De Laurentiis fires back at Conte: ‘This could create unease’

Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis hit back at coach Antonio Conte after his comments sparked controversy. ‘This could create unease.’

There had already been multiple reports that Conte was frustrated at the situation in Naples, from the departure mid-season of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to Paris Saint-Germain and the lack of a replacement, to issues over the training facilities.

He effectively hinted at all this during his press conference on Friday, noting “in these eight months in Naples, I’ve understood that many things just can’t be done.”

Now De Laurentiis has hit back with statements of his own and criticised the coach for rocking the boat during a Scudetto race.

De Laurentiis backs Napoli against Conte comments

“Evaluations like this during the process could create unease, so it’s always better to save that for the end,” the President told Radio Crc, via La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“All football teams are in a process of evolution to the end: the only script you cannot write in advance is that of a football match and the season around it.

“We have a strong and muscular team, we’ll have a lot of fun over the next few years.”

The frustration is also around the plans to restructure the crumbling Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

“If I were to abandon the Stadio Maradona, I’d create a big problem for the Mayor. He’s giving it his all to make the necessary verifications, but there are problems not just on the third tier,” continued De Laurentiis.

“We must work out if the structure is from 1959, then revamped in 1990, can it withstand further work? Can we build 100 boxes and 70,000 seats to be competitive with the northern clubs? Can we make visibility clear from every seat?”

The plan would be to remove the athletics track that keeps the fans at a huge distance from the pitch.

De Laurentiis is a movie producer first and foremost who helped save Napoli from bankruptcy, taking them from Serie C to the Serie A title, so inevitably he created a documentary about the Scudetto triumph under Luciano Spalletti.

“The film of the Scudetto was successful, I asked myself why don’t we tell every Napoli season in the same way? So from Conte’s signature in my office to the pre-season training retreat and all the rest, we are building the film of this season that I hope to release in cinemas in June, then I’m discussing it with streaming platforms.”