Transfer Rumours and Lavezzi Update

By: Neil | April 29th, 2009

Here is a list of names that Napoli is tracking. Note that some of them are very old. Sergio Floccari, Marco Borriello, Luca Cigarini, Cristian Ledesma, Roberto Acquafresca, Edgar Barreto, Nikola Kalinic, and Daniele Galloppa. Napoli players tracked by other clubs include the two usual suspects, Lavezzi and Hamsik, plus Matteo Contini. Who is following Contini? Answer after the jump.

Contini is being scouted by Roma, as potential cover for Phillipe Mexes. Given that Contini is not a complete defender, and has had consistency problems this season, I wouldn’t mind seeing him go to Roma. He’s 30 years old, so hopefully we can still get a good chunk of cash for him.

The Floccari deal, according to President De Laurentiis, is off. DeLa claims that the player doesn’t want Napoli, and this could mean a couple of things. First, Napoli isn’t his first choice. Floccari had admitted he wants to join Genoa, presumably to fill in for Diego Milito if he leaves. Second, DeLa won’t pay for players who view playing for Napoli as a consolation prize. I like this kind of bargaining. Why pay top dollar for players who are only at Napoli because their other plans never materialized? Napoli are also looking at midfieldeer Luca Cigarini. Defender Gyorgy Garics could be used as a part exchange, similar to the alleged Floccari deal.

With Floccari out of the picture – for now, at least – Napoli are looking at other strikers including Roberto Acquafresca and Hajduk Split’s Ivan Kalinic. I would love to get Acquafresca. He’s a quick player with a good shot, and could probably play any number of attacking roles. However, Inter is his probable destination for next season. The Nerazzurri have already said they will be recalling him from his loan at Cagliari, and it will take a lot of negotiating between Napoli, Cagliari, and Inter to change that.

Croatia coach Slaven Bilic has called the 21 year old Kalinic the future of Croatian football. Napoli has been following him since last summer, but instead of Kalinic the club signed German Denis. Kalinic has scored a ton at every level for both club and country – he has lots of experience in the Croatia youth setup – and apparently a number of European clubs, including Palermo, have been scouting him.

The Borriello story is old, so I won’t repeat anything just now. The Galloppa rumours are old too, but with Napoli in Siena this weekend the story was bound to come up again.

Napoli is also after Lazio’s Cristian Ledesma. Going the other way in part exchange would be Mariano Bogliacino. The last couple of seasons Bogliacino has mostly been used as a backup for Hamsik, and he has struggled this season after suffering a major injury in the Intertoto Cup in July. Even though I like his style of play, he’s very expendable and probably needs a fresh start somewhere else. I haven’t watched Lazio as much as other Serie A teams, so I don’t know too much about Ledesma. The former Boca Juniors player has been in Italy since 2001 and has lots of Serie A experience.

Another new rumour is Reggina’s Paraguayan midfielder Edgar Barreto. The former teammate of Napoli’s Salvatore Aronica will almost certainly be sold if Reggina is relegated, and many clubs are lining up to get him at a cut price deal. Barreto has a silver medal as he was a member of the 2004 Paraguay Olympic team that lost the gold medal match to Argentina.

As usual there is the ongoing soap opera involving Lavezzi and Hamsik. Lavezzi strained a thigh muscle in the Inter game and should probably be shut down for the rest of the season. He’ll miss at least two to three weeks, giving other fowards a chance to show their quality. There are also the usual reports that he is unsettled in Napoli, and that he wants to play in Spain’s La Liga.

Hamsik is also a player in demand. From the feedback in the comments, many fans wouldn’t mind selling Hamsik to free up some money for other players. I have to respectfully disagree. Hamsik won the best young player in Italy award last year, and I don’t think those kinds of players should be sold. If someone offered stupid money, I would say take it, but since Hamsik’s form has declined this year I don’t think anyone is going to do that. Yes, he’s going through a rough moment, but form is temporary and class is permanent.

That’s all for now. Next up is a Siena preview, and although it’s meaningless as far as the standings go I’m hoping Napoli can end their winless streak on the road now that it’s been done at home.