While Napoli put their collective energy into a so-called ‘all-Italian’ recruitment drive, Inter and AC Milan have had vastly different ideas.
Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis recently announced that, under the direction of new coach Maurizio Sarri, there would be a brand new approach at the Stadio San Paolo based on the promotion of youth and a focus on home-grown talent.
Hence, most transfer links in connection with the Partenopei have involved Italian stars such as Matteo Darmian, Riccardo Saponara, Ciro Immobile and Daniele Rugani, while midfielder Mirko Valdifiori’s move from Empoli has already been rubber-stamped.
Even those foreign players mentioned over the last few weeks including Diego Perotti, Sime Vrsaljko and Elseid Hysaj currently ply their trade in Serie A, or have done previously in the case of returning goalkeeper Pepe Reina.
While footballers with Italian heritage or experience of playing football on the peninsula are being drafted in, almost all of those on the verge of being shown the exit door are relics from the Rafa Benitez era who hail from elsewhere.
It’s largely driven by the lack of Champions League football with which to attract the biggest names, without having to pay the Earth in wages instead. De Laurentiis wants value for money and recognises the Italian market as the most productive way to achieve that outcome.
Coach Sarri is renowned for nurturing raw talents, helping them eventually blossom at first-team level, thus making their approach appear a viable, healthy and sensible one.
There’s a wholly different standpoint at Inter, who also have no premier European competition to offer, yet seem hell-bent on securing sought-after foreigners at substantial cost.
Geoffrey Kondogbia turned down English Premier League interest — and AC Milan — to join the the Nerazzurri on a deal thought to be worth €35 million from Monaco.
He left behind a Champions League contender, albeit a team forced to go through the third qualifying round before potentially reaching the group stages, to join Roberto Mancini’s men who are not even in the Europa League next term.
This week has already seen the arrival of Brazilian defender Miranda from Atletico Madrid, and he should be joined shortly by Spanish right-back Martin Montoya of Barcelona — both Champions League entrants.
True, prior Serie A performers Stevan Jovetic and Felipe Melo have also been linked, but it seems Mancini’s preference is for purchases from other shores and on bumper pay packets; and Indonesian owner Erick Thohir seems all-too willing to oblige.
Big money is being thrown around at the Stadio Meazza, but how easy it will be for the Nerazzurri tactician to fit all of the various pieces together, whilst under great pressure to deliver a top-three league position, remains to be seen.
AC Milan, meanwhile, have been publicly undertaking a scatter-gun approach to their attempts at making strong enough summer signings in order to improve upon last season’s insipid showing.
Similarly to Inter, they are mainly focused on bringing in new blood from abroad, as opposed to seeing what they can get for their money at home.
Vice-president Adriano Galliani seems to be travelling here, there and everywhere, in a bid to convince a raft of stellar signings to forego elite European competition for a revival project at the San Siro.
A deal for Colombian striker Jackson Martinez of FC Porto fell through, forcing the Rossoneri to reach for his international team-mate Carlos Bacca instead.
Desperate efforts to bring an aging Zlatan Ibrahimovic back to the club from Paris Saint-Germain also appears to have stalled, while Inter gazumped their fierce rivals in the race for midfield enforcer Kondogbia — back to square one again and again.
AC Milan have, however, bought Italian in the shape of Roma midfielder Andrea Bertolacci for a significant €20 million fee, but being credited with an interest in a new name from a different nation every other day hardly suggests the Rossoneri have any intention of following Napoli’s lead.
In terms of monetary factors and the idea of putting together a workable solution tailored to a particular coach’s philosophy, it would seem the Neapolitans’ stated aims are well-suited to a sustainable future.
However, both Milanese giants are utilising huge outside investment to pursue players who, may or not, be motivated by the earning potential on offer. If it all goes wrong, there’ll be a requirement for yet another revolution that neither club can afford.
No one can be certain which of the three outfits will emerge in possession of the most harmonious squad in practice, but Napoli almost certainly have the least on the line to lose.
All the three clubs must focus on building modern stadiums with a 51.000-55.000 capacity like Frankfurt or Hamburg stadium.That is imperative.