Napoli Club Focus: Everything is in place

Date: 3rd February 2016 at 4:15pm
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As Maurizio Sarri suitably bolstered his Serie A leading side, the Partenopei hurled yet another domestic obstacle, and did it in impressive style

Napoli

Every week seems to bring a new kind of challenge for Napoli this season, with each one met and tackled. In this instance, it was the visit of Empoli, who Maurizio Sarri previously coached and guided to Serie A promotion. Aside from the usual emotions that mark such an occasion, Sarri was also confronted with going a goal down when Leandro Paredes scored. However, as has been the case so often this season, the devastating pairing of Gonzalo Higuain and Lorenzo Insigne came to the rescue.
An own goal and a double from Jose Callejon completed a 5-1 rout at the Stadio San Paolo, bringing their points total to 50 in 22 matches. This week also saw Napoli conclude it’s dealings in the transfer market, with no further action occurring on deadline day. Only two players joined the squad in this period: Atalanta midfielder Alberto Grassi and Vasco Regini from Sampdoria. For many the signing of Grassi alone demonstrates their own ambition, as the 20 year-old is being lauded as a future star of Italian football. It will however be a while before we see him represent the Partenopei after he was injured in training. grassi atalanta

Regini brings a level of Serie A experience and versatility to the Partenopei, as he already has experience at full-back and as a central defender during his career. The deal was perhaps a response to missing out on two Empoli stars that Sarri was desperate to acquire, namely Francesco Barba and Lorenzo Tonelli. The latter in particular was highly sought after across Italy, with Tonelli one of the most consistent performers for the Tuscan side. Empoli may have kept hold of Tonelli, but lost Barba, who somewhat bizarrely moved to German side Stuttgart.

Barba was seen as an ideal long-term replacement for Raul Albiol, but the 22 year-old will now follow in the footsteps of Luca Caldirola and Giulio Donati in opting for the Bundesliga over Serie A. As for departures, the Partenopei did well to shift a lot of dead wood. Unsettled defender Juan Camilo Zuniga has joined Bologna and Jonathan de Guzman will play for Carpi for the rest of the season. Henrique has returned to Brazil to ply his trade with Fluminense, defensive midfielder Josip Radosevic has joined SD Eibar on a temporary basis, while new addition Eddy Gnahore from Carrarese has also been loaned to Carpi.Sampdoria v Fiorentina

At this point in the campaign, it’s impossible not consider Napoli as genuine title contenders, so this transfer market was an opportunity for Sarri to prepare for such a challenge. Regini and Grassi certainly give the former Empoli boss more options when it comes to squad selection, but don’t necessarily improve any particular areas of the field. Far be it from me to suggest this Napoli team needs improvement, their performances alone suggest the Scudetto awaits them, but any fears of footballing angst could have been dispelled with a major coup on the market.

Nonetheless the Napoli squad has shown itself to be more than prepared for such pressures, continuing to perform brilliantly even as their coach was sucked into a controversial media storm. With commitments in Europe still to uphold, it looks like becoming a good hard slog for the in-form Azzurri.

 

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