Napoli are set to take legal action against their own players as the row over their training retreat boycott escalated further on Wednesday.

The club's players and manager Carlo Ancelotti are in a furious stand-off with chairman Aurelio De Laurentiis which is threatening to engulf their season

Gazzetta dello Sport reported today that the chairman is now in talks with his lawyers about terminating Ancelotti's contract with immediate effect.

Ancelotti skipped his post-match media duties after Tuesday's 1-1 draw with Red Bull Salzburg in the Champions League, before mutinous players took matters into their own hands following a fractious build-up to the game.

Napoli are set to take legal action against their own players as a behind the scenes row grows

Napoli manager Carlo Ancelotti could face the sack and has been linked with Boca Juniors

The row began on Monday, following Saturday's 2-1 defeat by Roma.

De Laurentiis ordered a 'ritiro' - where a team is confined to a hotel or sometimes its own training base - to begin after the Champions League match and last until their next Serie A game against Genoa on Saturday evening.

The 'ritiro' is a standard response to poor performances at Italian clubs although critics say it is outdated and makes highly-paid professional players look like misbehaving school children.

Ancelotti disagreed with the decision but initially said he accepted it. De Laurentiis told Naples-based Radio Kiss Kiss that his decision was not meant as a punishment. 'It's a chance for the team to get to know each other better,' he said.

After the Salzburg draw, a reluctant Ancelotti is understood to have travelled to the Castel Volturno training base on the team bus.

But he was not joined by his players, who instead returned to their own homes and contacted lawyers in anticipation of disciplinary action by the club.

This has infuriated the Napoli hierarchy, which released a statement on Wednesday afternoon saying: 'The club announces that, with reference to the behaviour of the players yesterday, Tuesday November 5 2019, it will proceed to protect its rights on an economic, capital, image and disciplinary levels in every competent jurisdiction.

'It is also made clear that the responsibility to decide on ordering days in a training retreat lies with coach Carlo Ancelotti.

'A press silence has been ordered from now until a date yet to be decided.'

Ancelotti has previously indicated that he was against the idea of a training retreat, but the club's statement puts the responsibility for it on his shoulders.

Both Ancelotti and the players were put out after orders from Aurelio De Laurentiis (left)

Ancelotti and De Laurentiis pose together at his Napoli unveiling last year

He has also been linked with a move to Boca Juniors in the Italian press.

Former Tottenham striker Fernando Llorente, who was also required to speak to the media, also failed to turn up for those duties. UEFA will now fine Napoli for failing to fulfil their obligations.

Discontent has been bubbling under the surface at Napoli this season, with the club sitting seventh in Serie A after a run which has seen them win just one of their last five league matches.