Napoli have announced former AS Roma coach Rudi Garcia as the new manager of the Italian team. The 2022-23 Serie A champions were looking for a new manager after former coach Luciano Spalletti decided to step down from his role after winning the historic title. Garcia will coach an Italian team for the first time since he was the manager of AS Roma from 2013 to 2016. Ironically, when Garcia was sacked by Roma, Spalletti replaced him at the club in 2016.
✍️ Rudi García è il nuovo allenatore del Napoli!
— Official SSC Napoli (@sscnapoli) June 15, 2023
Benvenuto Mister 👋 pic.twitter.com/aYjOVpGDP9
Napoli's owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has been working to appoint a new coach since the end of May, when Spalletti announced his decision despite his contract running until the summer of 2024. De Laurentiis said that he had "around 40 names in the list" to replace the former manager, including Luis Enrique and Christophe Galtier. The current PSG coach seemed to be the closest one until Thursday, but De Laurentiis announced his unexpected decision through a tweet.
"I have the pleasure of announcing that, after meeting with him over the last ten days, Mr. Rudi Garcia will be the new coach of Napoli. A sincere welcome to him and a big good luck!".
Garcia made his name at Lille in France where he won both Ligue 1 and the domestic cup in 2011, and after that coached AS Roma, Olympique Marseille, Lyon and lastly Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr. He's back in the Italian Serie A seven years after he left Roma and will have the difficult role of replace the first ever Serie A winning coach of Napoli after the Diego Armando Maradona era.
