The background on the relationship between president and coach
The name of Montella is in the running for the Napoli bench, La Gazzetta dello Sport has reconstructed the progress of the relationship with president De Laurentiis:
“De Laurentiis nurtures the dream of bringing Antonio Conte to Naples, with whom a friendship was born years ago during a holiday in the Maldives. And, even with Montella, relations returned to good thanks to a holiday: a fortuitous meeting in Ischia was the trigger, where the two were seen chatting for a long time in a well-known hotel in the period in which Garcia’s bench was already dancing dangerously. And recently, De Laurentiis and Montella met again casually in Rome, where they talked about everything, in a very cordial manner. De Laurentiis complimented the work done with Aldana, against whom he had played in a friendly at Castel di Sangro in 2022, and then for his exploits leading Turkey. He knows that Montella is a serious worker, who knows how to adapt to the squad he has available without becoming stuck in a single system. The respect has never waned, who knows whether these recent meetings may guide the choice: certainly, Aurelio has obtained information and Montella is added to the casting”
