All in all it’s just another kick in the balls

By: Joe | July 24th, 2007

Still no movement on the acquisition front and the rumours are quickly becoming irksome at this point. Direttore Generale Pier Paulo Marino has chosen to take a very low profile and not discuss player transfers. Given the recent track record, I have to applaud the decision to keep out of the media. As long as you bring at least one quality defender, two midfielders and and a striker while you’re keeping your big, bald head down, pal…and something about monkeys flying about butts comes to mind.

The pressure is most certainly on Marino as Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentis has stated Napoli will make a big splash and they “realize we’re in serie A.” The tifosi have let the squad know their displeasure with the lack of transfer signings and De Laurentis knows a big signing or two is still needed if Napoli are going to realize his goal of a top 10 Serie A finish this season.

Walter Gargano is now officially gone and Napoli have lost a potential young stud
they could have placed as a defensive midfielder for the next five years. So does the club go out and target another d-mid to place alongside Gatti and Amodio? Of course not. It appears Nicolas “Iceman” Amodio is being loaned out to Treviso. Brilliant. Nothing says depth like putting all your eggs in Fabio Gatti’s 5′6″ frame.

The latest plan is to target Carlos Paredes from Sporting Lisbon. While the Paraguayan midfielder is on the wrong side of 30, just turned 31 last week, he has loads of experience playing at the highest level (two years with FC Porto and the last four seasons with Reggina). There are rumours he may assume the captain’s armband for Paraguay now that Carlos Gamarra has retired from international football. Reportedly the asking price is only 3 million. While Paredes isn’t a d-mid your going to build your squad around for the next five years, he’s more than capable and can be a rock in the heart of the midfield for the next two years at least. All that being said, it won’t get done. Marino won’t like his hairstyle or his beard or something. He just looks like a d-mid though, doesn’t he?
Another option for Napoli is Matteo Brighi. The AS Roma-owned player is not going to get any time with the giallorossi with Perotta, De Rossi, Mancini and hell knows who else blocking his path. Brighi has kept a low profile but let it be known his preference is to play with the Azzurri.

You had to figure the rumours of Alvaro Recoba coming to Napoli were not going to pan out. When healthy ‘il Chino’ is one of the most dynamic playmakers in the world. However, Recoba was told by Roberto Mancini that he wasn’t going to get much playing time
at Inter Milan with their 18 strikers and 34 midfielders on the roster. Turns out Recoba’s family is looking to head back to Uruguay and he’s targeting Nacional or FC Danubio.
There are rumblings of improprieties in the Lavezzi signing. I haven’t been able to discern any details of what the issues are but the matter may go to court. News keeps getting better and better.

I’m not going to say a word about a Jersey born Azzurrini player who may have trouble finding space at Manchester United and is rumoured to cost about 12 million euro.