Luciano Spalletti says it’s ‘too easy’ for Aurelio De Laurentiis to say that he wants to win the Champions League and insists the President must speak to him, not journalists, about his future at the Stadio Maradona.
Napoli are celebrating their first Serie A title in 33 years, the third in the club’s history, which was mathematically conquered with a 1-1 draw at Udinese on Thursday.
Spalletti has made history at the Stadio Maradona in his second season at the club and after a touching post-match interview with DAZN on Thursday, he met journalists in a post-match press conference.
De Laurentiis had watched the game from a sold-out Stadio Maradona and spoke to the media after the match, saying that the Partenopei’s target is now to win the Champions League and that Spalletti would remain in 2023-24.
The Partenopei can extend Spalletti’s contract beyond June 2023, when his current deal ends. The Italian coach was asked when he first thought he could win the title this season and whether they can aim for the Champions League in the future.
“I told you when I arrived that we would have fought for the Scudetto,” said Spalletti.
“Last season, there were moments when we were in the title race and I said: ‘We can make it.’ But you [journalists] said: ‘You exaggerated, you put too much pressure on the team.’
“This year, you are telling me, that I didn’t believe in it [the title] unlike De Laurentiis, who had said it at the beginning. Now, he says he wants to win the Champions League. If it happens, you’d say he believed in it and we didn’t. He always aims for the top, like this, he always lands on his feet. Like this, it’s too easy.
“Ask the team what I said in the first collective meeting this season. Ask them,” he continued.
“Finishing third or second would make no difference. It wasn’t an improvement. Last season, after the game against Empoli, we were criticised. Don’t you remember? They came to catch us at the hotel. Don’t you remember? We had only one escape route this season: to win, and I’ve always said so to the players, while nobody believed we’d even make the top four.”
Regardless of Napoli’s option in their contract with Spalletti, De Laurentiis is expected to meet his coach soon to discuss the future at the club.
“What the club has done, keeping financial health, has shown the others how to work correctly,” said Spalletti.
“This club have made it, so congratulations. They’ve built a good team to fight and which has the shape of a team that can win again. These players have clear qualities which can further improve. I don’t care about the timing of the talks. The context where one was born makes the difference.”
In the end, when Spalletti was told De Laurentiis wanted him to stay, he replied: “The President must tell me, not you. He must speak to me.”