Football
9y

Napoli boss Rafael Benitez: I could still sign contract extension

Napoli coach Rafael Benitez has not ruled out extending his contract with the Serie A club beyond the summer in the wake of a 4-1 Europa League quarterfinal first-leg win at Wolfsburg on Thursday.

The former Valencia, Liverpool and Chelsea boss, who recently said his future would be resolved in April, has been linked with a return to the Premier League as he delays announcing a decision,

Recent results had suggested Napoli might not consider offering him a new deal beyond the summer, when his current one expires, but two big wins in a row -- against Fiorentina in Serie A and on Thursday at Wolfsburg -- have restored the club's faith in him and vice versa.

"It's all still open," Benitez told Mediaset television. "The fans know that I'm happy and that we're working hard. There's room for us to improve even more here and my assistant Fabio Pecchia helps me understand Italian football, while our sporting director [Ricardo] Bigon is excellent at dealing well with what is not an easy market for us.

"It's not hard to work with them. The conditions are there. It's what they call a business plan in England, regarding investments, the stadium, the youth academy -- I need to understand if we really are doing all these, and what the objective is.

"We've got the ambitions and everything we need, I just need to work out if we're really doing it."

Benitez received some answers from his side on Thursday night as they swept Wolfsburg aside to edge closer to their objective of winning the Europa League and earning a place in next season's Champions League as a result.

Qualifying for the Champions League via Serie A is looking increasingly unlikely, with seven points separating the club from third-placed Roma with eight games of the campaign remaining.

However, Benitez says recent criticism levelled at his players, which included club president Aurelio De Laurentiis demanding extra training of them, was unfair.

"This team's shown quality, hunger and unity," Benitez said. "They're all great professionals and they've got lots of quality, and I don't like to hear people saying that they don't or that they lack discipline. It's not true."

Marek Hamsik had been in the firing line for several months for his lack of goals, but his brace against Wolfsburg will have helped to silence some of those critics.

"I don't really think about a lot of the things people say," Hamsik told Napoli's official website. "I'm delighted when the goals do come, but what matters is the performance. And I'm serene about that, giving everything for the team and this is what matters.

"Now we've got to continue like this and we mustn't think that we're already through. We've got to play the return leg with the same character as tonight."

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