It was almost a given that Manuel González's departure would be followed by that of Lucas Gatti. But now it's official: in an open letter, the Argentine coach bids farewell to Olbia Calcio, which had recalled him to the bench and presented him as manager for the 2025-2026 Serie D season, and to Olbia, explaining the reasons for this difficult but inevitable decision given the uncertainty surrounding the future of the Gallura club.

"From the first day when Manu González, the players, and the coaching staff strongly supported my return to the club, I felt, in addition to the certainty of knowing that all the conditions were in place to start the season on the right foot, a sense of moral obligation to all of them for the trust they placed in me and my work," begins the forty-seven-year-old coach from Buenos Aires. " More than two months have passed since my presentation, months in which we gradually realized that all those initial premises were starting to fade . The more the days passed, the more uncertainties grew. We are aware that football's times and corporate times are different, but it's also true that one relies on and depends on the others."

The reference is to the evolution of the club's situation, which began with the financial difficulties that arose during the championship's registration process and culminated with Guido Surace's resignation as president and the opening to the sale of the majority stake owned by SwissPro. This evolution has led to Olbia's current stalemate, with neither a team nor a schedule two days before the fixtures were launched .

"For two months, we've tried to combat uncertainty, personally also out of a sense of responsibility towards the many people who have shown faith in me—players, coaching staff, club workers, journalists, and fans—whom I want to thank for this," Gatti continued. "Unfortunately, corporate time isn't the same as football and its competitions, and today I'm forced to look ahead in search of personal and professional certainty."

The former Boca Juniors player does not comment on Olbia's corporate affairs. However, he emphasizes: "Regardless of what Olbia is going through for the second year in a row, I can only say that football, as a system, needs a deep, honest, and sincere debate," which begins "with understanding what a club and a football team represent and what this game means to people. If we give honest and coherent answers to these questions, it is much more likely that football clubs can be sustainable over time through their own value creation ."

Gatti concludes with a concept he's expressed many times: "When you buy football clubs, you never buy 'the club,' but only the ability to manage it, because a football club will always belong to its people, who are the true owners, and to its history." Finally, a hope: " I hope that the corporate affairs can be clarified in time to allow for rapid preparation for a season that has already begun , and that Olbia Calcio can restart from its sense of belonging."

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