President Aurelio De Laurentiis reveals he considered Sinisa Mihajlovic not humble enough for Napoli, while Maurizio Sarri is perfect.
The choice of the former Empoli Coach to lead the Partenopei is proving increasingly illuminated as they are climbing the standings and being called the Scudetto favourites by Italian pundits.
President Aurelio De Laurentiis reveals he considered Sinisa Mihajlovic not humble enough for Napoli, while Maurizio Sarri is perfect.
The choice of the former Empoli Coach to lead the Partenopei is proving increasingly illuminated as they are climbing the standings and being called the Scudetto favourites by Italian pundits.
Many believed Sarri had not been shown sufficient trust because his contract is guaranteed for only one year, but De Laurentiis dismissed the speculation of the media.
“You make up whole episodes!” he told the TV show Tiki Taka. “Sarri has a contract, of a type that I always make in cinema as well.
“He has one year, with five options for five years. Every April I have the right to confirm him again.
“This isn't for my benefit alone, but for his own too. Should he come to me some day and tell me that his adventure with us is over and he's no longer able to give us anything interesting, we would spare ourselves the negotiations when letting him go.
“Contracts are mutual, it takes two people to make them.
“Before Sarri I thought of [Jurgen] Klopp, and I thought of a Spaniard too [Unal Emery] to continue the tradition because many of our players are Spanish.
“Then I considered Mihajlovic and Sarri. I liked Sinisa's style, but it showed up at our second meeting when he told me: 'President, you vanished for two weeks'.
“I didn't like his tone, as though I had to be there for him 24/7 when I have cinema, theme parks, China and USA to think about.
“I needed a humble professor, like Sarri. Then I came to know him, he's a man who reads. Now I must convince him to stop smoking.
“When he drew in Naples and then beat us 4-2 [with Empoli], the media elected him as the surprise.
“But it wasn't a sudden thing, rather the result of some concrete work, so I called him. I was surprised by his intelligent simplicity.”