The reason for Gattuso's contract termination has been revealed.
Valencia announced yesterday, September 30th, that they have reached a mutual agreement to terminate Gennaro Gattuso’s contract as manager of Los Che.
Contrary to the more regular instance where the term ‘mutual agreement’ is used when a club makes the decision to fire a manager, reports suggest that Gattuso proposed his leaving following a breakdown in trust with the club’s hierarchy.
Why Gattuso decided to leave
According to Relevo, the decision to leave the Mestella was made by Gattuso himself rather than by the club as a result of the club's poor form.
Valencia have only won one of their last ten league games, and they find themselves one point away from the relegation place; however, it is reported that the club hierarchy and the players themselves wanted Gattuso to continue despite the bad results.
Gattuso is said to have proposed leaving the role following a breakdown of trust between himself and Valencia’s majority shareholder, Peter Lim.
The first crack formed in their relationship during his trip to Singapore during the World Cup to meet with Lim. Gattuso explained the need to extend the contract of left-back Toni Lato, whose contract expires in the summer, to Lim and was reported to have gotten assurances from the Singaporean to offer Lato a three-year contract extension.
However, the 25-year-old left-back was only offered a one-year contract with a 50% salary cut, to the dismay of Gattuso, who felt misled.
The mistrust grew further when Peter Lim failed to attend Valencia’s Super Cup semi-final loss to Real Madrid, where he and Gattuso were reported to have planned to meet.
Gattuso had had enough when the club informed him that they would be unable to sign Saul Niguez from Atletico Madrid owing to Peter Lim's refusal to make a financial commitment.
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