We know him for his strong character, his sometimes controversial statements, his arrogant and proud side and his appearance worthy of an Italian gangster film. But the charismatic president of Napoli, Aurelio De Laurentiis, has also been the subject of much discussion for several years due to certain curious sporting decisions, at a time when the 74-year-old Italian businessman is taking on more and more responsibility. place since the departure of Italian sporting director, Cristiano Giuntoli, for Juventus last summer. And the new and very long series of the departure of Rudi Garcia and the endless searches for a successor put in the spotlight the methods of De Laurentiis, often questioned by Neapolitan fans, Italian journalists, even colleagues of the president of the club for 20 years.
As a reminder, the Italian film mogul bought the Napoli club in September 2004 for 30 million euros and renamed it “Napoli Soccer”, after the bankruptcy of SSC Napoli and its demotion to Serie C. He then acquired the rights to the “SSC Napoli” brand, in order to be able to restore the historic name to the Partenopei in 2006. In three years, he managed to bring the city of Naples back to Serie A, with excellent results and solid economic foundations. A long rebuilding effort rewarded last season with a quarter-final in the Champions League and the Campania club’s first Scudetto after 33 years of waiting. On this side, Aurelio De Laurentiis is almost impeccable, but under his leadership, it is difficult to count the storms, storms and fogs at the foot of Vesuvius, especially with his coaches who number six in 10 years, and ten in 20 years.
Troubling management of coaches
Let’s rewind a little to the last months of Napoli. After celebrating a historic Scudetto, the architect of this feat, Luciano Spalletti, decided to leave the Campania club, leaving behind a successful team with maximum confidence and an already well-oiled collective. The hardest part remained to be done for the Neapolitan management, led by the president of Aurelio De Laurentiis. But curiously, the boss of the Partenopei delayed before finding the successor of the current coach of the Nazionale. A list of around ten coaches was then drawn up: Thiago Motta, Luis Enrique, Julian Nagelsmann, Vincenzo Italiano, Fabio Cannavaro, Raffaele Palladino, SĂ©rgio Conceição, Christophe Galtier, Rafael Benitez, Antonio Conte, Gian Piero Gasperini, Roberto De Zerbi or even Alessio Dionisi… A countless number of contenders, more or less interested in the position. A majority had also met Aurelio De Laurentiis at the restaurant, to the point where the humorous gimmick “ADL at the restaurant” had become legion in the communities of Neapolitan fans. To everyone’s surprise, he chose French coach Rudi Garcia and gave him a rockstar welcome in the streets of Naples.
Five months later, again. The president of Napoli must start looking for a new conductor for his bench, at a time when Rudi Garcia is patiently waiting in Nice with his family to read the official press release of his dismissal. The defeat against Empoli (0-1) on Sunday was too much for the club’s management, which quickly met in Rome, with the presence of Aurelio De Laurentiis and his advisors Mauro Meluso (who often chooses the coaches ), Maurizio Micheli and Antonio Sinicropi, to take advantage of the international break to discuss the future of the season and to check off the first names considered to take back the reins of a drowning ship. Everyone naively thought that Igor Tudor would logically be appointed as head of Napoli, while discussions intensified on Monday and all parties agreed on a contract for a few months after a positive meeting in Rome with the Croatian coach. But De Laurentiis remains De Laurentiis and the Italian press announced this Tuesday morning that the Neapolitan president had organized a surprise interview with Walter Mazzarri, former Napoli coach and close to Aurelio De Laurentiis, who should commit until next June.
Stormy professional relationships
“I won’t hit you because you’re an old man, but I’m still going to fire you.”. This sweet sentence spoken by Aurelio De Laurentiis after a draw against Lazio to the coach at the time, Edoardo Reja, highlights another concern of the Neapolitan president: the complicated relational aspect with his coaches. It’s hard to forget the constant standoffs with Carlo Ancelotti who pushed the current Real Madrid coach towards the exit. He had also experienced several frictions and other scuffles with Roberto Donadoni, on the Napoli bench in 2009: “Donadoni said we need a left midfielder? Why doesn’t he buy one then? If he buys it, it will be good., declared De Laurentiis. Apart from Rafa Benitez, Walter Mazzarri and Maurizio Sarri, Aurelio De Laurentiis has often been at the center of intense battles with his technical staff, which paralyzed the locker room and annoyed certain executives.
With Rudi Garcia again recently, Aurelio De Laurentiis declared in the press at the beginning of October: “I’m having a bad time with him. I am an entrepreneur, I have a duty to take an interest in my business. The coach and sports director are at your service. I will make the most appropriate decisions when the time comes. Any hasty decision is bad”. A statement which signaled the end of the adventure of the former OM and OL player, but after failed negotiations with Antonio Conte, the 74-year-old film producer finally decided, to everyone’s surprise, to keep Garcia at the head of Napoli, by publicly reiterating his confidence in him, even taking his defense. A maintenance, but under certain conditions, including an almost daily presence of De Laurentiis at collective training, thus wishing to monitor the work of Rudi Garcia. Finally, the Frenchman’s departure now seems to be well established. The defeat against Empoli sounded the death knell for this surprising marriage which ended in a miserably failure, whether in the coaching of Rudi Garcia or in the management of Aurelio De Laurentiis who is also one of the major culprits of the current crisis among the Partenopei.
