La Gazzetta dello Sport claim Napoli director Cristiano Giuntoli only learned of the appointment of Rudi Garcia from Twitter. The relationship between the Sporting Director and club president Aurelio De Laurentiis has reportedly soured, with Giuntoli pushing to join Juventus this summer.
Despite his request, De Laurentiis is reportedly keen to hold him to the last year of his contract, particularly as he wants to make the move to Turin.
Gazzetta claim that when Garcia was announced as the new coach of Napoli on Thursday evening, Cristiano Giuntoli was in Versilia to enjoy a vacation with his family. The newspaper writes:
“Giuntoli learned of the appointment like everyone else, through the ‘presidential tweet’ that dissolved all reservations about the casting. Already, this would be enough to frame a relationship on the lowest terms with Aurelio De Laurentiis, also because the sporting director, in the past has always kept alive contacts with the coaches who are being considered by the president before the choice and official proclamations.”
“For some time, however, there has been no active line of dialogue between the two sides. Giuntoli was burned by the flat ‘no’ said by De Laurentiis more than two months ago, when with the Scudetto was already in sight, he asked him to be released at the end of the season. He would have expected a greater sense of gratitude after his eight years at Castel Volturno. His excellent work in Naples, both in the search for talent and in the management of sales, could not go unnoticed, especially after the title ride signed by his insights.”
“That is why Juve are strongly intent on entrusting him with the responsibility of the ascent after a troubled season – they need a functional and sustainable administration of resources and have also prepared him a rich five-year contract, but Giuntoli has also received other prestigious offers. The president, for his part, did not like the executive’s request. While De Laurentiis already normally cares a lot about respecting contracts, breaking off a relationship to favor a rival does not excite him at all. Thus, a frost has fallen between the parties.
“But it is a silence that is not destined to last much longer, quite the contrary. Now that the issue of the coach has been resolved, the position of the sporting director will be thought about. His contract expires in 2024, and by the end of the month the decision should come. It will be known, then, whether he will continue to hold the same position as a separatist or whether he will actually be released and under what conditions.”
