towards the farewell at the end of the year

Exactly one year ago, in these times, returning home had a special flavor for Alex Meret. The 27-year-old goalkeeper, originally from Udine, was preparing to celebrate his first scudetto as a protagonist with Spalletti’s Napoli right in front of his relatives and loved ones. Where he had grown up, in short. In fact, Napoli, having gone to Friuli to face the hosts Udinese, needed only one point to obtain the arithmetic certainty of sewing the scudetto on their chest after a triumphal ride that had literally left a void behind them. No sooner said than done. It was May 4, 2023 when the match director, Rosario Abisso, blew the final whistle on the result of 1-1 and the celebration exploded. For Meret, a double joy in the stadium where he made his professional debut with the black and white shirt at just 18 years old (starter in the Italian cup in the 3-1 win over Atalanta on 2 December 2015). On Monday evening, the Napoli goalkeeper returns to the old Friuli again, but this time the mood and the rankings are very different. Both on a collective and personal level.

In fact, Napoli is at the epilogue of a season that is nothing short of a failure and which risks seeing them out of even qualifying for Europe (after 14 years in a row). All with the scudetto on his chest… And for the goalkeeper this championship could also be his last with the blue shirt after seven years in the shadow of Vesuvius. Aurelio De Laurentiis’ club has exercised the unilateral option of automatic renewal of his contract (which expired next June), but this is certainly not a guarantee of continuation of his adventure in blue. On the contrary. Rather it is a policy for DeLa not to lose the player on a free transfer. Apparently, the club is focusing on the young man Elia Caprile – owned by Napoli – sent to gain experience at Empoli this year in the top flight and coming off a convincing season. Yes we will see. Certainly on Monday evening at the Blueenergy Stadium the atmosphere will be completely different compared to last year. For Meret and for all of Napoli…

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