Luciano Spalletti, the coach of Napoli, has asked to take a sabbatical from the game and will not be in charge of the freshly crowned Serie A winners next season, he said on Monday.
He recently guided Napoli to their first Serie A victory since 1990, yet there has been uncertainty over his future.
On Sunday night, Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis stated that the coach had requested a vacation and that he would not stand in his way, and Spalletti confirmed the idea.
“Out of respect for the club, I told De Laurentiis right away that I needed to take a year off,” Spalletti was cited as saying by the Italian news agency Ansa on Monday.
“I’m a bit tired and want to spend time with my daughter, Matilde,” he explained on the margins of a sports business conference.
The Italian media suggested that former Spain national team coach Luis Enrique would be Spalletti’s likely replacement. It was unclear what Spalletti, 64, would do following his break.
Napoli has run away with the Serie A title this season, upsetting their rivals from the wealthier north to win the league for the first time since the Diego Maradona era.
“Spalletti has been a great coach; he’s a free man; he’s given a lot; I thank him, and now it’s right that he does what he wants to,” De Laurentiis told a talk show on Rai TV on Sunday night.
Spalletti, who took charge of Napoli in 2021, broke down in tears when Napoli clinched the title this month, paying tribute to his family and his brother, who passed away four years ago.
He has coached several Italian clubs, including AS Roma and Inter Milan, and spent five years with Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg.
