Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis hopes Carlo Ancelotti can become the club's Sir Alex Ferguson and said he has a job for life.

Speaking at a meeting of the European Club Association in Amsterdam, De Laurentiis said he would be happy if Ancelotti goes on to emulate Ferguson's 27-year reign as Manchester United manager and become a figure of identity for his club.

"I've appointed a coach who's come to Naples, who loves the city, who also loves our training centre and would like to stay eight years -- which he's said in the past few days -- I'd like to have him here for life," De Laurentiis told Sky Sport Italia.

"I'm a fan of the Ferguson way, in that the coach has got to be the image of a club and represent it in every way. In addition to managing a club, you've got to manage the team which is essential for a football club."

Ancelotti, who replaced Maurizio Sarri in the summer, has guided Napoli into the quarterfinals of the Europa League, where they will face Arsenal next month, while in Serie A they trail leaders Juventus by 15 points.