek some clarifications after the Scudetto win. He wants to speak about the project at hand and how they want to plan ahead. There is annoyance that De Laurentiis took everything for granted, when he spoke about the fact that the manager will definitely stay at the club.
Spalletti earns less than the other top coaches in Serie A but he is not too bothered about that, with the source of annoyance being the lack of clarity. If things fall apart and Spalletti does end up leaving, De Laurentiis already has the likes of Vincenzo Italiano, Antonio Conte and Roberto de Zerbi on the shortlist.
Kaustubh Pandey | GIFN
