Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis concedes that he may have a hard time convincing Luis Enrique to manage his club: ‘I think he prefers the Premier League’. The Partenopei have been closely linked with the former Spanish national team coach who is viewed as an ideal successor for Luciano Spalletti. Speaking with RAI, De Laurentiis commented on the links and admitted that he will struggle to convince the former Barcelona coach, especially as Serie A is not as appealing as some other leagues:
“Luis Enrique? He is a great coach, he did very well at Barcelona, but I think he has the Premier League in mind, it should be remembered that we compete with leagues that are more attractive than ours, such as the English one. I can tell him that there is no Gulf there and you don’t eat as well as we do, but more than that….
“Economic problem? There are more attractive offers there. We are evaluating coaches for the 4-3-3 with our extraordinary players that we want to keep, I have evaluated about ten profiles that can try their hand with this form, I will choose the best one to continue the cycle. I still want to grow and I need the support of all Neapolitans. When one creates a change there can be moments that should not frighten, because everything serves to improve. So we will move forward being the only football team that has been in Europe for 14 years and that says a lot about the choice of the many coaches.”
“My advantage is that I can’t play football , but I can be an entrepreneur. I don’t get carried away by sentimentality, although I am sentimental, but I have to be rational to a fault and I have to verify, talking and understanding with everyone, what is happening. Of course I can also make mistakes. So far we have been wrong a few times, and I hope we will hit the mark this time as well.”
“On the Champions League I do not want to compete with the past, I only look to the future. Of course what has already been done serves as a stimulus to do better. Then there are also the opponents. We have to try to have Lady Luck for Europe, in the draws everything is at stake. I have always said it, the European matches should be changed but there I cannot affect them and I must submit to the UEFA regulations and I cannot derogate, but we will also try to fight there as always, since Mazzarri’s time.
“We will do our best to please the fans who are our real asset. We work for them and they have to support us and they have to realize that they have to be part of Napoli and not get disheartened if something goes wrong. We will recover from some mistakes.”
“I would like you all at the stadium (this weekend for the Scudetto party, ed.), there is talk of 250,000 in the virtual queue, but there were many more. RAI has helped us with the live broadcast from 9 p.m. with the big party so up to ten million people will be able to see the show around the world.
“There will be singers, actors, with Stefano De Martino conducting with his class and sympathy. People will have fun and get involved. Names? We wanted to privilege the city and the Neapolitan song, even the new one, there will be rappers. There will be the very great Gigi D’Alessio, Nino d’Angelo with his anthem, there will be Emma, Arisa, Stash, Clementino, Enzo Avitabile, so many characters, and then there will be actors to tell this great Azzurri feeling that has taken not only the whole city but the whole world.”
