Napoli CEO Aurelio de Laurentiis denies Jose Mourinho links

Napoli CEO Aurelio de Laurentiis has denied that Jose Mourinho is of interest to the club regarding the managerial role.

Walter Mazzarri’s contract at Napoli runs out at the end of the season and after that, the Partenopei will be hiring a new manager. Mourinho has been linked with the club in recent weeks and it was suggested that he could meet De Laurentiis this week.

But De Laurentiis, during a recent chat with TMW, has denied that Mourinho is a target, denying that he would be the club’s manager once Mazzarri leaves in the summer. De Laurentiis stated that Mourinho’s future lies away from Naples.

“It has nothing to do with Napoli. He was at Roma, now he’s free but he can’t go anywhere else in Italy. He’s a good coach, very nice and tells the story of a certain type of football. I love the Portuguese very much, an extraordinary person, but his destiny will be outside Italy, certainly not in Naples.”

Mourinho has already been linked with not just Napoli but also with Al Shabab, but he seems to have rejected the approach as he wants to stay away from management for some time before taking the next step in his career. 

Napoli have been linked with Antonio Conte, who has rejected them. They did attempt to sign former Marseille boss Igor Tudor but the move didn’t materialise.

Kaustubh Pandey | GIFN