Luciano Spalletti has praised Santos for not retiring Pele's number 10 shirt and hopes Napoli now do the same with Diego Maradona's famous jersey.
Santos announced on Sunday they had dropped plans to leave the number vacant following last week's death of club legend Pele, who previously said he was against the idea.
Napoli retired Maradona's number 10 in 2000, 20 years before his death, as a tribute to the Argentina great's starring role in their only two Serie A title triumphs.
But Spalletti believes making the shirt available again can inspire Napoli's current crop of players, who are on course to end the club's 33-year wait for Scudetto glory.
"I want to congratulate those who decided not to retire Pele's number 10, meeting his request," Spalletti said at a pre-match press conference on Tuesday.
"When you retire a shirt, you no longer see it. Pele's number should be shown as many times as possible. Congratulations to those who didn't retire the number 10."
Asked directly about Maradona's retired number 10 shirt, Spalletti said: "I think it's correct to wear the number of great players.
"Seeing it every day gives more responsibility to those wearing it and also to their team-mates, who would be motivated to reach that level."
Napoli return to action after the World Cup break with an eight-point lead over Milan at the top of Serie A, having dropped just four points from their opening 14 matches.
The Partenopei have won each of their past 11 Serie A matches – the last team to register a longer streak was Juventus between December 2017 and March 2018 (12 wins).
Spalletti's side face a tough test on Wednesday at fifth-place Inter, whom they have lost their past four league matches against at San Siro.
While a first Scudetto since the days of Maradona is in sight, Spalletti insists he is not obsessed by finishing top.
"The Scudetto is your obsession, not mine," he told reporters. "My obsession is to see this city explode in joy.
"We have an awareness of what we have done on the pitch. We'll face a great team. We'll play our brand of football which has given benefits to the team.
"Inter are a top team. Over the last three and a half years, they've made investments worthy of a top European club."
Yorke hails 'remarkable job' by Emery at Villa
Former Aston Villa striker Dwight Yorke believes Unai Emery has done a "remarkable job" and hopes they can maintain the new level they have reached.
Emery joined Villa in November 2022 when the club was in a relegation fight, and led them to a seventh-place finish, securing qualification to the Europa Conference League.
In his first full season in charge, the Spaniard oversaw another impressive campaign as the Villans finished fourth in the Premier League, ensuring Champions League football for the first time since 1982-83.
Villa also reached the semi-final of the Europa Conference League after seeing off Ajax and Lille in the knockout stages, but were knocked out by eventual champions, Olympiacos.
On Monday, Villa confirmed that Emery had signed a contract extension that will keep him at the club until 2029.
Yorke, who spent nine years at Villa between 1989 and 1998, says the club have finally found the right balance.
"They've got good backers, good owners, invest heavily in their team and that shows what they want, but they've got also you need a correct manager and I think Unai Emery has come into that category," Yorke told Stats Perform.
"Villa is a tremendous football club. Emery has done a remarkable job to get Villa in the Champions League, a bit like Newcastle last season in many respects.
"Now the expectation is can he now really show what kind of manager he is? Now the [board] and the chairman will back him, bringing new players, bringing players to enhance that team, and they are going to try and maintain that [status as a top club].
"If he does that next year and qualifies for the Champions League again, plus probably win a cup, I think he then shows what really a true fantastic manager he is for Villa.
"To achieve their goal this season, I think the chairman, the fans, everybody will be thrilled that Villa is in the Champions League next year."
Despite their strong season, Yorke admits that Villa will need to think about adding to their squad to cope with the demands of playing in the Champions League.
"You have got to say to the owners, listen I need another three, four, five players to come in because now you're playing with the big boys, you're going from Champions League to the Premier League to the Champions League with the big boys," he added.
"You need a squad to be going into these games. The players will find it totally different because they're not used to that.
"They have got get used to that very quickly, but you've got an experienced manager in that type of way of playing [in Europe as well as domestically]. It will be new for Villa.
"It will be interesting to see how they handle that type of story going forward, how they handle the Champions League.
"It takes a really unique manager to then get a team advancing out of that group, then into the latter stage from the round of 16.
"[If Emery does that], now you're showing your true colours, but I think they've got to add maybe three or four new players to the squad that will help them to make sure that they can maintain [a challenge] on both fronts."
Bellamy named acting head coach at Burnley after Kompany departure
Craig Bellamy has been named as acting head coach at Burnley following Vincent Kompany’s shock move to Bayern Munich.
The Belgian, who took over the Clarets in June 2022, could not keep Burnley in the Premier League, being relegated after a 2-1 defeat to Tottenham in their penultimate match of the season.
It was confirmed on Wednesday that Kompany was replacing Thomas Tuchel as Bayern head coach on a three-year deal.
Burnley have now announced that Bellamy will take on the role of acting head coach while they look for a permanent manager, with Mike Jackson as his assistant coach.
The Welshman was rumoured to be joining Kompany in Bavaria but is in the running to become the new Burnley manager, with Frank Lampard and Scott Parker also reportedly linked to the job.
Djokovic marches into French Open third round after dominant straight-sets win
Novak Djokovic eased through to the French Open third round following another straight-sets victory over Roberto Carballes Baena at Roland-Garros.
The reigning champion, who is seeking a record-breaking 25th grand slam singles title, took just over two hours to wrap up a 6-4 6-1 6-2 win and set up a showdown with either Gael Monfils or Lorenzo Musetti in round three.
Not since the 2017 Australian Open has Djokovic failed to progress beyond the second round at a major.
It looked like the Serb would be in for a tough battle as Carballes Baena broke in the opening game, though he did respond immediately before the first set appeared finely poised at 4-4 and deuce.
Djokovic subsequently drew first blood, and it was very much one-way traffic thereon.
Indeed, from 4-4 in that first set, the world number one won 14 of the next 17 games to sail into the last 32.
Data Debrief: Djokovic surpasses Nadal at Roland-Garros
The undisputed 'King of Clay', Nadal's record of 14 French Open titles looks highly unlikely to be under any severe threat in the near future.
However, Djokovic has surpassed the Spaniard by reaching round three at Roland-Garros for a 19th time in his 20 appearances - the most appearances by any player during the Open Era.
The Serb also notched up his 94th match win at the French Open. That is his joint-most at a single ATP event in his career, matching is tally at the Australian Open, where he is a 10-time champion.
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