“Out of respect for the club, I told De Laurentiis straightaway that I needed to take a year off,” said Luciano Spalletti at the MCL Inside the Sport Awards in May. “I’m a bit tired and want to spend time with my daughter Matilde.” With one round remaining in the 2022/23 Serie A campaign, the then-Napoli coach confirmed Azzurri fans’ biggest fear: the man who led their club to its first Scudetto in 33 years would not be staying for a third season.
Rumours about Spalletti’s future with the Partenopei started swirling two weeks prior. According to Italian media, the Tuscan was displeased with how his contract extension was handled. De Laurentiis activated his right to extend the contract via a PEC (or certified email). Contrary to common practice, which dictates that championship-winning coaches are entitled to pay increases, the Napoli president merely invoked a clause that was agreed to by all parties prior to Spalletti joining Napoli in 2021.
Whatever the reason, Spalletti was no longer interested in coaching at Napoli. The coach from Certaldo wanted out, and De Laurentiis accommodated his request. “I don’t want to clip his wings, freedom is too important,” he said in May, foreshadowing the coach’s resignation a month later. However, Spalletti’s release was not without conditions. The former Empoli, Roma, Inter and Zenit manager would have to take a year-long sabbatical before returning to coaching. Spalletti could only be freed from his contract sooner if his new team paid a penalty of €3.25 million.
The arrangement seemed reasonable for both parties. For Napoli, their league-winning coach, whose stock rose dramatically after dominating their Champions League group, could not immediately jump to a direct rival, domestically or in Europe. Spalletti could enjoy a well-deserved rest at La Rimessa, his ranch in Tuscany where, prior to joining Napoli, he spent two years reflecting on how to modernize his system.
Two-and-a-half months later, Spalletti is one of two candidates lined up to replace Roberto Mancini as the coach of the Italian national team. The UEFA Euro 2020-winning coach unexpectedly handed in his resignation late Saturday evening. After being scrutinized for his decision to resign only a month ahead of two important UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches, Mancini gave an interview to La Republica explaining the reasons for his decision.
“I tried several times to talk to Gravina and explain my reasons to him. I explained to him that in recent months he had to give me peace of mind, he didn’t and I resigned,” said the former Manchester City and Inter coach. “If Gravina had wanted, he would have kept me. He didn’t. A signal would have been enough for me, he didn’t give it to me. The truth is that he didn’t want me to stay, and that this situation had been going on for months.”
Though Mancini managed a third-place finish in the Nations League, he failed to qualify for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, largely due to his loyalty to an aging squad. Aside from a 5-0 victory over Lithuania, currently ranked 144th in FIFA world rankings, the Azzurri managed only two goals over their final five World Cup qualifiers, including a 0-1 defeat to North Macedonia in the World Cup Qualification Playoff Semi-final.
Within days of Macnini’s resignation, Spalletti was linked to the job, and for good reason. Spalletti demonstrated to the world last season that his teams play exciting, positive football while using the same 4-3-3 system as Mancini. In 2022/23, Spalletti’s Napoli scored 105 goals across all competitions.
However, the buyout clause applies equally to clubs and countries interested in acquiring Spalletti’s services. As confirmed in a scathing statement posted to the club’s official website, De Laurentiis insists on the payment of the clause as a matter principle.
“As far as the Federation is concerned, observing the story under discussion, what appears to me most surprising is that we arrive a few weeks away from two very important matches for the national team, with the resignation of coach Roberto Mancini. In this regard, there are two main considerations to make: one does not know how to maintain relations with one’s collaborators, leading them to resign; [and] there is a lack of legal instruments suitable for withholding them, determining compliance with the contracts signed, also through the provision of specific penalties.
“And if the right choice falls on Spalletti, a great coach with 25 years of experience at a high level, who expressed the best football in Europe last season, offering him a salary of 3 million net for three years, there is no stopping faced with the assumption (paying on behalf of the coach) of one million gross per year to free him from his contractual obligation (commitment not only to Napoli but to all its millions of fans). All of this is inconsistent.
“For Calcio Napoli, three million is certainly not a lot, and for Aurelio De Laurentiis it is even less. But the question in the present case is not one of “vile money”, but a question of principle, which does not only concern Calcio Napoli, but the entire Italian football system, which must shed its amateurish attitude to face challenges by looking [at] compliance with the rules of businesses, joint-stock companies and the market.
“But as long as the “rule” is allowed to be the “exception,” the football system will not be able to evolve and there will continue to be “Spalletti” cases, as “authoritative” commentators will continue to express themselves who do not know how to manage a business.”
In short, contracts need to be respected. Otherwise, they’re not worth the paper they’re written on. As one of the most fiscally responsible clubs in all of Europe, the €3.25 million penalty is of little consequence to Napoli’s bottom line. However, releasing Spalletti from his contractual obligations would set a dangerous precedent for all of Italian football.
According to the Italian Football Federation’s most recently published financial statements, the FIGC had €95.1 million in cash and cash equivalents as at December 31, 2021. Meanwhile, Spalletti has been a professional coach for 25 years and owns his own vineyard. Surely, between Spalletti and the FIGC, they can find a way to satisfy Spalletti’s contractual obligations.
Alternatively, as a matter of their own principles, the FIGC could hire Antonio Conte, who would reportedly earn a salary of €5 million net per season – €3 million gross per year more than Spalletti would cost, including the penalty paid to Napoli. Hiring Conte, who would need to overhaul the national team squad to fit his 3-5-2 formation, would only prove that the FIGC, led by Gravina, operates with an “amateurish attitude”.
