Napoli, the post-Kvaratskhelia era begins: Garnacho in pole position, but the Zaccagni hypothesis emerges

Naples, 20 January 2025 - Il +16 in the standings compared to a year ago, the best growth data for a team in the current Serie A, is enough to photograph the exploit of the Napoli, which in this round of the championship has completed its mission: to distance itself, perhaps definitively, l'Atalanta, a loose cannon that is always dangerous. It's a different story for theInter, which remains in the wake of -3 points of distance, which could be cancelled out by what the recovery of the match with the Fiorentina. The increasingly strong impression, beyond the league table and the numbers, is that the Scudetto is shaping up to be a very tense duel until the last day that the Azzurri will face with the impetus of the (virtual) advantage and the wind in their sails that not even the sale of Khvisha Kvaratskhelia, the symbol of the tricolour of two seasons ago together with Victor Osimhen, which instead had said goodbye in the summer. has scratched. There were no immediate psychological repercussions, just as there was no virtual 'popular uprising' of a square over the years that had matured in step with the team and its ambitions. Of course, the results obtained on the field, first and foremost the sixth win in a row, help a lot to nip in the bud any outbreak of discontent among the fans or perhaps even on the part of those like Antonio Conte he has never hidden his needs, sometimes almost real demands. One above all: not to impoverish, numerically and qualitatively, the squad. Difficult, especially when the big shot leaves halfway through the season.  

A feeling never born

  Days after a farewell that perhaps still needs to be fully metabolised, the Napoli reflects on what to do and, as has become customary since June, he does so based on the indications of his coach. The DNA of the Neapolitan club, also considering that in the meantime the left lane seems well covered by David Neres, would have led to a choice with an eye on the future, trying to grab a prospective profile as the Georgian had been in his time. Today, however, the music has changed thanks to Tale, the deus ex machina of all the choices, especially those of the market, for a power inherent in his name and his curriculum but increased along the way together with the performance of his Napoli. Tale has never vetoed the sale of kvaratskhelia, often replaced and not only in the last period, the one in which the imminent breakup was clear. The Georgian was too self-centered and the Salento coach was too much of a lover of the group to allow this union to last so long and well, to the point that the latter let it be understood in no uncertain terms that the divorce could have been consummated already in the summer, if there had not been the previous luxury sales. In short, in this first half of the season, his last in blue, kvaratskhelia had become more of a question of principle than a real linchpin of the new project and all this translated into a transfer, that of Paris Saint-Germain, which made all parties happy. And perhaps kvaratskhelia had also become a 'problem' to manage on the pitch and especially in the locker room, despite the honeyed words intercepted on the sidelines of the team's celebrations on their triumphant return from Bergamo. The pitch speaks for itself, as always the supreme judge of football: without the Georgian, Napoli he won and played well, but the season is still long and unforeseen events could be around the corner. Hence the need not to mutilate the roster in its length, after having probably already affected its quality.

Garnacho and the Zaccagni Plan B

  Here the transfer market game of the Neapolitan club is being played, which if on the field of matches is winning many, off it has to face the unknowns that depend on various factors and that the sporting director himself John Manna, on the sidelines of the race Gewiss Stadium, had identified: above all the reluctance of the teams to sell the prized pieces in the middle of the season and, in case of a glimmer of hope, the very high demand in terms of prices now that everyone knows of the economic availability of a club that has just sold a player to 75 million. All references go to the Manchester United, that for Alexander Garnacho continues to not want to go below the wall of 70 million, with the Napoli who puts it on the plate 50. The gap is wide but not impossible to bridge, especially if we remember the words of Tale: take just for the sake of taking, no, nor go for prospective profiles. In theory, the 2004 class garnacho he could be included in the second group, but practice speaks of a player already established at very high levels who would therefore go to bolster the squad numerically and qualitatively, just as requested Tale. A plan B exists and would have the advantage of already knowing the Serie A, in addition to costing less and having more experience to also withstand the pressure of high-sounding teams and red-hot clubs: Napoli like it Mattia Zaccagni, that the Lazio could give way to 40 million. So, less than what the Neapolitan club thought they would spend on garnacho before the cold shower that came from Manchester. The impression however is that the Argentine is still everyone's priority, perhaps more so for the Neapolitan club than for Tale, and that therefore the path will be beaten in the next few weeks with the aim of finding a meeting point and giving each other the after Fourth more coveted. In this regard, it is easier than the Napoli raise your bid to 60 million that it United you lower it to 50. Who knows, maybe in the end the right price is the 40 million asked by the Lazio for Weather in Zaccagni, the plan B that begins to intrigue, together with the other option that talks about a box, the one occupied by kvaratskhelia until a few days ago, to be left empty until the summer.

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