Napoli as a club and city are still celebrating the team’s recent Scudetto win, the third Serie A title in their history.
However, grey clouds are starting to appear on the horizon, suggesting all is not well in the land of the champions.
Head coach Luciano Spalletti‘s future is in the air after reports that a recent meeting with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis did not go well.
Tension is growing and it seems the two don’t see eye to eye, despite the recent monumental success.
“It’s the club that will have to decide if I stay,” Spalletti said days ago after picking up the Serie A manager of the year award.
The turnaround seems hard to comprehend as not long ago the Tuscan coach’s permanence in Naples seemed a certainty.
The club activated a clause to extend his contract to 2024 and there was talk of a further extension in the works.
Spalletti, en el banquillo del NpolesEFE
Now, ‘Radio Kiss Kiss Napoli’, which is officially tied to the club, has reminded listeners that if Spalletti chooses to walk, he would need to pay eight million euros in compensation.
In two years at the club, he has earned six million.
The timing is curious and it is perhaps a message from the club, a warning about who has the power in these negotiations.
What’s certain is that things are oddly uncertain, especially considering the on-field triumph which is so fresh in the memory.
Press conference to clear the air?
Spalletti will address the media on Saturday at 15:00 (CET) and perhaps then we will hear an update from his own mouth on this situation.
Supporters will certainly hope he uses the chance to clear up the doubts which have emerged.
It’s possible that one of the reasons for the tension is that Spalletti is unhappy about how the club handled his recent renewal, reportedly informing him by email about the automatic extension.
In the background to all this, there is also the small matter that Napoli‘s sporting director Cristiano Guintoli could be on the verge of joining Juventus.
Napoli should be building from a position of strength, but they could be set to implode.
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