Walter Mazzarri RETURNS to Napoli as manager after 10 years away as he replaces Rudi Garcia in a bid to resurrect the Serie A champions’ title defence

Walter Mazzarri has been appointed as Napoli manager after the Serie A champions sacked Rudi Garcia. 

It marks Mazzarri’s return to the club after ten years, having previously led them for a four-year spell, during which he won the Coppa Italia in 2012. 

Napoli sit fourth in the table, ten points behind Inter Milan, and chairman Aurelio De Laurentiis pulled the trigger after a winless run of four games.

Mazzarri’s task is to ensure Napoli are immediately more competitive in the league and ensure they get through their Champions League group.  

He has been out of work since May 2022 when Cagliari sacked him when they were in the relegation zone, but he has a reasonable reputation in Italy.

Rudi Garcia was dismissed after four games without a win despite only joining in the summer

Readers may remember him for a mundane season at Watford in 2016/17, where he led them to 17th in the Premier League and used a translator in interview, struggling to connect with fans.

In Italy he has managed big clubs such as Inter Milan, Napoli, and Torino. 

Between 2009 and 2013, he helped Napoli back into Europe for the first time since the mid-1990s, won the Coppa Italia, and even finished second in the league in 2013.

His assignment at Napoli this time around, with inflated expectations and a squad bustling with top European talent, will be similar but with bigger expectations. 

Luciano Spalletti – who delivered Napoli’s first Scudetto in 33 years – left in the summer to take up a ‘sabbatical’, with Garcia appointed to replace him.

However, Spalletti’s recuperation period was short-lived as he took the Italy job in August.

While Garcia arrived with a strong pedigree, he had to contend with star striker Victor Osimhen’s souring relationship with the club and the fans. 

In September, Osimhen was the subject of two controversial videos posted to the club’s TikTok account. 

One task in Mazzarri’s in-tray will be reconciling star striker Victor Osimhen with the club 

The first video showed the 24-year-old appealing for a penalty, with sped-up audio captioned ‘Gimme penalty please’ before showing him putting the spot-kick wide.

A second video, which has been circulated online and since deleted, compared Osimhen to a ‘coconut’ – widely viewed as a racial slur.

Napoli responded by issuing a statement pleading their innocence but the relationship between player and club appears to have been heavily affected by the incident.

While Osimhen has managed six goals in ten games this season, things at Napoli have not quite been the same and Mazzarri will have to turn things around fast – even if the club lose some stars in January.