Gennaro Gattuso emerges as the prime candidate to replace Carlo Ancelotti at Napoli

Modified Dec 10, 2019 14:38 GMT

Gennaro Gattuso, former AC Milan manager, is emerging as the prime candidate to take over as Napoli's coach should Carlo Ancelotti decide to leave I Partenopei, Sky Sports reports. The former Chelsea manager has been enduring a tough run of form this season, while news has also emerged of a rift between players and Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis. It is believed that the Serie A side are assessing their options at the moment, ahead of Napoli’s final UEFA Champions League group stage game against Genk on Tuesday. A defeat could even mean the end of the road for Ancelotti at the San Paolo Stadium.

Gattuso, who has actually played under Ancelotti at Milan, took charge of AC Milan as a manager at the end of 2017 and quit the Serie A side earlier this summer after his team missed out on a top-four finish by a whisker. He could be primed for a swift return to management and if selected, will have his work cut out for him. Ancelotti, on the other hand, could be headed to Goodison Park should be is sacked by Napoli. That job will mean a return to the Premier League for the Italian, where he has enjoyed a fair amount of success with Chelsea.

Napoli are currently 7th in the Serie A, managing just 5 wins out of their 15 games so far and sit 17 points behind league leaders Inter Milan. They are second in Group E in the UEFA Champions League and require a win on Tuesday to confirm qualification to the group stages, although a draw or even a defeat could also work depending on the outcome of the Liverpool and RB Salzburg game.

Also Read: Transfer News Round-up - 10th December 2019

About the author

Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six years at Sportskeeda. He has written over 8500 articles for the website, and has garnered over 19.5Million reads.

Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.

Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.

Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.

Know More

Edited by Sai Teja