Carlo Ancelotti was sacked from the Napoli head coach position only an hour after he lead his team to a victorious 4-0 over Genk in the Champions League, which saw the Italian side progress to the knockout stage of the tournament.
Ancelotti spent the last 19 months in charge of Napoli. He didn’t enjoy the best start of the season, as he leaves Napoli 7th in the Serie A standings with six draws and four losses from 15 games.
“SSC Napoli has decided to revoke the role of first-team coach from Mr. Carlo Ancelotti,” a club statement read.
“The rapport of friendship, admiration and reciprocal respect between the club, its president (Aurelio De Laurentiis) and Carlo Ancelotti remain intact.”
Ancelotti immediately linked with Premier League return
The 60-year old manager is no stranger to the Premier League, having steered the wheel of Chelsea between 2009-2011. And, logically, just hours after he was fired, rumors linking him to Everton and Arsenal popped up in the media.
It was thought that Vitor Pereira is the leading candidate for “The Toffees” role, but he withdrew himself from such talks yesterday. Currently, Everton’s interim manager is club legend Duncan Ferguson, but the club is looking for a permanent option. The likes of Unai Emery and David Moyes are already heavily linked with the club, but news that Ancelotti is now free will definitely spark fans’ imagination.
Arsenal, who are in a similar position, will also be intrigued by the possibility of adding the experienced head coach to their team.
Reports from Sky in Italy suggest that former AC Milan head coach Gennaro Gattuso is the leading candidate to take the job at Napoli.