Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis says the rumours linking Antonio Conte with the Partenopei are just gossip. Italian media have continued to link Conte with a return to coaching, suggesting he may take over from beleaguered cocah Rudi Garcia, who has struggled in his early months with Napoli. Speaking to journalists present at Castel Volturno, De Laurentiis denied that he was thinking of replacing his coach, and also offered his thoughts on sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli who joined Juve this summer:
“After the defeat with Fiorentina, I read about everything. In life you can have doubts and you have to evaluate your work, if there has been any mistake I take responsibility for it. But to say to change the coach… A technical change is always traumatic and then there are not many coaches around who practice the 4-3-3 with the high defence, as happened with Sarri and Spalletti.
“Antonio Conte? I don’t want questions about that. It would disturb things. I had a vacation with him years ago in the Maldives, his family was there, and from that moment we maintained relations. I still talk with Mazzarri, Ancelotti, Benitez, Reja… the rest is just a gossip that demolishes those who today are in charge of coaching the team and that annoys me.
What are your thoughts on the betting scandal?
“As far as I’m concerned, I have always been very careful to hire footballers whose family environment and geographical origin ensured me with a certain psychological tranquility and a certain protection. I care a lot about the culture of legality, Napoli also does ‘surveillance’ on athletes who I think are good guys and who have families in place. Then it is clear that managing a sudden wealth is a problem, not everyone knows how to do it. If a person has no other interests, then they can be dazzled by something else. It is not justifiable but then you can be prey to other hallucinations, other attractions.”
What do you think of Osimhen’s injury while he was in the national team?
“Since 2013 to today we have collected about €4 million of reimbursements as participation of our players in the matches of the national teams, despite having more than 10 players summoned. This is not good, in my opinion in the national team should not play the 32-year-olds, not even the 28-year-olds. And maybe they’re fake Italians too. Today we have very strong players already at 18: but if we do not make them play, how do they become champions?
“I don’t want the Under-21 or Under-19 that have little international visibility and therefore less valorization, I want a single national team with all young players, of a maximum of 22 years. The choice should be left to the club to be able to send or not to the national team a summoned player, the possibility of saying no if it is a friendly, for example.
“The renewal? I have never been blind to Osimhen, but there are always two people in these things: I have remained the same, if his mood has changed I can not do anything about it. If after a handshake things change, it’s a shame, we take note but then life goes on. With him there are excellent relations, the contract deadline is in 2025, there is time. Don’t forget I sold Koulibaly at the last minute.”
A further comment on the transfer of Giuntoli to Juventus?
“A few months ago he had been half way out the door, he kept repeating: you want to send me to Juventus? And I told him: what is this story, suddenly you became a supporter of Juve? Here we have always considered Juve our sporting enemy number one!”
