There are many twists and turns offered by the next challenge of Serie Ascheduled for tomorrow at the Allianz, between Juventus e Napoli: Conte’s return to Turin, Giuntoli’s challenge as an ex but also, thinking about the opposite journey, the match he will experience Giovanni Mannacurrent DS of Napoli with a past in black and white. Manna spoke in detail to the microphones of Radio CRCdwelling on the market experienced by Napoli in the summer and on his experience in black and white. These are his words reported by AreaNapoli:
De Laurentiis’ call: “For me it was definitely unexpected, in a very quiet period, so much so that I had just moved with my family to Turin. At the end of February Chiavelli and De Laurentiis contacted me: it was a great emotion, I must admit. Difficult market? Definitely a bit complicated, affected by Victor’s condition or other exits to finance our income. Thanks to the foresight of the president, we still achieved the objectives set in the construction of the squad. Some dynamics were different and we hope that the pitch will prove us right”.
Su Lukaku-Osimhen: “I’ve said it several times: Osimhen’s situation has affected us. He himself had expressed his desire to no longer play for Napoli, he really wanted to leave, but initially the conditions for the transfer were not there. At that point, however, we were missing a striker, despite the presence of Raspadori and Simeone, we needed someone with different characteristics and who could combine the coach’s needs: hence the decision to accelerate for Lukaku”.
Osimhen in Türkiye: “Was an opportunity: other markets were closed, Galatasaray approached us as soon as the Serie A summer session was over and at the beginning we weren’t very open to the idea, we didn’t want to do a loan. Speaking with the player, however, we found a solution, a satisfactory solution for everyone. It’s clear that we would have liked to sell him, but that wasn’t the case”.
Su McTominay: “He really wanted to come to Naples, and this was very satisfying: we are talking about a Manchester United player, author of 10 goals in the last Premier League. It is an operation that started a long time ago: the first contacts date back to the first days of June, when I did not think we could close, also because we had players in the squad still to be evaluated. Along the way, we continued to maintain relations, until the moment in which we sat down with United and we understood that the operation could be done, strong in the will of the boy”.
Napoli’s status: “In the recent history of Napoli, I remember great players: Osimhen, Kvara, but also Higuain, one of the greatest strikers of recent years, like other Real Madrid players who have chosen to come here. Winning the Scudetto and consolidating our path in the Champions League, perhaps, have given an even stronger image to the world. We want to improve year after year, maintaining our balance and our peculiarities. It’s nice to see people happy with certain players: we are proud of them”.
Su Gilmour: “Billy is the first midfielder we have actually dealt with and defined: it was practically done in July, then some market dynamics slowed down his purchase, because Brighton had to replace him. We have always been in contact with them and the agent, but at a certain point O’Riley got injured after four minutes, blocking everything: they asked us to move the transfer to January and we experienced a stalemate. Then the player strongly wanted to come to Naples immediately: I’m not saying he was stubborn, but he asserted, with correctness, his will with the club and the coach, and the president gave us the opportunity to do so on the last day of the transfer market. Usually, for image rights it takes a while, but we worked in advance and had everything ready to conclude”.
Turin and Naples: “They are two great and diametrically opposed realities: history and culture say so, because Turin is more aseptic, while Naples is more passionate. Juve is a reference since it trains great managers and great players, but for me Naples is not a passage: being here is a source of great pride, it is something very gratifying. The affection of the people is unique. We are focused on today and on what will happen tomorrow”.
On Juve-Napoli: “I hope to see a good match between two great teams. We come from a positive period, with victories that are the result of daily work. We face a team that is historically built to win: it’s in their DNA, always has been. They come from zero goals conceded, they have great enthusiasm and cohesion in the environment: we will find a strong opponent, who has just won, and well, with merit, in Champions League. We will have to be careful, focused, work. We know that it is a stage of the journey. Watching the Champions League from home is complicated for us: we want to live it and not see it; we are working to make this happen next year”.
The objectives: “We will have to focus on ourselves and make a run alone. Game after game, we know what our objective is and that we need time to get back to the top. We come from a complicated championship, but we have the conditions to return to the Champions League. We must not think too much, just work”.
