There are those who say that Napoli's Scudetto was the result of planning. And it is absolutely true. While there are those who make the transfer market based on how to win at roulette and, therefore, always fishing indiscriminately or trying to take the strong player at the end of his career, for Napoli it was not like that.
And this season's transfer market, while it will be very difficult to repeat the feat (not even Maradona managed to win the Scudetto twice in a row), we feel we can say that, given the current conditions, Napoli's transfer market has been more than positive.
Let's analyze the main situations, leaving aside the issue regarding Kim's reserve, given that the Korean was expected to leave at the end of last season.
The Future of Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia
It is inevitable to start from here. The future of the central striker champion of Italy and the best purchase of all Serie A has kept the blue fans in suspense. Before going into the merits of the matter, however, there is one aspect to specify: Napoli is one of the few Serie A clubs that has no need to sell.
In fact, last year he drastically reduced the wages with better results. So, Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia remained without causing practically any damage to the club. And, therefore, we can safely say that they were two 'acquisitions'.
Di Lorenzo's reserve is needed
Bereszyński, despite being a good player overall, was not the reserve that the management and Spalletti expected. Of course, he was used sparingly and this affected his performances. In any case, Napoli will have to buy a deputy for Di Lorenzo next year to allow the Captain to rest as well.
The former Empoli defender, in fact, was one of the few Napoli players who was practically never subject to rotation. It must be said that it is always difficult to find a player who accepts the role of reserve without affecting the harmony of the locker room.
And that he doesn't even have to be a young prospect but a player who is already reasonably well-trained from a tactical and technical point of view.
Maximum attention to renewals
The real sore point was on the renewal issue. Napoli, in fact, does not want to exceed 3 million in wages per player and, at the moment, there are players who are almost out of contract who earn more. There are, in fact, four players whose contracts expire in a year or at the latest in 2025: Politano, Mario Rui, Zielinski and Lozano. We are not talking about any players but one of the three midfielders, the starting left winger and the two offensive right wingers who have alternated most during the season.
In fact, at the beginning, De Laurentiis had vetoed the renewals for all those footballers who were over 30. Then, probably after consulting with the men closest to him, he softened this choice a bit and proposed the renewal at a lower figure than the current earnings.
Obviously, the four players, while tying themselves to the Azzurri shirt, want to think about it and understand if there is another club that offers better. However, we are in the midst of negotiations and the situation could change at any moment. The fact that, at the moment, they play with the Azzurri shirt makes us breathe a sigh of relief.
EDITORIAL TEAM
Choose the social channel you want to subscribe to