UCL Faith Instrumental to Shape Napoli Strategy

The outcome of the last game of the UEFA Champions League group phase will be pivotal to determining the final moves by Napoli in what’s left of the January window. Should they beat Chelsea and go through, they’ll accelerate the plans to add a couple more pieces, Alfredo Pedullà reports.

The Partenopei are eyeing a right fullback in addition to a left winger. They have reignited their pursuit of Juanlu Sanchez, who was close to them during the summer. Sevilla had shown some interest in Lorenzo Lucca before he chose Nottingham Forest. The two clubs continued talking about the Spaniard afterward. He has recorded 2 assists in 20 appearances this campaign.

Napoli have also set sights on Emil Holm, who has been alternating with newcomer Nadir Zortea on the flank at Bologna. He had a fiery start and scored once and dished out five helpers thus far, but his competitor has been coming on strong. The Felsinei paid €8M to nab him from Spezia in 2024.

As for the attack, the Azzurri are insisting for Alisson Santos. Sporting CP opened the door to a loan a few days ago, but they are on the fence about the formula now. While he’s not a fixture, he’s a precious super-sub.

Our Take on Napoli

They need more depth in a pair of roles regardless of what occurs in the UCL. Bowing out would save them some bucks on the market, but it wouldn’t offset the loss in prize money and especially prestige. It already looks bad, but exiting so early in this format would be way worse than all the previous collapses by Antonio Conte’s teams in Europe.