Rudi Garcia has insisted he is not worried about taking charge of Napoli just weeks after the team won their first Serie A title since the days of Diego Armando Maradona. Frenchman Garcia has a tough mission at the Italian side to replace Luciano Spalletti, who left earlier this month after ending Napoli's 33-year wait for the Scudetto.
"I am not afraid of anything. The title should give confidence to the players, but when the new season starts we will start again from scratch. The players must forget what they have achieved before," said Garcia in his official presentation. "We have a great squad that will help us win games and the president is ambitious. This means that I will have a good team and we can entertain the fans with a good game."
Garcia is familiar with Italian football thanks to his time with Roma, who he led to the Champions League in 2014 and 2015 before being sacked the following season. His arrival in Napoli is a kind of "revenge" for Spalletti, who replaced Garcia at Roma in January 2016. It is also a chance for the Frenchman to rebuild his reputation after a bad period in his coaching career.
Garcia, who won the Ligue 1 title with Lille in 2011, was sacked by Al-Nassr in April, not long after the Saudi Arabian club signed Cristiano Ronaldo in a deal worth tens of millions of dollars. Garcia lost in the Europa League final with Marseille in 2018, while two years later he led Lyon to the semi-finals of the Champions League.
"When I first got here and saw all the banners and flags, I realized that the city is very proud of the team and I hope it continues to be that way," Garcia said. "When I start a race, I aim to win it. Obviously the expectations are very high, but there are clubs with huge sums of money. But I think Napoli is a team that should be in the Champions League every year."
The 59-year-old arrives in Napoli with the club in a precarious position, with reports of a rift between sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli and owner Aurelio De Laurentiis. Giuntoli has been key to building strong teams at Napoli in recent years, while more or less balancing the books over the past eight years. But he has an agreement with Juventus, despite having one year left on his contract. Meanwhile, some of the players brought in by Giuntoli could leave Napoli this summer, with defender Kim Min-jae between Manchester United and Bayern Munich. Victor Osimhen also has a host of offers after scoring 31 goals for Napoli last term, while key midfielder Piotr Zielinski could join former Napoli boss Maurizio Sarri at Lazio.
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De Laurentiis said he wants Osimhen to stay at Napoli and will only look at big offers - over €100m - for the Nigerian striker. The president also revealed that before winning the Serie A title, Napoli had already reached an agreement with Osimheni to renew the contract until 2027, which has not yet been made official.
Garcia has signed a one-year contract with Napoli with an option to renew if he proves successful.
