Mercato Rumours: Borriello, Floccari, Bocchetti, Amelia, Grosso

By: Neil | March 25th, 2009

With a new manager in place and the Society likely to resume its project, it could prompt De Laurentiis to re-open his wallet in the summer. Furthermore, Donadoni’s fame and stature could bring in some big name players who just could not get excited about playing under Reja.

To start I want to talk about Salvatore Bochetti. The Napoli native played for Frosinone last season in Serie B and was even linked with a move to his hometown club. Why this move never took place I don’t know. It would have been a perfect match for both teams – Napoli eventually signed Aronica who plays an identical role. And big surprise – Bocchetti wants to play in a Napoli jersey. There must have been something preventing the move, and now not only does Bocchetti belong to Genoa but his price has gone up big time since he earned a spot in Lippi’s squad.

The Borriello situation has also been well documented recently. Donadoni is a big fan of Borriello and the player is far from first choice at Milan. In the summer, Napoli could make a push to sign Borriello to address the need for a target man.

That’s only if they don’t sign Floccari. Atalanta’s d.g., Carlo Osti, believes Floccari would be the perfect foil for Lavezzi. Napoli and Atalanta already co-own Gyorgy Garics, so there could be a move that sees cash plus Garics become Atalanta property with the Calabrese striker going the other way.

Another player Don has his sights on is his fomer Livorno keeper Marco Amelia. Italy’s number two has been inconsistent for Palermo and they are considering looking for another option for long term goaltending. The rumoured swap has Christian Maggio being sent to Palermo in exchange for Amelia. I wouldn’t mind this move. I like Maggio but he forgets the defensive part of his role too often. I think he was a defender for Samp, and when he moved to Napoli it was understood he’d be a wingback, in between the defence and midfield. But he sometimes plays as a winger and gets caught out of position. Donadoni also knows how to get the best out of Amelia, who can replace the aging Iezzo.

Finally, Napoli is also interested in Olympique Lyon’s Fabio Grosso. If Grosso does return to Italy, he could play regularly for almost any of the top teams. It would be great if Napoli was on his list of potential clubs.

Actually there’s still more. Quagliarella, Cigarini, and D’Agostino have all been mentioned as possible Napoli targets. Plus Lazio’s Stefano Mauri is facing an expiring contract and wants to play for Napoli. His agent claims Napoli have inquired about him, but as you can tell Napoli have been talking about adding a lot of very talented players and some of these inquiries are no more than a passing interest.

Check out the mercato section of www.solonapoli.com for all the stories about transfer rumours. Some of the links I tried to include wouldn’t work.

So how many new players could join Napoli over the summer? I have absolutely no idea. It all depends on the global economy, and how much of his personal fortune DeLa wants to invest in his beloved SSC Napoli. I will say this much though: DeLa is very very smart with his money, and Napoli should be financially stable for a long time. This doesn’t necessarily mean lots of cash will be spent. But if there is a spending spree, it probably won’t come at the cost of long term security.

Before signing off I want to talk about the Donadoni effect. Don wasn’t my first choice – I would have picked Conte or Ferrara – but the more I think about the more I like Donadoni. Why? Simply because he’s built up relationships with some of Italy’s best players. Even for players who haven’t played for Italy the name Roberto Donadoni is one they can instantly respect. The sad truth is that Donadoni can continue making the same mistakes as Reja – witness bringing in Montervino in the Reggina game, and the lousy 91st minute substitution against Milan – but they players will respond better because Don reached a certain level as a player and then as a manager with the Nazionale. When players like Quagliarella and Amelia are deciding where to play, the manager’s resume will dictate a lot of their choice. I think for a lot of Napoli targets Reja was very questionable – it took him a very long time to reach Serie A, and that might have made lots of players look elsewhere. With Donadoni his reputation and his personality precedes him wherever he goes in the world of calcio. That alone is worth the price of any tactical errors.

Next up: preview for the Sampdoria game. This one could be more difficult than Milan, as Samp have a number of players – Cassano, Pazzini, Palombo – at the top of their game. Plus it’s at the Marassi, where Napoli haven’t won in three games against Genoa and Samp in the last couple of seasons.