Goodbye, Spalletti: Naples’ Coach Steps Down After Impressive Title Win

Naples supporters bid farewell to their coach, Luciano Spalletti, the architect of their coronation of the local title for the first time in 33 years, when their team received Sampdoria, in the last thirty-eighth stage of the Italian Football Championship.
Spalletti decided to leave Naples and return to his vineyard in Tuscany, where he extracts wine, in order to take a break after an exhausting season.
Spalletti will remain in memory as the person who brought the first title to the southern city since he won it under the leadership of the late Argentine star Diego Maradona for the last time in 1990.
Spalletti, whose team presented a wonderful offensive display, commented on his departure by saying, “Sometimes, separation takes place because of a lot of love. I need to take a break because I am very tired.”
And after the coronation, which the residents of Naples are still celebrating, the team entered a murky phase, as the identity of the new coach was not yet known, while its stars, who shone in its ranks this season, became targets for elite clubs in the European continent.
The southern team will keep the services of its Georgian winger, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who shone remarkably and was the surprise of the season, due to his long-term contract until 2027.
The heart of the South Korean defense, Kim Min-jae, also shone, who forgot the supporters of the southern team, the departure of Senegalese Calido Coulibaly to Chelsea, but his contract includes a penalty clause of 50 million euros, and press reports indicate that he is on his way to moving to the English Manchester United ranks.
Elite clubs are also flocking to obtain the services of Napoli’s Nigerian top scorer Victor Osimhen, after scoring 30 goals in various competitions this season, including the title-clinching goal against Udinese five rounds before the end of the league.
As for Sampdoria, it fell to the second division, bottom of the ranking of the twenty clubs, but it will be in a more optimistic mood after changing its ownership.
Sampdoria suffered from huge financial problems throughout the season, as it failed to pay the salaries of its players for several months and was greatly threatened with bankruptcy. However, it seems that the acquisition attempt led by two companies was accepted, one of which was owned by the English owner of Leeds United, Andrea Radrizzani, and approved by the current owner, Massimo Ferrero, who had to resign from the club’s presidency in December 2021 after he was arrested on charges of fraudulent bankruptcy.
Sampdoria, the 1991 Italian champions, revealed on Tuesday that a €40m capital increase had been approved for a “club restructuring plan”, a late investment to avoid a four-point penalty for late salary payments for next season.

Final rehearsal for Inter

Inter Milan is going through its last experience before facing Manchester City in the Champions League final on the tenth of this month in Istanbul, when it is a guest on the eighth Turin in the last round.
Inter can snatch second place from Lazio, who is ahead of it by two points, and is also a guest at Empoli.
Inter is counting on its Belgian top scorer, Romelu Lukaku, who has regained his scoring appetite in recent weeks, by scoring 7 goals and succeeding in 4 assists in the last 10 matches, which boosted his chances of participating mainly against Manchester City.
The seventh Juventus seeks to put an end to its technical and administrative setbacks, after two successive losses and confirmation of deducting 10 points from its balance due to financial irregularities.
The “Old Lady” team settles on Udinese, which is one point away from the sixth Roma, who receives the seventeenth-placed Spezia, who disputes with Verona, equal to him in the number of points (31), to avoid relegation to the second degree and catch up with Cremonese and Sampdoria.
The fifth place, which Atalanta occupies, a point behind Roma, and the sixth, guarantees qualification to the Europa League competition, while the seventh qualifies for the preliminary round of the Conference League competition.