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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Marc Mayo

Napoli rehire old favourite coach with Antonio Conte 'lined up' to take charge of Italian champions

Serie A champions Napoli have sacked Rudi Garcia and replaced him with Walter Mazzarri.

Garcia, 59, lasted only five months in the Partenopei dugout after replacing Luciano Spalletti, who resigned following his Scudetto triumph for a sabbatical which recently ended as he took charge of the Italian national team.

Napoli dropped ten points off leaders Inter on the weekend with a 1-0 defeat at home to Empoli, which lifted the Tuscans out of the relegation zone.

Mazzarri returns for his second stint at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona having enjoyed great success in a four-year spell which began in October 2009.

The 62-year-old has signed a contract until the end of the season and faces a tough start after the international break. Atalanta, Real Madrid, Inter and Juventus all lie ahead in the coming weeks.

Former Marseille coach Igor Tudor is said to have turned down a short-term deal offered by Napoli with ex-Tottenham boss Antonio Conte reportedly in line for the job next summer.

Reports in Italy claim the 54-year-old wants to take this season off to spend time with his family before a return to the dugout, having rejected the club's recent advances.

Following almost a decade out of Italy's top tier, the Neapolitans finished inside the top six on each of Mazzarri's previous seasons in charge and won the Coppa Italia. His subsequent stints at Inter, Watford and Cagliari proved less successful.

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