NAPOLI COACH LUCIANO SPALLETTI ASKS TO LEAVE FOR YEAR-LONG SABBATICAL

Napoli head coach Luciano Spalletti will leave the Serie A-winning side after asking owner Aurelio Di Laurentiis for a year off immediately after the club's historic season. 

Spalletti became the oldest manager in Serie A history to win his first Scudetto with the Italian champions in May, after helming a barnstorming campaign that saw the side seize league glory for the first time in 33 years. 

But rather than building upon the club's triumph next season, Spalletti will be prioritising his family after a punishing campaign. 

The 64-year-old has been hinting at a departure in the weeks since the trophy was lifted at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, with Spalletti telling reporters after the club's 3-1 win against Inter Milan last week that the situation surrounding his future had been 'brewing for a long time'. 

'When you work from morning to night, some matters tend to mature in your mind, because you have to put this spectacle on all the time'. 

On Sunday evening, Di Laurentiis confirmed that the coach had asked for a sabbatical and that he had not stood in his way. 

Spalletti shared that he had done so immediately to avoid confusion, telling Italian news agency Ansa: 'Out of respect for the club, I told De Laurentiis straightaway that I needed to take a year off.

'I'm a bit tired, and want to spend time with my daughter Mathilde.' 

The head coach has previously taken a sabbatical, spending two years on Inter Milan's payroll after being replaced by Antonio Conte, before joining Napoli. 

As per Gazzetta dello Sport, former Spain head coach Luis Enrique is the club's number one target, after negotiations broke down between the manager and his suitors in the spring, Chelsea. 

Although Luis Enrique is still said to have aspirations in the Premier League, Napoli are in no rush to make an appointment and will take time cultivating their top choice. 

Spalletti has had a checkered time in Campania since his arrival in 2021, his debut was deemed to be so unsatisfactory by Napoli's ultras that they allegedly stole his Fiat Panda after his eighth game in charge and demanded the coach leave if he wanted the car back at the end of the season. 

But winning the Scudetto has transformed Spalletti into an icon in a city starved of Serie A success, and the coach has embraced his place in Neapolitan history. 

Spalletti got a tattoo commemorating his role in winning the club's third-ever success on his forearm, and gave the Fiat Panda a custom paint job to match. 

De Laurentiis praised his outgoing manager in an interview on broadcaster Rai, adding that he accepted his decision. 

'Spalletti has been a really great coach, he's a free man, he's given a lot, I thank him, and now it's right that he does what he wants to,' Napoli's owner said. 

The head coach may be just the first of the high-profile outgoings from the champions at the season's end. 

Manchester United has been dogged in their pursuit of defender Kim Min-jae and could yet make a move for star striker Victor Osimhen, whilst Georgian forward Kvicha Kvaratskhelia has also caught the eye of top clubs such as Manchester City and Real Madrid. 

Keen to avoid desertions in pursuit of chasing a consecutive title, De Laurentiis said there was 'no way' that Oshimen in particular would be available for sale this summer.  

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2023-05-30T09:16:57Z dg43tfdfdgfd