Napoli market: direct contacts with Allegri, Azzurri in pressure
Napoli is taking concrete steps to wrest Massimiliano Allegri from AC Milan. Noting Maurizio Sarri’s hesitations (attracted by a more financially and projectually inviting proposal from Atalanta), president Aurelio De Laurentiis has decided to bet firmly on the Livorno-born coach. Allegri, moreover, had already been identified a year ago as the ideal candidate to succeed Antonio Conte, before the latter decided to stay in the wake of the Scudetto he won. In order to unblock the situation, the Azzurri patron has instructed sporting director Giovanni Manna to start pressing.
According to Corriere della Sera, a dinner meeting was held in recent days in Milan between the DS of the partenopei and the Milan coach. The two have known each other for some time, having already collaborated during their joint experience at Juventus. On this occasion, the Napoli executive re-proposed to Allegri the two-year contract already hinted at last year. The coach preferred to take his time: his main intention remains to continue his work in the Rossoneri, although his permanence still depends on several knots to be unraveled.
Currently, the coach’s attention is focused on reaching the pass for the next Champions League, a goal to be secured in the last round of the championship at San Siro against Cagliari. Once the fourth place is achieved, an automatic contract renewal until 2028 will be triggered, with a total net salary between 11 and 12 million euros for the next two years. Next, the decisive summit will be staged with RedBird’s owner Gerry Cardinale, to whom Allegri intends to make clearly delineated demands in order to remain at the helm.
The coach will first ask for full control over the market, demanding three or four grafts of depth and already ready to face the double commitment between league and cup, in addition to the confirmation of Luka Modric. Managerial autonomy, expressed as a desire to work without external interference in its scope, will also be crucial for him. Finally, on the level of corporate reorganization, with CEO Giorgio Furlani’s position in the balance, the coach would like to see a downsizing of Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s role and would have suggested to Cardinale the resounding return of a trusted and historical figure like Adriano Galliani to management.
If Milan’s ownership were to reject these demands, confirming the current managerial set-up, Allegri could opt for a final break, even giving up the two years left on his contract. In that case, the Napoli track would become a priority, overcoming even the enticements of the national team. Despite the Campania club’s intention to initiate a downsizing of costs and payroll, De Laurentiis sees in Allegri the businessman and the perfect locker room manager to whom to entrust the team’s re-foundation.
