While the deal is not yet officially announced, Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis let the cat out of the bag today, confirming that Chelsea interim manager, and former Liverpool head man, Rafa Benitez has been given a two year deal to manage the Serie A club.
Benitez is currently with Chelsea on their short US tour, and should be free to take the job officially in the next few weeks. Benitez enjoyed his greatest success at Liverpool where he led the club to the Champions League in 2005, and the FA Cup in 2006.
As was reported yesterday, Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho will be taking over from Benitez at Chelsea.
De Laurentis unwittingly confirmed the move when he told Sky Italia today, “Benítez is the new coach of Napoli. I gave myself a birthday present. I’ll make it official in the next few days as he has to end his time at Chelsea, but he’ll be our new coach for the next two years.”
De Laurentis is now backtracking and trying to deny the move, saying that he has hired a manager, but it can not be announced until June 30th or when that manager’s club gives him permission, however this appears to be a case of too little, too late.
This deal is the latest in a series of managerial moves that will change the face of European Football over the off-season. In addition to the Benitez and Mourinho moves, we have seen David Moyes moving from Everton to Manchester United to replace the departed Sir Alex Ferguson. Manchester City is also shopping for a new manager after firing Roberto Mancini. It is believed that Man City will hire former Malaga boss Manuel Pellegrini. Champions’ League finalist Bayern Munich will also have a new coach as Pep Guardiola will be replacing Jupp Heynckes who will be leaving at the end of the season. Whether he is retiring as the club officially announced, remains to be seen as there are now rumors of interest from Real Madrid. Meanwhile Italian giants AS Roma are also looking for a new manager, while rumors continue to swirl about the future of AC Milan’s Massimiliano Allegri. The football coaching landscape is beginning to resemble a giant game of musical chairs.
It was yet another switch that sees the Napoli job open for Benitez. He will be taking over from Walter Mazzarri, who announced last week that he would be leaving Napoli despite steering the Italian Club to a second place finish in Serie A and an automatic birth in the Champions League. Napoli also won the Italian Cup this season.
Inter Milan confirmed today that they will be hiring Mazzari to take over for the newly fired Andrea Stramaccioni. They made the move official, although it had been widely rumored for weeks. The move comes on the heels of what was a disastrous season for Inter who finished 9th in Serie A.
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