Luciano Spalletti hints he has already told Napoli that he will leave this summer, but ‘the club has to say it, not me. I did not turn down an increased salary, I haven’t received offers from other clubs, that is all false.’
The match with third-placed Inter is on Sunday at 17.00 UK time (16.00 GMT).
While the Partenopei still have to be presented with the Scudetto trophy on June 4 after their final game, the speculation is already swirling around the future of both coach Spalletti and director of sport Cristiano Giuntoli.
Holding a press conference today, Spalletti was asked if he will remain.
“The club will say it, not me. We discussed it at dinner. I am not the one who has to say it. We worked everything out in that dinner we had a week ago, I clarified everything that evening. If you want to keep guessing, cold, warm or hot, you can, but it’s all been defined.”
President Aurelio De Laurentiis dropped some hints yesterday by insisting he didn’t want to ‘clip the wings’ of his tactician.
“I don’t know what he meant by that, you’d have to ask him. It is not linked to what we said to each other at dinner. As far as I am concerned, I don’t need a pair of wings, but a pair of boots. I don’t need wings to fly anywhere.”
The reports suggest Spalletti fears he has achieved the maximum possible with this Napoli squad, winning their first Serie A title in over 30 years and reaching the Champions League quarter-finals, and is concerned anything else would be a disappointment.
“There was no need to negotiate anything. I did not reject any salary increase, I don’t need to pay any clauses or do anything. It is not true that I received offers from other clubs, that is false. It is false to say I am waiting for other clubs or that I turned down any proposals.
“My aim was to give the fans joy, but am I happy? I don’t know. It depends, they are two situations that are very close together. True happiness is when you make others happy. We were able to make the fans happy this season and are more relaxed, but if I look at it the other way, imagine making all those people unhappy, and that becomes really difficult to deal with.”
He was asked today if it is more difficult to win the first time or to repeat that success.
“What is more difficult is starting with a team everyone assumes will finish in eighth place and then win. I said again two days ago that Napoli will have an important future, because the right steps have been made to build the squad. I think it’d be easier to work now than the situation I found when I first arrived.
“The President said he has ambitions of winning the Champions League, as he is the one who took this club from zero to this level.”
Napoli won the Serie A title at a canter, winning 26 matches, drawing five and losing only four.
“We are motivated in general, but more so against Inter, seeing as they are the only opponent we have failed to beat this season in Serie A. We also congratulate Inter, Roma and Fiorentina on reaching the Finals of their European competitions.”