Napoli are in advanced discussions with former Sampdoria

It has been heavily rumoured that Napoli are in advanced discussions with former Sampdoria coach Sinisa Mihajlovic over the vacant managerial job at the club.

Napoli are without a manager after Rafa Benitez left the club for Real Madrid after the final game of the campaign. A loss against Lazio meant that Napoli will be without Champions League football for next season. A regime that started so well with the Coppa Italia in his first season came to a bitter conclusion after just two years. Napoli will now be hoping to reclaim the glory days achieved primarily under Walter Mazzarri.

They have reportedly zeroed in onMihajlovic, who comes on the back of a good campaign with Sampdoria.Mihajlovic is now free to hold talks with any club interested in his services, as he has left the Italian outfit after the final game as well. Despite only managing a draw from the final game, Sampdoria will be hoping for Europa League qualification if Genoa are not granted licence to participate in next season’s European competition. Ahead of a potential move,Mihajlovic has praised Napoli by saying that he would love to become the coach of this Italian outfit.

The statement is seen as an unofficial confirmation aboutMihajlovic becoming the next Napoli manager.“It would have been a great honour.I love Neapolitans, and Naples is a fantastic city. As often happens, we talked but were unable to come to an agreement.I want to thank [President Aurelio] De Laurentiis anyway, who considered me to coach his great team.Naples is a great place, it’s a great club and I’ll still be Coaching for a long time, so never say never. We had a great season, no-one expected us to finish in seventh place and qualify for the Europa League,” said Mihajlovic.