“We’re going home, tell that to your father too,” Insigne is said to have told Edoardo De Laurentiis, son of the Azzurri patron, and some even speak of a near-fight between the DeLa scion and Brazilian midfielder Allan. However, it all started a couple of days earlier. After the away match against Roma at the beginning of the month, which ended with a 2-1 defeat, the president had imposed a “not punitive” but “constructive” retreat, which the players didn’t like. The problem is that, since then, Napoli has only drawn 3 games in as many, two of which were played at home, with protests from the fans. The club had closed itself off from the press until “a date to be determined”. This was stated in a note dated November 6: “The club announces that, with reference to the behaviors carried out by the players of its first team yesterday evening, Tuesday November 5, 2019, it will proceed to protect its economic, patrimonial, image and disciplinary rights in every competent venue. It is also specified that it has entrusted the decision-making responsibility regarding the holding of retreat days by the first team to the coach of the same Carlo Ancelotti. Finally, it announces that it has determined a press blackout until a date to be defined”. But that's not all. In January, with the opening of the market, De Laurentiis could decide to send away some players. Also because, when the scandal broke, the fans expressed themselves by shouting in chorus “let's sell them all”. The main suspects are Dries Mertens and Jose' Callejon, both of whom expire in June 2020. Also for this reason, the Neapolitan patron could decide to put them on the market to avoid losing them for free in the summer. It's a different story for Koulibaly, Allan and Insigne. With these three you can make money at any time, but the risk of depreciating them is enormous and therefore it is necessary for De Laurentiis that the feud ends. Even if the gap between the fans and his former idols seems to have been consumed and Insigne is no longer 'Lorenzo the magnificent' of Naples.
Article published on November 27, 2019 - 12:38
