Naples, Elmas on his farewell step. The names to replace him: Samardzic is on pole

Naples, 21 December 2023 - Desire for change and revolution: perhaps even well in advance of the well-known roadmap, which states summer 2024. The premature elimination from Coppa Italia, which occurred after cashing out, among other things a home poker at the hands of Frosinone, shook the planet further Napoli, where something could move in the market as early as January. The not so hidden objective is to bring forward the times also to try to save what can be saved from this so far rather troubled season. He could be the one to pay the price Eljif Diamond, the eternal promise, as well as eternal (luxury) reserve, at the farewell step.  

An always tormented relationship

  In fact, beyond the recent setbacks and this year which, despite the change on the bench, just doesn't want to get going, the relationship between the Neapolitan club and the Macedonian has never been calm and linear. At the beginning, in 2019, what was against the class of '99 was the quality of the blue squad, which to a little-known player who arrived from Fenerbahce (upon payment of 16 million plus bonuses) left only crumbs. The aforementioned player was then good at making space for himself over time thanks to a great versatility which, starting from the midfield line upwards, allows him to occupy practically all positions: complete with a very pronounced goal-scoring habit and capable of often optimizing a few minutes available on the green rectangle. Precisely these qualities, experienced among other things by himself Walter Mazzarri at the time of his new debut on the bench of Napoli in the house ofAtalanta, have over time increased the discontent of the person concerned, who has already been champing at the bit on the bench for a few seasons. And on social media, the scene in recent months of a dig directed at Luciano Spalletti, guilty of too often relegating the joker to the bench who today seems almost at the door also because in the meantime the trend has not changed even with Rudi Garcia. And not even with the same one Mazzarri who among other things, as a 'ferryman', probably has little say in the matter from a market perspective. As usual, the main decisions in this sense come from the highest levels of the Napoli, with Aurelio De Laurentiis e Mauro Meluso (probably in this order) to dictate the law with an eye to the present but above all to the near future. The first piece of the revolution announced forsummer 2024 it will be right Elmas, who will move well sooner than was reasonable to expect also to try to make room for an incoming shot that can immediately raise the quality of the roster and, why not, give a good shake to the whole environment. After all, if it's true that the championship and above all Coppa Italia these are closed discussions, it is true that the chapter Champions League, referring to both this season's round of 16 against the Barcelona and the pass to be snatched for next year, he is very open and interesting: as well as of vital importance in the economy of the state of health of the Neapolitan club.

The 4 midfielders followed

  In fact, everything seems to have been done between Napoli and Leipzig to move the Macedonian upon payment of 25 million for an operation that could be among the first of the winter session. At that point the midfield of the Neapolitan club will need some reinforcements and probably not only due to the increasingly probable farewell of Elmas. It is enough to remember (at least) two critical situations in the short and long term. We start from Africa Cup of Nations 2024, which in addition to Victor Osimhen will lead elsewhere Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, among other things, in turn often stopped by physical problems and not even more similar to the unsurpassed midfielder of the championship run. We arrive at the very thorny case related to Piotr Zielinski, whose renewal appears increasingly unlikely. In reality, with the contract expiring on 30 June 2024, the Pole could sign with another team as early as January, thus opening a hole that would need to be filled in view of the summer. Hence the need of the Neapolitan club to go on the hunt for not one but at least two midfield players: plans which obviously would clash with the well-known difficulties of the January transfer market, a short and expensive session in which any club asks for a lot despite to let go of one's jewels (or presumed jewels). This is the case, among others, of Lazar Samardzik, the most talked about player of the summer in light of the long dispute withInter, which then ended with an unexpected stay atUdinese. The problem is that in Friuli the Serbian player got lost, thanks to a poor feeling with Gabriele Cioffi and the general performance of the Bianconeri. Maybe the solution could be a change of scenery, with the Napoli who notoriously never completely let go of one of the profiles considered ideal to replace Zielinski. In the tandem notebook De Laurentiis-Meluso There are also Mats Wieffer of the Feyenoord, the most experienced of the lot, in addition to the very young and little-known ones Albert Gronbaek of the Bodo / Glimt e Maurits Kjærgaard of the Salzburg. An interesting trio, which becomes poker when it comes back into play Samardzic, the patron's protégé, who would have liked to report this operation already last winter, when the idea was to give a gift to Spalletti to pursue the championship dream with even greater profit. The rest is known history: the blitz ofInter, the intervention of the family of the class of 2002 and finally the stay atUdinese not exactly in the name of mutual joy. Before De Laurentiis the possibility of a second chance stands out, often a rarity in the transfer market. Not only that: the drop in performance of Samardzic it also lowered the price of the operation, which could be more or less the same as what it is likely to bring Elmas al Leipzig. In short, the puzzle seems close to being completed by the last pieces to be moved: those good on the one hand to satisfy the Macedonian, now closed in blue and on the other to give new life to a project that has reached an almost dead point.

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