Aurelio De Laurentiis presented the second phase of Napoli’s summer pre-season plans in Abruzzo in a press conference at Palazzo Petrucci in Posilipo on Wednesday. “We’re thrilled to be heading to Castel di Sangro for a fourth year. The pre-season training camp will run from 28 July until 12 August.”
The club president was joined by the mayor of Castel di Sangro, Angelo Caruso, and the president of the Abruzzo region, Marco Marsilio.
“It’s set to be our fourth year in Castel di Sangro and I’m thrilled that our relationship is continuing because the Abruzzo Film Commission is about to be rolled out and we’ll be making our contribution to that too. We’re delighted to welcome representatives from a region that is constantly evolving such as Abruzzo. I feel that Napoli’s presence has seen a sharp rise in the level of interest in Abruzzo among so many Serie A clubs. They have state-of-the-art facilities and perfect pitches for pre-season in the summer.
“There will also be a summer camp in Castel di Sangro starting on 29 July. It’s going to be the first year in which we’ve run these football camps for children who we’ll be bringing to Trentino.
“I had an invitation from Barcelona to take part in the Gamper Trophy and I said no. I also turned down an invitation from Manchester United. I feel it’s so important to get teams to come from abroad to play in Castel di Sangro at the Stadio Patini, which is a fine stadium.
“It’ll run from 28 July through to 12 August and we’ll organise three games with foreign clubs in Abruzzo, while we’ll say no to any clubs offering us money to play abroad because we want to train as well as we can and prioritise our own preparation ahead of next season. We’ll establish the dates and schedule in due course. We aren’t here to mess about, but to invest our time in what matters the most to us, which is the well-being of the team.
“I believe we embarked on a new cycle last year and I’ll battle with all my entrepreneurial skills to ensure this cycle lasts a long time. We’ll look to improve on the European stage because the Champions League means so much to us.
“I’m evaluating several names in terms of the new coach, not just from a technical and professional standpoint, but also in terms of character. I like drumming up a human relationship based on identity. The deadline is 27 June. We’ll choose our coach by then and we’ll then have two weeks to finalise the schedule.”
