Napoli » calciomercato

Are we really 2nd best in Serie A ?

Neil — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 20:20:36 +0000

In a word, no. But I’d like to remind Serie A fans of an English soccer saying, “The table never lies.” Only Lazio has started better than us, and we’ve played quality teams like Roma, Fiorentina, Udinese, and Palermo in the first five games. Yet Jose Mourinho admitted that he is not afraid of teams like Lazio, Napoli, and Catania – he is confident because Inter is still ahead of teams like Juve, Milan, and Roma.

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=886687

Mourinho does have a point. I watched the Milan derby last night, and from a neutral perspective it was even better than a Champions League game. Both teams showed the kind of skill and tenacity it takes to compete for the Scudetto. Napoli has shown lots of heart, but the richest teams in Serie A all have thoroughbreads at every position. After watching our reserves struggle against Bologna, I’m worried our depth will be a factor, especially if we go on a big UEFA Cup run.

Right now our squad is in good shape to qualify directly for the Europa League next year. However, if we can sustain a Champions League spot until January, De Laurentiis might choose to spend big in order to improve the team. There are always rumours linking us with South Americans – the latest two names were River Plate midfielder Diego Buonanotte and 17 year old Uruguayan striker Abel Hernandez. Napoli has also been linked with unsettled Real Madrid midfielder Royston Drenthe. This kind of speculation is fun to read but the rumours rarely become reality.

It is more likely Napoli will sign a player like Siena’s Daniele Galloppa. Although foreign players can turn out great – see Lavezzi and Gargano – foreigners are a higher risk proposition. If for whatever reason they don’t work out, you can be stuck with a non EU player whose high wages might be a turn off for other teams. If Italians are a bust, it’s an easier problem to solve.

On the injury front, Lavezzi is healing faster than expected and will likely play some part in Thursday’s epic showdown with Benfica. Iezzo’s broken nose will keep him out of the lineup a bit longer, while Bogliacino is still recovering from a broken ankle.

Finally, much respect to Luigi Vitale, who is now being scouted by Pierluigi Casiraghi for the U-21 Azzurri. I have watched Vitale a lot and you can see him growing into a solid two way player. He’s still young so he’ll continue making some mistakes, but his goal in the first leg against Benfica proved he could be a big game player. The Castellamare di Stabia native has won the starter’s job from Daniele Mannini, and should keep developing.

I’ll be back later with a preview of Napoli’s 2nd leg UEFA Cup showdown in Lisbon.

l’ultimi colpi

Joe — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 15:19:06 +0000

Ah….leaving it late. Today is the day Pier Paolo Marino finishes all family business. Let’s just hope Moe Green doesn’t catch one in the eye. The transfer market closes on September 1 and Marino can’t celebrate yesterday’s draw in Rome as unfinished business is at the top of his things to do list:

Maurizio Domizzi – Is there any Italian club Captain Red Ass hasn’t been linked to? Napoli put a €6 million price tag on Domizzi and everyone played a game of chicken with Marino, looking to get Napoli to drop their valuation. Domizzi needed to get out of Napoli because of an alleged indiscretion by a certain Napoletano keeper and Mrs. Domizzi didn’t contribute to locker room harmony. Genoa, Siena, Parma, Fiorentina, Atalanta and Lazio all kicked the tires on the left-back, and last year’s penalty kick taker, but everyone choked on the price tag. Today Marino found a taker for the 28-year old whom Napoli co-owned with Sampdoria when Udinese agreed to co-purchase(?) Domizzi for €2.75 million. I don’t much like the idea of giving away a useful player to a team you’ll likely be chasing in Serie A for a UEFA Cup spot. It certainly can’t be the deal Marino wanted to make, but Domizzi’s situation was untenable and Napoli were pretty much up against a wall here. Good luck, Maurizio. Despite an up and down year last year, all in all we’ll miss your leadership and your wicked left foot. Just tell the Misses to keep her clothes on!

Domizzi’s replacement: Fabiano Santacroce’s red card yesterday emphasized the need for another defender to play in Coach Edy Reja’s 3-man backline. Santacroce will miss the next Serie A match against Fiorentina, leaving Napoli with only three true defenders (Canna, Rinaudo and Contini). Shortly after unloading Domizzi, Marino picked up his replacement: Salvatore Aronica was signed from Reggina. Aronica was a target last summer and was all but signed before the typical transfer soap opera dealings got in the way. The Palermo-born central defender cost Marino €3 million and will likely be used either in the Fiorentina match or the first leg of the UEFA Cup tie with Benfica. Aronica has good pace and he’s a decent Serie A defender.

Roberto De Zerbi was pushed out by Brazilian Inacio Pia and it was just a matter of where he was going to land. De Zerbi won’t have to travel far as he wound up being loaned out to Avellino, who stayed in Serie B this year thanks to the benefit of Messina’s troubles. De Zerbi spent the winter campaign last season at Brescia and did a decent job for them. He was simply never going to get any playing time with Reja. By the way, did you see Pia exchange jerseys yesterday with the Beast (Julio Baptista). It looks like Pia spent the offseason in the weight room as he looks to have put on at least 10 pounds of muscle. He’ll need it.

Mirko Savini looks set to leave for Verona. I think it’s likely Mirko would be directly sold as opposed to being loaned out given what I can gather. Either way, the former captain won’t be doing his turnstile imitation on the left flank at the San Paolo this year. We’ll have to catch his act at the Bentogodi. Too bad he couldn’t take Gianluca Grava with him. At his best, Savini is an adequate left-winger…he’s not usually at his best. Anyone’s guess as to who the new left winger may be. Given Luigi Vitale’s tentative display yesterday in Rome, Marino should look for someone who can fill the gap until the Napoli primavera product is really ready for the Serie A grind. Maybe someone from Florence, perhaps?

Samuele Dalla Bona may be on the move, despite talk of his staying due to Mariano Bogliacino’s injury. Rumor has it Premier League side Portsmouth is looking to acquire the central midfielder. For Dalla Bona’s sake I hope it’s true. He’s another useful player who’ll never see the pitch as long as Reja is around. In the “L’oro di Napoli” DVD’s that were produced this summer, most of the highlights of Dalla Bona were of him training with the squad at Castelvolturno. Kind of says it all, doesn’t it?

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Napoli players on loan:

Erminio Rullo Triestina play Bari today in the posticipo of the first week in Serie B.

Biagio Del Guidice was on the bench but did not play in Aversa’s opening match, a 2-0 loss to Catanzaro. Aversa were recently promoted from what was Serie D to Lega Pro Seconda Divisione (Serie C2).

Emmanuele Calaio started for Siena and played all 90 minutes in their 1-0 loss to Atalanta. Calaio picked up a yellow for harsh foul late in the match.

Gyorgy Garics started and played all 90 minutes at right back for Atalanta.

Christian Bucchi started, played all 90 minutes and scored the match winner in Ascoli’s win against Vicenza.

Tomasso Romito is now playing for Pescara who lost 2-0 to Crotone. No word on whether he played.

Listen, I’d provide a recap of our 1-1 draw against Roma, but I figured you all saw the match and have already commented. The fact is, we are simply better when we play with 10. I’ve seen it now for three years against all different competition and we always come up big. Now that isn’t to say it’s any guarantee but when you hold Roma off away from home when down to 10…well, that’s saying something.
All the goodness

And wow, can I say I’m really glad DDR is Italian. Damn, what a midfielder!
FORZA NAPOLI!

Is this the thanks we get?

Joe — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 21:26:12 +0000

Before a not-near packed San Paolo (21,356 tifosi), Napoli completely tore apart Albanian champions FC Vllaznia 5-0. The match was hardly in doubt from the onset as Napoli took a 3-0 lead into the tie after playing well in Albania two weeks ago. However, once Napoli got themselves established and found their pace, they essentially laid seige to the Vllaznia goal and overwhelmed the squad. Napoli get rewarded for an 8-0 aggregate showing in the 2nd Qualifying round by meeting the most decorated Portuguese team SL Benfica (a record 31 Portuguese titles, a record 24 Portuguese Cup winners, and two time European Cup champions). Yeah!?!

Let’s at least take some time to revel in our victory here. It’s not often you see Napoli absolutely dismantle anyone. And, yes, given that we were playing the champions of what can at best be considered a 2nd rate European league, the result was expected. Napoli should’ve gone through the moment the draw was made. However, what should be isn’t always what is…that’s why it’s so much fun to watch the matches. Coach Edy Reja used the opportunity to give little-used players some minutes (Sam Dalla Bona, Matteo Gianello, Gianluca Grava, Francesco Montervino & Leandro Rinaudo) and to rest other mainstays with reduced or no minutes (Maggio, Luigi Vitale, Marek Hamsik). Marcelo Zalayeta also made his first appearance since blowing out his knee in March. El Panteron wasn’t expected to return to the pitch until October or early November and he seemed to run well (not that he has much pace) and he helped to set up scoring chances several times.
Napoli-Vllaznia highlights:

For what it’s worth, I jotted down some notes of the match which you’ll find below.
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It appears the signing of center back Tomasz Jodlowiec is not the slam dunk everyone assumed it to be, well maybe just me, as early as yesterday. Apparently “grave family matters” are preventing Jodlowiec from moving to Napoli. I read somewhere (though I can’t locate the source at the moment) that Jodlowiec’s mother is ill and he doesn’t want to leave her alone. Hard to fault the young man. We still need another center back and hopefully it’ll be Jodlowiec in the winter break, but we can’t wait until then to add some depth.

Midfielder Andrea Russotto was called up to the Azzurrini squad by coach Pierluigi Casiraghi. The U-21’s are facing Greece on September 5 and Croatia on September 9 in their UEFA U-21 qualification campaign. The fact that we’re getting more of our players leaving on national team duty is a double-edged sword. It’s great for the player to gain experience and it adds prestige to the club; you just pray there won’t be an injury. Luckily, Russotto won’t miss any Napoli matches as a result of the call up. For the record, I’m happy to see our boys called up…I’m just nervous for them.

Ginto’s scorecard of the Napoli-Vllaznia match

Napoli lineup: 3-5-2: Gianello; Santacroce, Cannavaro, Rinaudo; Montervino (c),Pazienza, Gargano, Dalla Bona, Grava; Zalayeta, Pià. Bench: Iezzo, Bruno, Blasi, Maggio, Hamsik, Lavezzi, Denis

5th minute – Dalla Bona hits a shot from the edge of the box deflected away. Ensuing corner (taken by Gargano) finds Zalayeta’s head but his shot is miraculously cleared off the line by Doci.
10th minute – Zala sets up Pia with a nodded on flick in the box to Pia but the Brazilian is offside
15th minute – free kick near the left corner flag taken by Grava…Gargano crosses it and Rinaudo’s header goes over the crossbar.
20th minute – Vllaznia earn their first corner and make a hash out of it
25th minute – Zalayeta earns a corner but Gargano overshoots the corner and the opportunity is wasted
26th minute – Game settles in and gets pretty ugly without much flow and lots of fouls halting the action
30th minute – Zalayeta gets free in the penalty box but mishits his shot over the crossbar
32nd minute – Vllaznia earns a corner nodded away by Santacroce
35th minute – Dalla Bona’s header from 10 meters beautifully struck on a pass from Pazienza but saved away by a Vllaznia defender
37th minute – Montervino crosses (huh?) in the area to Pia who splits two defenders but his shot goes obscenely high over the crossbar
39th minute – Montervino again gets off a cross to Pia who instead of getting off a shot tries to a backheel which snuffs out the opportunity
41st minute – GOAL! Rinaudo scores his first in a Napoli shirt. All day long to settle the ball in the box and scorch the back of the net
43rd minute – Pazienza enters the area on the right-hand side but at the moment he’s about to shoot, it’s blocked off and the subsequent corner is wasted
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46th minute – Zalayeta scores his first goal but is wrongly called offside by the official
46th minute – Santacroce commits a dangerous foul giving up a free kick which is ultimately wasted. Santacroce lucky to not have picked up a card there.
50th minute – Grava provides a cross from the left side and Pia’s header goes over the bar
56th minute – GOAL! Pia! Cross from the right side by Zalayeta for Pia, stops on his right, spins on a dime and scores on his left through the keepers arms
57th minute – Santacroce prevents a counterattack with a beautiful tackle and takes a long distance shot (about 35 yards out) which is rifled but deflected away for a corner.
58th minute – GOAL! Rinaudo with a brace. Gargano’s short corner from the right side to Pazienza who crosses it into box and finds Rinaudo who tucks it into the back of the net.
59th minute – Rinaudo tries for a tripletta are thwarted when Grimaj parries a rocket from 11 meters
63rd minute – Dalla Bona removed for Hamsik
63rd minute – Pia has an opportunity for a brace wasted when receiving a pass from the left flank by Montervino…
68th minute – Pia removed for Lavezzi
70th minute – Lavezzi puts on a dribbling show and the San Paolo explodes in appreciation
73rd minute – Lavezzi gets off two dangerous crosses to Zalayeta to the applause of the tifosi. No scoring chances resulted in either case, however.
76th minute – Zalayeta removed for Denis
80th minute – GOL! LAVEZZI! El Pocho returns to Napoli in grand style. Jukes last defender, stumbles one-on-one with the keeper but is able
to maintain his balance and knocks it into an open net
81st minute – Lavezzi picks up a yellow for taking off his shirt and showing of his inkwork
87th minute – GOL! HAMSIK! Denis sets up Hamsik who again knocks it into an open net as Vllaznia’s defense has their minds on getting some pizza margherita after the match

O Vesuvio news

Joe — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:30:16 +0000

It’s almost the end of the calciomercato season and things are still very much in flux for the Azzurri. With the transfer market set to close on Monday, Napoli Direttore Generale, Pier Paolo Marino has little time left to tie up some loose ends.

Tomasz Jodlowiec finally signed for 1.3 million euros ending what was a month-long saga. It was never quite clear what the hold up was, outside of his Polish club not wanting him to leave but desperate for the money regardless. Marino signed the Polish central defender, often favorably compared to Fabio Cannavaro, and he’s currently at Castelvolturno (where Napoli train) for a physical. I doubt he’ll ever captain a World Cup winning side but that’s high praise. In any case, the squad needed some depth on the backline and Jodlowiec should provide cover for the starting defenders expected to be Santacroce-Cannavaro-Contini. Jodlowiec won’t play in today’s EUFA Cup match and
I’d expect Coach Edy Reja to try and break in the 23-year old slowly. Jodlowiec doesn’t know the language and the central defender has spent his “entire” three year career in Poland. The 190cm (6′3″) defender has experience playing in the EUFA Cup last year with his Polish team. Hopefully, this is another young diamond uncovered by Marino. He doesn’t make many mistakes so I trust him implicitly here.

Mirko Savini: Savini has been with Napoli since De Laurentis’ second year in charge of the Azzurri. The 29-year old left winger has been displaced by Napoli youth product Luigi Vitale and Marino has been looking to sell him off since the preseason. Sky journalist Gianluca Di Marzio indicates that while much of the talk of Savini’s destination is focused on Catania, Di Marzio believes Savini’s destination lies north. Negotiations with newly-promoted Chievo Verona are said to be almost complete. Savini is interested in Chievo as he’s likely to play more for the gialloblu than the Sicilian Catania side.

Roberto De Zerbi: The purchase of German Denis and the resurgence of Inacio Pia means De Zerbi is another player who’ll likely get the Dalla Bona treatment and find more time in the stands then even on the bench. Catania has floated the idea of swapping Giuseppe Colucci for De Zerbi. Colucci has recovered from a horrible injury two years ago and made 25 appearances for Walter Zenga’s club last year. Colucci broke into Italian football as a 16-year old playing for Serie B side Foggia but hasn’t really delivered on his early promise. Unless Giuseppe has updates to the compromising pictures of coach Edy Reja with farm animals that Gianluca Grava seems to have extended his career with, I don’t see Colucci getting any playing time and the deal is much more likely to benefit Catania.

Maurizio Domizzi: Really not sure what else to say about the Roman red ass. Marino put a 6 million euro tag on his head and although teams are interested, no one seems to have come close to the asking price. It appears Napoli has no intention of selling him off for less than their asking price and Domizzi is now caught in between. At this point, he’s no longer training with the squad because of slight injuryand he’s pretty much backed himself into a corner. Domizzi keeps citing “personal reasons” for his desire to leave Napoli and you’d think
at a certain point he’d realize he’s in the prime of his career and can’t afford to lose his spot. But things are getting bad for Domizzi as he’s now displaced from the starting XI, had next to no playing time (none in the EUFA Cup and little in friendlies) and unless De Laurentis and Marino stop playing chicken, he’s going to find himself on the bench or in the stands fighting for scrap playing time. The standing rumour around Domizzi’s “personal reasons” have to do with an alleged affair his wife had/is having/wants to have with keeper Genarro Iezzo. All in all, I’d say Napoli is getting rid of the wrong player if that’s the case. I don’t see Iezzo recapturing the form he had a few years ago and, despite some bad stretches last year, Domizzi can provide a threat down the left flank with his crosses and booming free kicks.

In a few hours, Napoli will host Albanian side FC Vllanznia in the return leg of the their second qualifying round match for the UEFA Cup. Napoli holds a 3-0 lead and will have to surrender three goals at the San Paolo, without scoring one of their own, to take the match into extra time or lose by three goals in order to not advance. The first leg of round 1 is September 18 and the second leg is October 2. If Napoli can manage to get past today and the round 1, they’ll enter into the UEFA Cup group stages and will be guaranteed at least two more European nights at the San Paolo…if the house is a-rockin’ don’t bother knockin’.

FORZA NAPOLI!

‘A Serenata ‘E Pulecinella news

Joe — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:22:18 +0000

Uruguayan striker Marcelo Zalayeta is set to make his return to Napoli in next week’s Birra Moretti. The preseason tournament, held at the San Paolo and this year featuring Juventus and AC Milan, will mark El Panteron’s first live action since he suffered a knee injury on March 9. My take: Zalayeta can be a useful player when he’s on and he is capable of some stunning matches. However, his inconsistency is maddening. He should be used as a logical sub for German Denis and coach Edy Reja is likely to bring him in off the bench in the Birra Moretti matches. All in all, he’s earned a place on the club but he shouldn’t sniff the starting XI when he regains full fitness.

Chievo Verona is looking at potentially sweeping up three Napoli players who are surplus to requirements at this stage. Left-winger/Left back Mirko Savini, central midfielder Samuele Dalla Bona and trequartista Roberto De Zerbi. Chievo would like to purchase Savini outright and figure out a loan deal for De Zerbi and Dalla Bona. Currently, the sides are two million euros apart. My take: The fact that Dalla Bona has rotted on our bench the last two years is one of the biggest indictments I have against Reja. He’s been pushed out by Michele Pazienza and Francesco Montervino. Put together they don’t have the skills of Dalla Bona who has hardly played since he signed a big contract with Napoli three seasons ago. The Andrea Russotto signing made De Zerbi expendable and it’s unlikely he’ll ever make a meaningful contribution. Savini? Meh. At his best he’s an average defender and provides little to the attack. At his worst? He’s slow, has trouble crossing the ball and is often out of position. Ciao, Mirko!

Direttore Generale Pier Paolo Marino confirmed Inacio Pià’s place with Napoli. Marino calls Pià a “player who we lost and now found again” and credits the Brazilian’s hard work and Reja for helping him rediscover his touch. My take: Pià must have gotten sick of being on the bench with smaller clubs in previous loan deals. Somewhere along the line, the kid matured and realized being on the bench of an up-and-coming Serie A team playing in Europe is better than playing scrub minutes for Triestina and Rimini (no offense). In Reja’s big-and-small two forward attack, Pià would likely sub in for Ezequiel Lavezzi.

The article referenced above also states Napoli’s market is closed unless/until some players get sold. Marino indicated he’d like to perhaps pick up a youngster to fill out the roster but nothing more. My take: I hope Marino is blowing smoke here. There isn’t a chance a hell Maurizio Domizzi is staying and I don’t see more than one player out of Savini, Dalla Bona and De Zerbi staying with the club. Competing in three different competitions (Serie A, UEFA Cup, Coppa Italia) is going to take its toll on the squad’s depth. We’re still short on defenders and flush with midfielders. As good a game as Grava had covering for Leandro Rinaudo and Fabiano Santacroce against Panionios, you don’t want to rely on a winger to man the back line against Milan or Fiorentina, do you?

Other tidbits: Marek Hamsik (Slovakia) and German Denis (Argentina) are out on international duty. Walter Gargano (Uruguayan) had been called up but remained with Napoli after his injury. Gargano is training separately (along with Daniele Mannini and Matteo Contini) but should be ready for the start of the Serie A campaign.
Russotto starts training with Napoli today.

Tomasz Jodlowiec’s Polish club (Warsaw) has asked Napoli to hold off on their purchase bid one more week for the defender. The 1.9meter (6’3”) 23-year old defender has been all but signed by Marino for 1.3 million euros to a five-year c

FORZA NAPOLI!

Ti amo, Marino!

Joe — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:50:20 +0000

Seemingly from out of nowhere, Napoli Direttore Generale Pier Paolo Marino signed Andrea Russotto, another young starlet, to add to Napoli’s collection of young jewels. It’s difficult to argue with the results Marino gets when he goes into the market to acquire players. Anyone who can pick up Fabiano Santacroce, Daniele Mannini, Nicolas Navarro in the winter transfer window while giving up… De Zerbi on loan?, is all good in my book. My criticism of Marino is more with how some of these transactions, particularly the ones that fall through, are handled.

Let’s look at last year as an example. You can’t argue with the results here. Marino knew the midfield needed some added quality and he signed Serie A veteran (1/2 ownership) Maneule Blasi to anchor the midfield. He then added brilliance and class with Slovakian international Marek Hamsik, at the time only 19-years old was signed and he’s been a revelation. It is not a stretch to say that in four years Hamsik could be one of the best MF in the world. It’s no accident the kid has drawn interest from all the big European clubs. Marino then added the little Mighty Mouse dynamo, Walter Gargano, from Uruguay and he quickly won over the San Paolo faithful with his tireless running. In attack Marino added Argentine phenom Ezequiel Lavezzi and Marcelo Zalayeta. All Lavezzi did was catapult himself into Napoli’s most important player last year and Zalayeta was serviceable (I’m trying to be generous). Matteo Contini was signed from Parma to add depth to the defense and he was often the best defender on the pitch, at least until Fabiano Santacroce was picked up. However, there were a few issues in how last year’s calciomercato campaign played out.

Namely:

Marino claimed to have a verbal agreement with then-owned Arsenal youngster, Arturo Lupoli, only to see Lupoli get quickly signed by Fiorentina right under our noses. Lupoli didn’t find any time with the Viola and is still on loan to Serie B side Treviso. Lupoli was outshined at Treviso by another youngster whose in the ascendancy and now wears a Napoli shirt (Russotto).

Walter Gargano was all but signed and delivered from Uruguayan side FC Danubio before roughly two weeks of hand-wringing. The problem was with Gargano’s salary (he has since signed an extension) and he was very close to jumping ship to Marino’s old club, Udinese.

Antonio Nocerino was all set to sign last summer. He talked about what a dream it was to play at the San Paolo. blah-blah-blah. Nocerino actually scored his first professional goal when playing on loan at Piacenza against Napoli. He refused to celebrate against his hometown team and gained a lot of fan support as a result. It turns out all it took for him to turn his back on the deal was the promise of playing time with Juventus. A Napoletano choosing Juventus over Napoli? Christ. Nocerino played pretty recklessly last year at Juventus picking up unnecessary yellow cards and giving up the ball far too often. He became surplus baggage and was shipped off to Sicily where he’ll be playing for the rosanero.

He signed Samuele Dalla Bona, Cristian Bucchi and Roberto De Zerbi two years ago. All three players have found little playing time for the Azzurri and are difficult to sell due to their high salaries. Bucchi has proven successful only in Serie B (loaned to Bologna last year and Ascoli this year). De Zerbi found some success two years ago when we were in Serie B but he lost his regular spot and was loaned out to Brescia in January after finding no room in Reja’s lineup. With the Russotto signing, De Zerbi once again finds himself on the outside looking in. Dalla Bona? Christ, I’m tired of thinking of the talent this guy has and how it’s just been wasted on the bench. Reja never gets him into the lineup and he gets passed over in the midfield over Michele Pazienza and the collective ball of suck that is Francesco Montervino and Marco Capparella. Dalla Bona is now looking at his second straight year of getting in the odd Coppa Italia match and watching from the stands. Yay?!?

There were a few more incidents and near-misses last year and I understand that’s part of the nature of calciomercato season. It’s why they call it the silly season. All that aside, the general feeling was that Marino wound up getting good results (who can argue with Marek Hamsik, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Emmanuele Blasi and Gargano) but he got beaten to the punch on a few occasions and made to look silly.

Turn the page to this year and we see a stark difference in the information that is published by the Italian press regarding Napoli’s transfer activities.

German Denis (6.3 million euros):
Marino favors South American players because they generally come cheaper and, more importantly, because Napoli represents a destination, not a stepping stone. European, and particularly Italian, players consider clubs like Napoli, Atalanta, Palermo, Fiorentina and Lazio as foundations to build on a career so you can go play for Inter, Milan, Juventus and (to a lesser extent) Roma. Denis is everything Emmanuele Calaio was supposed to be. He’s young (26), tall (1.87 meters), strong, good in the air and adept at holding the ball up for oncoming midfielders. Marino picked up Denis just as he’s beginning to hit his stride. Denis scored 15 goals in the first 13 matches for his Argentine club Independiente and merited his first call up by Alfio Basile to the Argentine national club. The international caps were for 2010 World Cup qualifying matches so the call up was not experimental in nature. Denis scored 37 goals in 69 matches for Independiente. The man has skill.

Christian Maggio (8 million euros):
Maggio has been a regular starter for the likes of Vicenza (coached by Reja), Fiorentina and Sampdoria since he was 18 years old. There was even talk of Donadoni choosing him as a RB for the Nazionale. I don’t know how much of that is accurate but the kid has overcome serious knee injuries and keeps improving. He’s flourished as a right winger at Sampdoria and is the position he’ll occupy with Napoli. He scored nine goals last year for Fiorentina. The man who’s spot in the starting XI he replaces, Gianluca Grava, has scored 11 goals going into his 17th professional year. 11!. More than half his goals were scored in Serie D. Holy upgrades, Batman!

Leandro Rinaudo (5.5 million euros):
The Palermo youth product became a regular at the age of 20 for Serie B side Salernitana. Rinaudo, now 25, has played the last three years in Serie A amassing 59 total appearances during that stretch between Palermo and Siena. Rinaudo will add depth as he can play anywhere across the 3-man backline. I suspect he’ll provide cover in case of suspensions to either Santacroce, Paolo Cannavaro or Contini.

Andrea Russotto (3.8 million euros – loan with an option to buy)
The jewel of this summer’s transfer season may be Azzurrini playmaker Andrea Russotto. Marino has been after Russotto for a long while now and he finally got his man in a deal that was not discussed openly or rumored to occur before the deal was announced. The former Lazio youth product was voted one of the top 50 young players last year by English magazine World Soccer. Russotto has played regularly for the Nazionale youth squads working his way up from the U-15’s to now featuring for Pierluigi Casiraghi in the Beijing Summer Olympics. Gianfranco Zola says he has talent to burn and doesn’t even know himself how good he can be. The kid has speed and the vision and technical ability to be a true trequartista in the classic mode.

The thing that impresses me the most, and was the reason for this post in the first place, is the manner in which these transactions occurred. There was no drama. There was no back-and-forth dialogue of agents denying the deal and Marino saying “X” and the player saying “Y.” These players were just signed. Punto e basta!

FORZA NAPOLI!

Napoli Summer Transfer Tidbits

fortunato — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:08:20 +0000

What a blow for the national team losing my hero Fabio Cannavaro after a nasty collision with Juventus’ Giorgio Chiellini during the Azzurri’s first training session earlier today. Cannavaro’s ankle injury will keep him out of the entire Euro 2008 tournament. I am shattered and rattled but not broken and still think the team has the talent and the depth to replace him and continue on in their pursuit of the Euro title.

On to better news, here are the latest tidbits in Napoli’s summer transfer activities:

1. It appears all but official that Palermo defender Leando Rinaudo is a partenopeo. From all accounts my Palermo friends have advised me that the 25 year old is quite the talent and they are rather disappointed to see him leave since many were banking on him replacing the recently departed Andrea Barzagli (who signed with VLF Wolfsburg). Rinuado’s signing likely makes it official that Maurizio Domizzi is a goner. Rinaudo is a native Palermitano and the slender defender tallied 2 goals in 22 games!!

2. I’m not that this tidbit is accurate but nonetheless Goal.com has reported that in early May, Napoli had signed 23 year old Argentinean midfielder Tomas Costa who played with the Rosario Central team this past season. In 16 games, the 6’1” player scored 1 goal. Other Internet sites state that Costa had signed with Porto of the Portuguese league for a transfer fee of 3.2 million euros. Whose right?

3. Rumor has it that Roma and Napoli are very interested in swapping assets in Gennaro Iezzo to the giallorossi in exchange for the seldom used, native Napoletano Mauro Esposito. The 29 year old striker would give us some serious depth in the position but it has been a while since he was a starter and his best years were enjoyed with Cagliari where he spent 6 years as a regular. As for San Gennaro, Roma has made no secrets that they want to beef up the keeper position for the CL run and current keeper Doni does show flaws from time to time that may be related to fatigue and over use. Personally if I were Marino I would do the swap in a heartbeat.
4. There were rumors that Napoli was interested in Atalanta striker Sergio Floccari but he appears destined to sign with Palermo. I think he’s overrated so I can’t say that I am disappointed.
5. Cagliari striker Robert Acquafresca does not appear destined to be wearing the Azzurri colours next year. All repots indicate that Marino has pulled out of the running (if he was ever really in them to begin with).
6. Amidst the rumours of his arrival to his native Napoli, Toto DiNatale in a recent interview stated that although he loves the thought of arriving at the San Paolo playing for the Azzurri, but he doesn’t realistically see the move happening since he loves Udinese and he doesn’t see Marino acquiring him in light of the youth movement currently in place in Napoli. Stay tuned friends as stranger things have happened. Keep the faith!
7. Another rumored swap is between Livorno and Napoli where the Azzurri would give up seldom used defender Erminio Rullo in exchange for 26 year old defender Giovanni Pasquale. Pasquale was a starter for Livorno last season playing in 35 games with no goals (actually he has never tallied at all in his career) but he is more recognized as a solid defender. My take is ah, this is a no brainer!! I am still trying to remember the last time Rullo saw the pitch- I think it was in Serie B sometime after his arrival in January 2007 so to trade up a reserve for a veteran starter in Serie A makes it a sweet deal. I can’t see why Livorno would do it though.
8. I have also done some reading that Napoli have thrown their hat in the ring to acquire Vincenzo Iaquinta since his days at Juventus are numbered now that the bianconeri are close to signing Amauri. I’m not sure how I feel about going after Iaquinta. Maybe I just can’t get DiNatale out of my head.

That’s it for now folks. More rumors to come soon.

Napoli Summer Transfer Tidbits

fortunato — Thu, 29 May 2008 02:58:28 +0000

As we gear up for the Euro Cup 2008, I can’t help but pass along some summer transfer market rumours as they pertain to our boys:

First of all I am jealous that Fiorentina went out and inked Alberto Gilardino and that Marco Borriello appears to have been bought back completely by Milan to replace Gila since Napoli so desperately needs another proven striker. Much to my hope and wish sources state that that Udinese striker Antonio DiNatale isn’t going to Roma as rumoured but actually back to his native Napoli. Man alive…can you imagine Lavezzi and DiNatale in the same starting lineup? Toto scored 17 goals in 35 games this past season and just imagine him in Azzurri blue at the San Paolo? I can dream can’t I?

Napoli appears to be checking out Porto left back Marek Cech. I have one of my Portuguese sources doing a background on Cech but from all accounts, he is quite talented and was on the team that won the Portuguese title this past year. It appears that Cech is interested in playing in Napoli as a result of fellow Slovakian Marek Hamsik’s influence. With Domizzi as good as gone, Cech may be the utilimate replacement. More to come.

It appears that keeper Gennaro Iezzo is only willing to leave Napoli if he is guaranteed no chance of starting next year and will only accept a move to Juve or Roma to back up Buffon or Doni respectively. I still don’t see him staying and can see him moving to Juve so as to keep Buffon rested from Italian league play in order to keep him sharp for Champions League play.

Rumour also has it that Napoli will strengthen their midfield by acquiring current Empoli midfielder Luca Antonini, who is also co-owned by AC Milan. The 25 year old was a rock for the Tuscan club during in the 2006/2007 season but struggled with the rest of his teammates this past season as Empoli suffered the torture of relegation. Antonini was goal less in 32 matches.

Oh by the way, my whipping boy Mirko Savini is close to signing with a Dutch club (see ya) and Dalla Bona’s agent stated that his client has likely played his last game with the club….big surpise.

More to come……

All and all a quiet week, eh?

Joe — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 04:29:44 +0000

With so much going around concerning the club it’s difficult to determine where to start and what news to include. It has been an eventful and emotional week for the squadra partenopei. Here’s a recap:

* For the second time this season, Napoli lost to Cagliari. A Cagliari side that hadn’t scored two goals in a match in 10 weeks, had lost six consecutive matches and hadn’t won since the sixth week of the season. Pasquale Foggia came on as a 60th minute substitute and
turned Cagliari completely around. Napoli surrendered two goals in stoppage time
to lose what may be the worst defeat since the playoff promotion loss to
Avellino three seasons ago. Jeremy at the Cagliari blog is so pumped he doesn’t know
what to do with himself.

Hint: getting a result against Juventus, or perhaps just maiming a few bianconeri, would suffice, bro. Cagliari demonstrated all the heart and passion that my beloved Napoli have shown these last few years. And for those who may saw that Napoli simply lost focus during the final few minutes, I would respectfully disagree. From the moment Foggia came on, we had
no answers. Our defense couldn’t close down the spaces, our midfield kept coughing up the ball and the substitutions? We brought on Serie C veterans Gianluca Grava and Francesco Montervino and “one trick pony” Roberto Sosa. If you’re scoring at home that means we left Samuele Dalla Bona, Emanuele Calaio and Roberto De Zerbi on the bench (De Zerbi wasn’t called up for the game because we had a deal to send him out on loan to Brescia). Suffice it to say, it was black Sunday for anyone supporting Napoli blue. And then….

* The dreaded votes of confidence came for coach Edy Reja. President Aurelio De Laurentis said Reja was his man and had his full back and blamed injuries and suspensions for our poor form. I’m not buying it. Losing Mirko Savini is a wash and while keeper Genarro Iezzo was out for the Cagliari match, backup Matteo Gianello did a decent job and given Iezzo’s form this year, I wouldn’t be surprised if he would have been even more out of position than Gianello was on the late shots that chipped over him and hit the crossbar. Direttore Generale Pier Paolo Marino than said there’s no crisis (which may in fact be true) and the coach is not under any risk of losing his job. Again, I’m not buying that either as the perfect storm of events are swirling around the club and there are too many qualified candidates out there to think Marino hasn’t made some inquiries and would be ready to pull the trigger if things continue down
this path. And then…

* Marino went out and made some deals. €17 worth of deals. Considering Napoli spent somewhere south of €27 in transfers over the summer, the deals were tantalizing and amount to a huge infusion of youth, talent and excitement into a squad that has become more and
more predictable as they look to hang on for dear life. 24-year old Midfielder Daniele Mannini
was purchased from Brescia for €8 (link says the number is €5, it isn’t). Mannini is a dangerous
winger who plays primarily on the left side but is versatile enough to play on either side. Marino compared his talents to ManUtd’s Cristiano Ronaldo…hopefully with less hair product and without the speedo and diving goggles. Inter Milan were thought to have had the right of first refusal on Mannini and would have loaned him out to another Serie A side, but Marino swooped in and grabbed him. As of this writing, we’re still not sure if he’s coming immediately or in June.
Marino has said a decision will be made by Wednesday. With the recent injury to keeper Genarro Iezzo, Marino went to South America again and struck a bargain for Argentinos Juniors keeper Nicolas Navarro. The 22-year old was purchased for €4 and he was rumored to be leaving for Europe this summer. Navarro is a big guy who seems extremely acrobatic and calm for someone so young. I guess this puts those Marco Amelia rumors to bed. When Iezzo comes back from his injury, there’ll be a log jam at the keeper spot so I think, while no one is talking about it, Matteo Gianello could be on his way out. Then Marino went back to the Brescia well (remember Marek Hamsyk was purchased from Brescia this summer for €6) and picked up a young center half stud I had been clamoring for since August. Fabiano Santacroce was purchased for €5 and he comes very highly regarded from coach Sersi Cosmi. I love Cosmi and I’d tend to think he was just pumping up his player but I’ve seen Brescia play on RAI a few times this year and the kid is good. He’s strong and lean and gets stuck in with the
best of them. He’s also featured for PierLuigi Casiraghi’s U-20 side which can’t be all that bad.

The most exciting part of these deals is that all these players are young and up and coming stars. In theory, this should mean the summer would be spent on adding veteran players to address some of the remaining holes (forward and another winger).

So all in all an eventful week. I’m tired. Back to work.

Help on the way?

Joe — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 12:12:25 +0000

It appears Pier Paolo Marino is thisclose to signing left-winger Francesco Modesto from Reggina. Marino has been burning up the phone lines in an attempt to strengthen our side for a second half push (or at least to avoid a second half collapse which I fear is well within possibility). Marino has been in Milan all week trying to appease a vocal President and an uneasy fan base by adding some quality to our starting XI.

The proposed transfer deal will cost Napoli 4.5 million euro and Modesto is set to sign a 4-year deal with the Azzurri. Negotiations went on all day yesterday before Reggina President Lillo Foti agreed to the terms late yesterday afternoon. The deal should be finalized today according to yesterday afternoon Reginna President Lillo Foti gave his approval.

Modesto will turn 26 on February 16. The left winger/fullback started his professional career in 1999 (at the age of 17) with Serie B side Cosenza. Modesto has had stops at Palermo and Ascoli before settling in at Reggio Calabria for the last 2-1/2 years. Short in stature (177cm/5’8”), Modesto makes up for his size with excellent dribbling and crossing skills. He’s found his form since coming to Reggina in August 2005 and has been a regular for the Amaranti appearing in 86 matches in his time there. He is equally effective as a midfielder due to his crossing and control of the ball.

If this works out, Napoli will have strengthened a key sore spot on the left flank as Erminio Rullo and Mirko Savini have been unable to provide much attacking prowess and provided minimal defensive cover.

In other transfer news, Ignacio Pia has been loaned out to Catania (was on loan to Treviso), Marco Capparella is still on his way out to Bari and Samuele Dalla Bona is drawing interest from Catania and Chievo Verona. I doubt Dalla Bona will go anywhere now as he’s made the most of his limited opportunities as of late and will probably feature this weekend against Cagliari as Manuele Blasi is suspended once again for this match.