Football Season Guide

After unexpectedly clinching their 4th Scudetto in 2024/2025, Napoli were expected to repeat themselves last season as they looked superior to all opponents but things went differently. To be fair, their campaign started almost perfectly, with 4 wins out of the initial 5 games, but it soon became clear that they were fragile when traveling and would be able to lose to almost any opponents far from home. Still, they made the top of the Serie A occasionally, until week 10. Then, they fell to 3rd place but triumphed in the Super Cup at the end of December. In the new year, they would keep on chalking up winning streaks but they only reached second place again at the beginning of May and would maintain it until the end, finishing 11 points below the leaders, Inter. On second thought, they should be happy with the way things went, considering that the squad were plagued by injuries all over the campaign and coach Conte at times had to make miracles fielding a competitive XI. Tired of having to struggle to make ends meet, Antonio Conte decided to put an end to his love story with Napoli and the management replaced him with another charismatic gaffer, Massimiliano Allegri, coming off a very disappointing experience at Milan. Last season, goalie Meret lost his starting status with Milinkovic-Savic earning the shirt number 1: the latter was thus signed permanently while the former could be leaving. Napoli were solid defensively but some players, Buongiorno, underperformed and so they are looking for a centre-back, also considering that Juan Jesus was let go. A right-back could also be required, since Di Lorenzo turned into a centre-back himself most of last season. The midfield, which was their key strength, remained untouched over the summer. In the attack, they acquired Hojlund permanently, as he proved fundamental at some point last season, while Lukaku is about to quit the club. Thus, they may need a new striker to replace him, unless Lucca is given a new chance.