Calzona confession: ‘Napoli had so many problems, Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia unhappy’
Slovakia coach Francesco Calzona reveals behind the scenes drama during his Napoli experience. ‘Victor Osimhen never trained, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia wasn’t happy, there were problems with the club.’
The Partenopei won the Scudetto in 2023 with Luciano Spalletti, who had Calzona as his assistant manager, but the coach and his staff walked away that summer because they felt it could not be topped.
The general feeling within the group was a negative one, seeing them finish 10th in Serie A after going through three coaches, culminating with Calzona sharing the Slovakia job with Napoli from February 19 to June 30.
Calzona came to Napoli’s rescue during crisis
“Napoli remain in my heart and I’d go back tomorrow morning, without the slightest doubt,” Calzona told Radio Kiss Kiss via Tuttomercatoweb.
“Nobody can dare say no to Napoli, it feels like my home.”
When Calzona picked up the pieces at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, he inherited a chaotic situation both on and off the field.
“As what happened later confirms, everyone was already seeing a way out in June and that had a big influence, as well as the other problems.
“There were issues between players and the club, people who just wanted to get to the end of the season and leave. More than anything else, the five or six new signings that were made, none of them were up to the standard of playing in that season, so by the end of that term they were all frozen out.
“So that was a fundamental problem at the core of it, but apart from that, there was a general sense of unhappiness and grumbling.
“Osimhen never trained, Kvaratskhelia wasn’t happy, there were so many problems I won’t list here. I didn’t expect to find myself in such a delicate situation, but it was still a wonderful experience,” concluded Calzona.
Osimhen had signed a new contract with Napoli, but with the understanding he would be sold that summer, so when several different negotiations collapsed, he was loaned to Galatasaray in September 2024.
Kvaratskhelia had also been pushing for the exit, but was not allowed to leave for Paris Saint-Germain until January 2025.