Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis reflects over the managers he went for in the summer before giving the job to Rudi Garcia.
Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis shaded Paris Saint-Germain boss Luis Enrique in a recent interview.
The 52-year-old treble winner with Barcelona was on the shortlist of Napoli this summer to become the replacement for Luciano Spaletti; however, a deal could not be reached, and he eventually joined PSG.
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What Laurentiis said
The Spaniard was top on the list of a number of top clubs this summer after he left the La Roja job, and Napoli were one of them, according to De Laurentiis.
He said he spoke to the former Roma boss, but he turned him down, opting to move to Les Parisiens. The Partenopei does not seem to be losing any sleep over it, as he pointed out that PSG's results under Enrique are not one to envy.
The French champions are currently 3rd in the league and suffered a 4-1 defeat in the Champions League to Premier League side Newcastle United.
“I can reveal that I called Luis Enrique in June,” Laurentiis said, per Fabrizio Romano.
"But... luckily, Luis wanted to join Paris Saint-Germain — look at his results at PSG now!”
“We spoke to Thiago Motta in June but he didn’t want to replace Spalletti after his results."
Napoli could fire current manager Garcia
These conversations are on the surface because the current Partenopei boss is under fire. Napoli's title defence is going awry so far, and with the recent loss to Fiorentina, manager Rudi Garcia's future is said to be uncertain, and former Chelsea boss Graham Potter is being evaluated as a possible replacement.
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The French manager had big boots to fill when he accepted the Partenopei role, as he was replacing Luciano Spaletti, the coach who led Napoli to their first league title in 33 years.
Napoli have struggled to replicate the form they showed under their former boss, or even the fluency in their style of play.
The results they have gotten so far exhibit this; Napoli have already dropped points in four of eight matches this season, two losses and two draws, keeping them fifth on the log, seven points adrift of league leaders Milan.
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