Napoli president reveals Thiago Motta wants PSG job

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has revealed that he has previously held talks with Bologna manager Thiago Motta, however, he understood that the former Paris Saint-Germain midfielder had his heart set on the managerial hot-seat at the Parc des Princes.

Motta, who arrived at PSG from Inter Milan in January 2012, went on to become a legend with the club, featuring 166 times for Les Parisiens. In that time, he won three Coupe de France titles, two Coupe de la Ligue titles and five Ligue 1 titles, including four consecutive titles between 2013 and 2016.

Having begun his managerial career with the PSG U19 side, Motta has gone on to carve out a reputation in his native Italy, most notably at Bologna. This season, his side sit sixth in Serie A and his side’s performances have reportedly caught the attention of Barcelona, who will be looking for a replacement for Xavi come the end of the season.

Napoli sacked Rudi Garcia earlier this season and replaced him with Walter Mazzari until the end of the season, and De Laurentiis will dip back into the managerial market in the summer. Questioned about Motta’s availability, the Napoli president said, “I had a conversation with Motta in Rome last summer. It lasted six hours. He said that he aspired to manage a club outside of Italy,” he said. “PSG?” responded the journalist, to which De Laurentiis added, “There you go, you said it.”