(Reuters) – Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti denied he has had offers from other clubs as rumours intensified in Italian media this week that he is set to leave the Serie A champions in the close season.
The 64-year-old led Napoli to their first Serie A title in over 30 years and reached the Champions League quarter-finals, but the speculation around the future of Italian coach came amid comments from President Aurelio De Laurentiis who said he didn’t want to ‘clip the wings’ of his tactician.
“I don’t know what he meant by that, you’d have to ask him. It is not linked to what we said to each other at dinner. As far as I am concerned, I don’t need a pair of wings, but a pair of boots. I don’t need wings to fly anywhere,” Spalletti said in a press conference on Saturday.
“There was no need to negotiate anything. I did not reject any salary increase… It is not true that I received offers from other clubs, that is false. It is false to say I am waiting for other clubs or that I turned down any proposals.”
Spalletti added that the future was bright for Napoli and that the next goal would be European domination.
“Even the president spoke of a great future, I think he said he has Champions League ambitions and he brought them from zero to here,” he added. “You all agree that we have to fight to win the Champions League.”
Napoli will receive the Scudetto trophy on June 4 and have three games left to play. They take on third-placed Inter Milan on Sunday and Spalletti said his side were motivated to get one over on their opponents.
“They are Champions League finalists, deservedly so, I think we have beaten all teams in this league (season), except Inter at least once, so we have a strong motivation,” he said.
(Reporting by Angelica Medina in Mexico City; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
