Doors open to all. Italiano and Gasperini are the emblem of the caravanserai that he has been chasing for a few days De Laurentiis, called to remake Napoli but still without the certainty of who the new coach will be. Gasperini asked for (and received) time before starting to think about his future away from Bergamo: he will have clear ideas after the Atalanta final in Dublin tomorrow. But that doesn’t mean he can be the predestined one.
The Italian has long said he is ready for the Naples adventure, he already has an agreement with the sporting director in pectore Giovanni Manna and his Neapolitan manager, Diego Nappi, is ready for the meeting that can define everything. His young age and the fact that this is at least the third attempt to sign him are to his advantage. “I could have taken him last year, but it would have been a criminal act,” admitted De Laurentiis, revealing a deal that was already known. This year he is free. Yesterday, in Coverciano, participating in the traditional conference organized by the president of Ussi Gianfranco Coppola and the Christian Workers Movement, the Fiorentina coach, when asked about his future, glossed over: «I’m not thinking about Bologna, nor Turin nor Napoli, but only about the Conference final: I want to win the cup to dedicate it to Joe Barone’s family». At Filmauro headquarters they are hoping for good news, but they can’t wait long. Short times are expected with De Laurentiis who continues to keep the game going Stefano Pioli who would like him to be able to free himself from Milan as early as this week. But Pioli is not in such a hurry, in fact he can even stay out of action for a year. And yesterday too the phone calls were wasted.
De Laurentiis is also working on the restyling of the Maradona stadium: he is in a hurry to define the project and therefore is currently requesting meetings with the Municipality of Naples. Gasperini’s candidacy, in any case, officially took off and in a few hours he and Vincenzo Italiano became the main candidates for succession to Calzone (destined to return to being coach of Slovakia), outsprinting even Pioli, who has long been the pacesetter in this run-up full of surprises. Conte disappeared from the radar for a few hours: he did not hide his annoyance at this on-and-off courtship on the part of the owner. But De Laurentiis tied his finger to the two refusals (in October and January) when with the Lecce native on the bench there would have been the conditions to straighten out a disastrous season. In any case, Napoli or Conte (you name it) backed out. It should never be forgotten, in any case, that the decision will be the result of a compromise: why De Laurentiis, without Champions, is aiming for a light salary (less than 80 million this season) so he wants a coach who doesn’t go beyond 2.5 million in salary. Gasp wants at least 4. Maybe he’s ready to give up. In Bergamo – although he has always denied it – it seems that he also receives bonuses linked to excellent transfers. Clause that could not be inserted in Naples. Therefore, Gasp is not a cheap option. But at 68 years old he “is looking for a challenge” or to demonstrate what he has never managed to do: that he can do well not only in the “province”. However, it seems clear that he jokes more about his Juventus past Giuntoli (“How can you be a fan of the team whose enemies we are”, he keeps repeating) and all he does is hire professionals with the Juventus brand. Not only Manna, who grew up in the Juventus club for 5 seasons, but Gasperini himself worked for nine seasons in the youth sector of the Juventus club. There are evidently many unknowns regarding the outcome of the meeting, although both sides agree on one fact: we must act quickly.
Half of Italy has problems finding a coach, only Inter, Lazio, Roma and Genoa have confirmed their coaches and for the rest it is an incredible confusion. Juventus will take Thiago MottaGiuntoli has been moving for months to hand over the new team to the Brazilian. Then everyone else will arrive: Milan’s dream is De Zerbi who left Brighton but the favorite is Paulo Fonseca. The first move will be to understand Gasperini’s choice, i.e. whether he will leave Atalanta. If he manages to separate, he will do it for Napoli. But beware of taking everything for granted, but the circle is clearly narrowing.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Read the full article at
The morning
