SERIE A
Osimhen’s coach at Napoli Spalletti steps aside after title triumph
Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti has asked to take a break from the game and won’t be in charge of the newly crowned Serie A champions next season, he said on Monday.
Spalletti has just led Napoli to the Serie A title for the first time since 1990 but there has been speculation about whether he would stay on.
Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis had said on Sunday night that the coach had asked for a sabbatical and that he would not stand in his way and Spalletti confirmed the plan.
“Out of respect for the club I told De Laurentiis straightaway that I needed to take a year off,” Italian news agency Ansa quoted Spalletti as saying on Monday.
“I’m a bit tired and want to spend time with my daughter Matilde,” he added on the sidelines of a sports business conference.
Italian media speculated that former Spain national team coach Luis Enrique was the likely replacement for Spalletti. It was not clear what Spalletti, who is 64, would do after his break
Napoli have run away with the Serie A title this season, upstaging their rivals from the wealthier north to win the league for the first time since the Diego Maradona era.
“Spalletti has been a really great coach, he’s a free man, he’s given a lot, I thank him and now it’s right that he does what he wants to,” De Laurentiis told a talk show on Rai TV on Sunday night.
Spalletti, who took charge of Napoli in 2021, had broken down in tears when Napoli clinched the title this month, paying tribute to his family and his brother who passed away four years ago.
He has coached a number of Italian clubs including AS Roma and Inter Milan, and spent five years with Russian club Zenit St Petersburg.
-Reuters
SERIE A
Ademola Lookman wins Atalanta’s ‘Player of The Season Award
![](https://www.sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/ademola-lookman.jpg)
Nigeria’s Super Eagles winger and silver medal winner with the country at the last AFCON 2023 tournament in Cote D’Ivoire, Ademola Lookman, has emerged as the Atalanta Player of the Season.
The pint-size forward has won the converted award Back-to-back with the Bergamo-based side after his exploit in the domestic and European matches for the side.
Atalanta qualified for two finals with the Nigerian International playing an active role in the campaign.
He was instrumental to Atalanta winning the UEFA Europa League beating Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the final with the Nigerian scoring all the goals.
The club announced on its official website on Thursday saying, “It’s him again, Ademola Lookman! The reigning champion defends his title and is crowned straight-a student for the second year in a row after staving off an unsparing competition, to the point of both bringing the contest to an overtime runoff and stepping the pose down up to the Instagram profile after the regular session ended in a tie. Kudos to Mola for his back-to-back Player of the Season!” it noted.
It went further that,” building on his 17 goals and 11 key passes in all competitions (making him the team’s second-best seasonal scorer and wingman) and with the hat-trick scored in the magical Dublin final as his main leg-up, Lookman tips the ItalianOptic branded crown once again,” the web remarked.
Aside from Ademola, the second and third-best positions were also announced as the midfield duo of Jose dos Santo Éderson and Teun Koopmeiners.
The Nigerian had a brilliant AFCON experience with Nigeria where he scored three goals and his exploits so far have put him in strong contention to win the next ‘African Footballer of the Year’ award which will come up before the end of the year at a venue yet to be announced by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen is the reigning winner of the award alongside Asissat Oshoola who retained the version.
SERIE A
Napoli reduces Victor Osimhen’s value
![](https://www.sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Victor-Osimhen.jpg)
Former Serie A champions Napoli are reportedly ready to drop their asking price for Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen as his future grows ever more uncertain.
The 25-year-old is looking for a move away from Serie A but Napoli’s initial €150M release clause has warned off any potential suitors.
Quoting from another Italian outlet, Calciomercato, Getfootballnewsitaly reports that Napoli are ready to lower the initial valuation to €100M, in the hope that they can free up much needed transfer funds for new boss Antonio Conte, who is understood to be desperate to land Belgian international striker Romelu Lukaku this summer.
It is also stated that the English Premier League sides, Chelsea who were understood to be in pole-position to sign the Nigerian international, has never opened any negotiation with the 2023 Serie A champions.
The only avenues open at this time seem to be the Saudi Pro-League, where a reported salary of €40M a season has been offered, or Paris Saint-Germain, with Osimhen not keen on either option, preferring a move to the English Premier League.
SERIE A
Osimhen’s Napoli European hopes end with 0-0 draw against Lecce
![](https://www.sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/osimhen.jpg)
If Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen remains in Napoli in the next season, he will not have any action in UEFA competitions.
Napoli lost their slim chances to participate in European competitions next season when they were held to a 0-0 home draw by Lecce in their last Serie A game of the campaign on Sunday.
Last season’s champions Napoli finished 10th on 53 points, level with ninth-placed Torino who were beaten 3-0 at Atalanta in a simultaneous kick off on Sunday.
Despite their loss, Torino can now still earn a Europa Conference League playoffs spot if eighth-placed Fiorentina, who have a game in hand, win the Europa Conference League.
Fiorentina face Greece’s Olympiacos for the title on Wednesday.
Napoli needed a win to maintain their European hopes but despite 24 shots, five of them on target, they ended their disappointing campaign winless in their last seven games.
Substitute Cyril Ngonge had a good chance to give Napoli the lead just after the break but his shot from the edge of the box was saved by Lecce goalkeeper Wladimiro Falcone.
Jens Cajuste hit the far post with a low strike shortly before Ngonge hit the bar in the 64th minute.
Europa League winners Atalanta, meanwhile, secured at least fourth spot after Gianluca Scamacca, Ademola Lookman and Mario Pasalic were all on target in a 3-0 win against Torino.
They sit fourth on 69 points but can still leapfrog third-placed Juventus, on 71 points, if they beat Fiorentina in their last remaining game next Sunday.
-Reuters
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