Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has wasted no time in commencing a war of words ahead of Wednesday’s Coppa Italia final by insisting Maurizio Sarri ‘cheated’ on him when he left the club.

Sarri, a born and raised Neapolitan, spent three years at the club having been handed the opportunity after managing Empoli.

He left to spend a season at Chelsea in the Premier League and is now back in Italian football with Napoli’s bitter rivals, Juventus. The two teams will fight it out for the Coppa Italia trophy this week.

‘Maurizio Sarri cheated on me, left Napoli with the vulgar excuse of money,’ De Laurentiis said in an interview with Corriere dello Sport.

‘I bet on him when he was coach of Empoli and this is the true story of his departure from Naples.’

De Laurentiis has continually engaged in a public feud with Sarri since he departed the Stadio San Paolo and it is one of the many sub-plots heading into Wednesday’s final.

Sarri, a banker before he kickstarted his career in football, is unlikely to snap back in the build-up to what represents a huge game for both clubs.

Earlier in the season when the two sides met in Naples, it was De Laurentiis who had the last laugh after his side ran out 2-1 winners against Sarri and Co. The first meeting in Turin needed a Kalidou Koulibaly own goal to seal a thrilling 4-3 win for Juventus.

Napoli have struggled since Sarri departed in 2018 and face a tricky challenge of stopping Juventus making it five Coppa Italia wins in six years.

Juventus produced a gritty 0-0 with AC Milan to reach the final on away goals while Napoli drew 1-1 in Naples against Antonio Conte’s Inter Milan to progress 2-1 on aggregate.

After Carlo Ancelotti – now at Everton – replaced Sarri, De Laurentiis has Gennaro Gattuso in charge and it appears his future could soon be clarified following the club’s run to the final.

For Napoli, they last lifted this trophy in 2013-14.

‘I should have sent Carlo Ancelotti away already at the end of the first year,’ the president added.

‘But we preferred to keep him. Rino Gattuso and I look very much alike, in August I could extend his contract.’

Another major bone of contention for De Laurentiis is the suggestion he will sell players cheaply given the current climate of the coronavirus pandemic.

The club have a number of sought-after players with Fabian Ruiz attracting interest from LaLiga and Koulibaly of interest to a number of Premier League teams.

For De Laurentiis, his price is fixed, regardless of the pandemic’s lasting impact.

‘Fabian Ruiz and Koulibaly are not a problem for us: those who want to buy it know they have a cost of €100million (£90m) each,’ he added.

SOURCE:- allfootballapp