Napoli boss Luciano Spalleti has requested to take a sabbatical from management and will not resume as coach of the newly crowned Serie A Champions in the 2023/2024 campaign.
Spalleti has been the coach of Napoli since 2021 and still has a year left to go on his current contract, after guiding the Partenopei to their first Serie A title in well over three decades. However, it appears he would take a rest from the sidelines and go on a break from coaching, starting this summer.
Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis revealed on Sunday that Spalleti had asked to take a break, while adding that he would not stand in the way of the 64-year-old.
Spalleti himself has now confirmed the decision to go on a sabbatical, leaving Napoli with an apparent need for a new manager ahead of next season.
Spalleti confirms he has asked to leave Napoli
“Out of respect for the club I told De Laurentiis straightaway that I needed to take a year off,” Italian news agency Ansa quoted Spalletti as saying on Monday.
“I’m a bit tired and want to spend time with my daughter Matilde,” he added on the sidelines of a sports business conference.
Napoli also got as far as the Champions League quarterfinals this season under Spalletti before bowing out via a 2-1 aggregate to AC Milan.
Speaking last weekend about Spalletti’s upcoming departure, De Laurentiis said: “He is a free man. After 50 years in cinema [as producer], and so many exclusives with directors, actors, when someone comes to you and says: ‘After all, I’ve done my best, a cycle of my life has ended, I still have a contract with you, but I’d rather have a sabbatical year.’ What are you going to do, are you going to oppose it?”
“You have to be generous in life, I never expect anything in return. He gave us, I thank him, now it’s right that he continues to do what he loves to do.”
Spalletti recently got a tattoo to celebrate Napoli’s third league title and said after his side’s 2-2 draw at Bologna on Sunday: “I have so many things inside, because to build a Scudetto-winning campaign like we did you need the contribution of every component. Certainly, the warmth and love of the people of Naples is what made the difference.”
Regarding the tattoo, Spalletti added: “Naples was obviously under my skin and I have brought out what I already had inside me after these two years. This city, this group, these people, they all deserve the happiness we are experiencing.”
