Napoli angry at ‘paradoxical’ transfer embargo, warning of possible sales

Napoli director Giovanni Manna hits out at the ‘paradoxical’ decision to impose a transfer embargo for January and ‘won’t rule anything out’ for Lorenzo Lucca or Noa Lang exits.

It kicks off at the Stadio Zini at 14.00 GMT (15.00 CET).

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from today’s four Serie A games on the Liveblog.

This has been a complicated December for the Partenopei, who looked exhausted by the on-going injury crisis when losing 1-0 to Udinese and falling off top spot in Serie A.

However, they were revitalised by the Supercoppa Italiana victory in Riyadh, beating both AC Milan and Bologna 2-0 to secure the trophy.

“It has been a wonderful year, as we won the unexpected Scudetto, then the Supercoppa. There’s no time to celebrate on success though, as we need to focus on the present,” Manna told DAZN Italia.

“There are never easy games, as you can drop points against anyone with the level so high in Serie A, as all the coaches are well-prepared. Last season we lost perhaps more at home than away, the situation has reversed this term, but overall the situation is quite balanced.”

Because of the Supercoppa Italiana commitments, the Serie A table is going to look unbalanced until the Week 16 fixtures are rescheduled in mid-January.

Along with injury absentees Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa, Romelu Lukaku, Billy Gilmour, Kevin De Bruyne and Alex Meret, Napoli left Sam Beukema and Mathias Olivera behind for this trip to Cremona.

However, the absences prompted Antonio Conte to reshuffle his tactics to a 3-4-2-1 formation that has worked wonders.

“The system change was a necessity, as we didn’t have many midfielders left, so the coach did well to stitch a new outfit tailored to the squad at his disposal. We are now a positive and forward-thinking team,” added Manna.

“We’ll see in future when the coach has more options at his disposal and what he will decide to do then.”

Napoli are one of several clubs who had a transfer embargo imposed for January, as they failed a financial stress test, so any new signings must be funded by sales first.

“It is paradoxical, because we are the club with the healthiest finances and available liquidity, so not being able to sign any new players without sales is an enormous paradox. UEFA allow you a year to make corrections and fix the situation, but in Serie A they just block you straight away.”

Considering their struggles to make an impact, what are the odds on Lucca and Lang leaving Napoli in January?

“Players have to prove themselves on the field every single day, to earn their place in the Napoli jersey. We already said that Lorenzo Lucca is a player we wanted, but clearly he must give more and there is limited space because Hojlund settled in so well and is proving himself. Lucca must show that he is ready,” concluded Manna.

“When it comes to January, we’ll see what happens, we won’t rule anything out. We’ll try to concentrate on picking up as many points as possible, then we’ll see.”