Coach Rudi Garcia has disappointed with his performance, leading the reigning Serie A champions for just a year.
In June, Garcia arrived at Napoli to replace Luciano Spalletti. However, the second stint in Italy for the 59-year-old coach has not been smooth. After 16 matches in all competitions, Garcia has only managed to win eight. Napoli is currently in fourth place in Serie A, where they dominated last season, with 21 points from 12 matches, trailing league leaders Inter by 10 points.
According to Gazzetta, since last month, President Aurelio De Laurentiis has decided to dismiss Garcia. He hasn’t implemented it yet as he needs to find a replacement. However, De Laurentiis expedited the process after Napoli’s 0-1 loss to bottom-placed Empoli on November 12. Football Italia reported that on November 13, Napoli’s president met with Igor Tudor, a former Udinese, Verona, and Marseille coach, at the FilmAuro office in Rome. Detailed contract negotiations could take place in the coming days.
Antonio Conte has also been a target for De Laurentiis. However, the former coach of Juventus, Chelsea, Inter, and Tottenham wants to spend time with his family at least until the end of the 2023-2024 season. In addition to Tudor and Conte, De Laurentiis also considers Walter Mazzarri and Fabio Cannavaro.
Napoli will have two weeks to appoint a new coach while the clubs yield the stage to the national teams. On November 25, the reigning Serie A champions will return with an away match against Atalanta.
Garcia rose to prominence by helping Lille win Ligue 1 and the French National Cup in 2010-2011. Subsequently, he led Roma to two second-place finishes in Serie A, took Marseille to the Europa League final in 2017-2018, and guided Lyon to the French League Cup final in 2019-2020.
In June 2022, Garcia moved to Saudi Arabia to coach Al Nassr. He had the opportunity to work with Cristiano Ronaldo from January 2023. However, on April 13, after finishing second in the Saudi Pro League, reaching the King’s Cup semi-finals, and the Saudi Super Cup semi-finals, Al Nassr announced the departure of the French coach.
Last season, Napoli won Serie A with 90 points from 38 matches, 16 points ahead of second-placed Lazio. The 2022-2023 Serie A is Napoli’s first national championship since the days of Diego Maradona. However, shortly after winning the title, Coach Spalletti left the team and accepted the offer to coach the Italian national team.
