Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has defended the departure of coach Walter Mazzarri, claiming on Saturday that you “need two people to make a marriage”.
Mazzarri is set to join Inter Milan next season after the Nerazzurri fired Andrea Stramaccioni on Friday, with president Massimo Moratti saying he’d chosen the Napoli boss to replace him.
After spending four successful years in Naples, Mazzarri had said he wanted a new challenge and De Laurentiis admitted he couldn’t keep hold of the popular coach.
“The Walter Mazzarri years at Napoli were happy ones, but you need two people to make a marriage,” De Laurentiis, a film-maker, told Radio 24.
“You can use money to convince your wife to stay, but if she wants to sleep with someone else, she’ll sleep with someone else.
“Mazzarri is a great coach and a very nice man. I hope he succeeds, just as he did in Naples.”
Mazzarri led Napoli into the Champions League twice in his four season in charge and this year they finished second in Serie A, their highest position since the Diego Maradona era in the early 1990s.
Chelsea interim manager Rafael Benitez is widely tipped to take over from Mazzarri, although De Laurentiis has yet to announce his arrival despite letting it be known that the Spaniard would be the new coach.
Mazzarri wanted out of marriage: Napoli president
