The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) and Luciano Spalletti have reached an agreement for him to succeed Roberto Mancini as Nazionale coach, the Italian press reported on Friday. According to the Gazzetta dello sport, Spalletti, FIGC’s No.1 choice, will sign a three-year contract, until September 2026.
After several telephone interviews, he gave his agreement to FIGC president Gabriele Gravina, whom he will meet this Friday to finalize his contract. After his appointment, which could be formalized on Saturday, Spalletti is expected to hold his first press conference as coach on Monday, reports the sports daily.
Crowned Italian champion with Naples in May, Spalletti, 64, then left his post as Napoli coach. He will be responsible for reviving a selection which, despite its European title in 2021, failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
He will only have a few days to prepare for two already crucial matches for the Nazionale if they want to qualify for Euro-2024, on September 9 in North Macedonia and against Ukraine in Milan three days later.
Negotiations with Spalletti were complicated by the existence in his contract which still binds him with Napoli, until June 2024, of a clause providing for the payment of compensation of three million euros to allow him to accept a new position.
The president and owner of Naples Aurelio De Laurentiis warned the FIGC that he would not waive this compensation which decreases by 250,000 euros each month for “a question of principle”. On this issue, reports the Gazzetta dello sport, the FIGC is exploring legal remedies.
