“The choice of D’Aversa arises because he is a coach who has content and has this appeal towards the team.” The Empoli president Fabrizio Corsi himself confirmed with these words the white smoke with the former Sampdoria and Lecce coach that arrived late on Monday evening. The coach born in Germany in Stuttgart to a father from Abruzzo and a mother from Puglia will therefore join Empoli with a one-year contract with an option for the following year in case of salvation. “I liked him, and by impression he seemed like the right person to lead the team”, insisted the top Italian manager who then also returned to Davide Nicola’s decision to accept Cagliari’s court. “I’m sorry, we should have a statue of him and we’ll virtually do it for him as it was done for others – continued Corsi –. He achieved a feat and obviously if he preferred other shores it means that he didn’t see us as the best option for his career. This is a fundamental point, on which we instead look for those who see Empoli as an opportunity.” An opportunity that Roberto D’Aversa wanted to seize, sacked by Lecce last March 11th following the home defeat against Verona which had left the Salento team in sixteenth place tied with Empoli, with just one point of margin over the relegation zone. A decision that the club of owner Sticchi Damiani took after the bad gesture of the coach, who at the end of the match against the Scaligeri had hit the Gialloblù striker Henry with a header. Behavior for which D’Aversa was also disqualified for four matches, which is why he will only make his official debut on the Italian bench in the championship in late September. Empoli thus beat the competition from newly promoted B Cesena, with whom D’Aversa actually had an agreement in principle which in the plans of the Romagna club should have been formalized today, after having freed Toscano who was now promised to Catania. The call from Empoli, however, shuffled the cards on the table, with the possibility of returning to compete with Serie A which certainly had a decisive impact.
The signature and official status of the new Italian coach will arrive, however, only after the club has resolved the relationship with Nicola, who is still under contract until June 2025. With this in mind, talks are continuing with Cagliari to find a solution, which at the moment sees the most plausible solution in the payment of compensation by the Sardinian club of around one and a half million euros. In the end, therefore, there may be no sale of Empoli players to President Giulini’s association, even if the latter insists on having captain Luperto, precisely at the request of Nicola who this year appreciated his professionalism and technical-tactical qualities. However, Corsi is asking for over 5 million, given that the compensation to free Nicola must be added to the value attributed to the player, a figure deemed too high by Cagliari. The Italian president then released some previews on the staff, as well as underlining the difficulty of the next season. “The squad will contain five or six young players who we believe can give us both technical value and asset value – he concludes –. This year’s adventure seems very tough to me, we will try.”
