Official: Napoli name Cristiano Giuntoli as sporting director

The end of the season didn't just see Napoli have their manager walk away in Rafa Benitez, but their sporting director as well. Riccardo Bigon decided his time was up after a six-year spell with the team, meaning that Napoli needed a new man in charge of buying and selling players -- among other responsibilities of a sporting director -- and now they officially have their man: Cristiano Giuntoli.

First rumored to be getting the job almost a month ago, Giuntoli has been effectively on the job for a couple of weeks already, even showing up and being in official photographs and video of Mirko Valdifiori's medical and signing. He's already been busy assembling his scouting staff as Bigon's followed him to Hellas Verona -- which is totally normal -- and finding players to help suit the vision of Maurizio Sarri.

With all that going on there probably hasn't been much time for Giuntoli to sit down for a formal press conference, so it shouldn't be surprising that the official announcement of his hiring was a bit on the perfunctory side:

La SSCN comunica che a partire dall'1 luglio Cristiano Giuntoli assume la carica di Direttore Sportivo #SSCNapoli

— Official SSC Napoli (@sscnapoli) July 2, 2015

Giuntoli comes to Napoli from Carpi, who are about to embark on their first Serie A journey thanks in large part to Giuntoli's efforts. He has a keen eye for talent and has a lot of experience working with a shoestring budget and finding success with it, so with Napoli operating with less money compared to many of their peers, Giuntoli could be just the man for the job.