Napoli transfer market, open challenge with Juventus

A historical rivalry wasn’t enough. Now there’s also the tug of war which sounds like a sort of spy story about the next acquisition campaign between Napoli and Juventus. All due to the fault, or merit, or perhaps just a strange twist of circumstances unimaginable just a year ago, of the presence of two market men like Cristiano Giuntoli and Giovanni Manna. The first is now invested with the role of plenipotentiary manager of the Juventus club. Manna on the other hand, a young and emerging sporting director currently still in charge at Juve, but expected to move to Napoli shortly. The two worked hand in hand for almost a year during this season, only to inevitably raise an iron curtain. But contacts, strategies, ideas, names and hypotheses on which they discussed remain in the archives of both.

The last official act of a cold war that has been going on for months took place last Saturday at the Olimpico Grande Torino during the derbyssimo between Juric’s Granata and Allegri’s Juventus. The absence of Juventus sporting director Manna from the stands certainly did not go unnoticed and caused a lot of noise. The young and promising Cilento manager finds himself forced out of any type of strategy by the old lady. As it should be, in these cases. And it was exactly that Cristiano Giuntoli – ironically he moved from Napoli to the Juventus club last year – to clarify this during last Saturday’s derby. «We are talking to him – declared Giuntoli to whom John Elkannin a letter sent to the shareholders, recognized full powers for the reconstruction of Juve – to try to understand its path while respecting our club”. Since then there has been a deafening silence, but a lot of fire smoldering under the ashes. Manna was no longer intercepted at the Juventus headquarters at Continassa, but the agreement with Napoli does not appear to be formalized before next June.

The big maneuvers

In the meantime, the market certainly doesn’t stand idly by. And the convergence of interests of Juve and Napoli on some reinforcements already explored in the past, which also remain objectives for next season, is starting to have clearer explanations. The last in order of time however is the midfielder Guido Rodriguez (30 years old) from Betis Sevilla. The player is also attractive to many clubs due to his status as a potential free agent (he will expire in June and does not intend to renew with the Andalusian club). In addition to Naples and Juventus, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid also followed in his footsteps. There is more. In the last window of the January repair market there were the first – strong – signs of a cold war between the Azzurri and Bianconeri. Just think about Lazar Samardzic of Udinese. In fact, the Serbian talent, after an exhausting back and forth, had given his approval to the transfer to the shadow of Vesuvius. Just when everything seemed to be done and the documents were already ready, Juventus showed interest, making the player hesitate and effectively scuppering the deal. In the end, Samardzic still remained in Friuli with a thumbs up and with the hope that in June he can make the big leap to a prestigious club. Among these there is also Napoli which remains on the sidelines. Not to mention Teun Koopmeiners of Atalanta, Aurelio De Laurentiis’ authentic dream. The owner of Filmauro tried in every way to sign the 26-year-old Dutch all-rounder, only to then come up against the demands of the Goddess who asked for a sum considered monstrous for his contract (over 40 million euros, a request destined to rise after the super season of Teun). It may be a coincidence, but today Koopmeiners is the main target of Juventus who, however, also have to deal with the interest of Chelsea in the Premier League for the tulip. Also keep an eye out for a profile on which the two clubs could try false tricks. It’s about the young man Habib Diarra, just 20 springs, which he recently extended with Strasbourg (until 2028). The Franco-Senegalese is a thing for Giuntoli, but considering his age, it’s a profile that Manna also likes a lot. In short, the market hasn’t even started and the hunt is already on.

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