Napoli appoint former Roma boss Luciano Spalletti as new head coach

The appointment comes one week after Napoli terminated the services of Genarro Gattuso after an underwhelming season.

Luciano Spalletti in a file photo. (Image: Twitter)
By Nilavro Ghosh | May 29, 2021 | 2 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Italian club Napoli have announced a new head coach to replace the outgoing Genarro Ivan Gattuso. The former Italian player’s dismissal comes hardly as a surprise as Napoli finished the season trophyless and failed to qualify for a UEFA Champions League. It might be difficult for them to hold on to their star players like Lorenzo Insigne. The new man in charge will be former Inter Milan and AS Roma manager Luciano Spalletti. He has been out of a job since he was sacked by Inter in 2019. He had failed to win a trophy with the club but Spalletti was the one who earned back-to-back top-four finishes for the Nerazzurri. The 2018 UEFA Champions League qualification for Inter was their first in six years. Spalletti has signed a deal that will keep him at Napoli until June 2023.

SPALLETTI’S CAREER

Despite going trophyless at Inter, Spalletti has won titles with other clubs and is respected across Italy’s top flight. He has won successive Coppa Italia titles with AS Roma during his first run in the Italian capital from 2005 to 2009. The Italian then had a trophy-laden five years in Russia as manager of Zenit St Petersburg. He won the Russian League in 2010 and 2012, the Russian Cup in 2010, and the Russian Super Cup in 2011.

In Serie A, Spalletti was named the coach of the year in 2005/06 and 2006/07. He was the manager of one of the biggest clubs in Italy during one of the country’s best periods in football, as they lifted the FIFA World Cup in 2006.

Napoli owner and Italian film producer Aurelio De Laurentiis released a statement on Twitter on Saturday confirming Spalletti’s arrival at the club. “I am pleased to announce that Luciano Spalletti will be the new Napoli coach starting from next July 1st,” the statement read. “Welcome Luciano, we are going to do great work together,” it concluded.

The appointment comes one week after Napoli terminated the services of Gattuso after what could be categorised as a rather underwhelming season for the Partenopei.





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