Gasperini highlighted as Napoli target by De Laurentiis

Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis hinted that Gian Piero Gasperini is his first choice as new coach, praising Atalanta for having ‘a great tactician with very interesting football.’

The Partenopei are looking to completely rebuild after a disastrous post-Scudetto campaign, which sees them struggling to even qualify for the Conference League.

They have been through three coaches following the departure of Luciano Spalletti and are set to bring in new director of sport Giovanni Manna from Juventus.

While Antonio Conte, Stefano Pioli and Vincenzo Italiano have all been mentioned, the name that would be top of De Laurentiis’ wish-list is Gasperini.

He has shown with Atalanta that he can build and rebuild a team with a minimal budget, but it would be very difficult to prise him away from La Dea after eight years.

De Laurentiis drops Gasperini hint

“I always watch Atalanta games with great interest, because they have a great tactician, some splendid players and they play some very interesting football,” said De Laurentiis today.

This was seen as the first time the Napoli patron has really come out publicly to identify Gasperini as a target.

However, the coach is under contract with Atalanta until June 2025 and was recently said to be discussing a renewal.

Everything is on the backburner due to a packed schedule, as Atalanta are in the Europa League semi-final tonight with Olympique Marseille, the Coppa Italia Final against Juventus on May 15 and still have a game in hand in Serie A.