Napoli, from Garnacho, the first target for post-Kvara to Okafor: there is a disturbing precedent with Rafa Benitez
Napoli, da Garnacho a… Okafor: quel precedente inquietante con Benitez – SerieAnews
Napoli-Okafor deal, the Azzurri management is working with Milan to close the deal with the club on the basis of a loan with a right of redemption set at 25 million euros. These are the very latest from the halls of the soccer market, just hours before the gong that will officially close the session.
In short, not exactly the news that fans were expecting, not least because it seems blatant that it is difficult for the Azzurri club to achieve its goals. Antonio Conte, in a press conference, had been clear: Kvara is gone and not replaced. And it was also blatant yesterday, in the match against Roma, when perhaps an outside player with leg and technique could have put the Giallorossi team in greater difficulty.
A new twist in Napoli’s market, just when the purchase of Allan Saint-Maximin via Fenerbahce seemed to be on the home stretch: and instead the Frenchman in today’s day got decisively complicated, with unresolved bureaucratic issues blowing up the deal.
And so, with Milan busy squeezing in on Joao Felix, Napoli knocked on the doors of the Rossoneri by closing in on Okafor, on his way out of Milanello. The Swiss striker, moreover, was virtually Leipzig’s last January 14: the deal then fell through because he did not pass medical examinations.
Okafor al Napoli: sfumati tutti i precedenti obiettivi
And so, in a crackling January-especially in news-Napoli closes the session with Noah Okafor as Kvaratskhelia’s replacement. We certainly do not doubt the qualities of the Swiss footballer but we can certainly assert how he is not the first choice indicated by Antonio Conte to his management.
Okafor al Napoli: sfumati tutti i precedenti obiettivi (Ansa Foto) – SerieAnews
As is well known, in fact, the Salento coach would have liked Alejandro Garnacho, a Manchester United starlet. The 2004-born Argentine would have been a suitable reinforcement for Napoli, a worthy response to Kvara’s farewell. And instead Manna, after days and weeks of negotiations, ran into the wall erected by the Red Devils, who first demanded 70 million, then 60 million for the player.
Also dashed, then, was Plan B, Adeyemi of Borussia Dortmund. In this case, after agreement in principle with the German club it was the player who declined the offer, preferring to end the season in the Bundesliga and then fly to the Premier League next season.
Weeks were spent focusing on these two targets without managing to close them, with Napoli slowly starting to sift through other candidates as well, from plan C to plan D to scrolling through all the letters of the alphabet. And so there were thoughts of Chiesa on loan – but he wants to stay at Liverpool – but also Zhegrova (Lille shot 50 million) and even Bologna’s Ndoye, armored by the Felsinei.
Garnacho-Okafor come Mascherano-David Lopez: la storia che preoccupa i tifosi
In short, a myriad of names dealt with or simply probed only to veer on the last day of the market, a few hours before the gong, to Okafor, probably the last on the list. An epilogue that to the most attentive will have reminded the “Mascherano case.” Remember? There was Benitez on the bench, the Spaniard was the proponent of a lavish buying campaign with the millions from the sale of Cavani (Albiol, Callejon and Higuain arrived, just to name the best known) but everything ran aground on the name of “El Jefecito.”
Garnacho-Okafor come Mascherano-David Lopez: la storia che preoccupa i tifosi (Ansa Foto) – SerieAnews
Don Rafa asked to sign the Argentine at the time a Liverpool midfielder, but after weeks of negotiations Napoli acquired David Lopez, not exactly Mascherano’s alter ego. A move that inevitably marked the first cracks in the relationship between De Laurentiis and Benitez, with the separation at the end of the season and the coach’s transfer to Real Madrid.
Conte surely will not have liked this market choice of Napoli and may have cashed the first disappointment since his arrival in the Azzurri. We know Conte’s history with the clubs very well: and the Azzurri fans already fear frictions that could lead the coach to say goodbye to Naples. Now that would be a disaster.
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