Napoli sack García, hire Mazzarri amid shaky title defence

Napoli have hired Walter Mazzarri as their new head coach after firing Rudi García just four months into his tenure, club owner Aurelio De Laurentiis announced on Tuesday.

Mazzarri, who coached the Italian champions from 2009 to 2013, is understood to have signed a contract until the end of the season.

– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (US)

De Laurentiis announced this decision in a job on X, the social networking site formerly known as Twitter, saying “Welcome Walter!”

His hiring brings an end to the short-lived García era, with De Laurentiis seeing Sunday’s 1-0 home defeat to Empoli as the straw that broke the camel’s back.

The club has not yet announced García’s dismissal.

Napoli are in fourth place in Serie A, 10 points behind championship leader Inter Milan. Home form proved a particular problem for García, with the team’s last victory in all competitions at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona against Udinese on 27 September.

Mazzarri’s most recent managerial experience was at Cagliari, where he was sacked in May 2022 after eight months in charge of the team in the relegation zone.