Adali: Italiano's agent told us a Napoli deal was closing

The story concerns the heaviest call Napoli made this summer: the head coach's job. Besiktas president Serdal Adali has described how Vincenzo Italiano ended up in Istanbul, and the account starts in Naples.

At our first meeting with Italiano's agent, they told us they were closing with Napoli.

The timeline leaves little room for doubt. Once the Italiano move fell through on Napoli's side, Besiktas closed their own deal within forty-eight hours — a sign that agent Onder Hosa had already been working a parallel track. Adali thanked Aurelio De Laurentiis publicly, as if Napoli's step back had unwittingly unlocked the move for his club.

What Napoli chose instead

We know how it ended up at Napoli: the job went to Massimiliano Allegri, confirmed on 3 July 2026 on a contract to 2029, replacing Antonio Conte, who had left at the end of the season. Italiano, a coach De Laurentiis has rated since his Spezia days, was evidently further into talks than had previously emerged.

In Istanbul the fit was immediate: Besiktas supporters have already dedicated a chant to Italiano, sung to the tune of Toto Cotugno's "L'Italiano".

A question that won't go away

The story lands at the worst possible moment to read it calmly. Napoli are ninth with 7 points after five matchdays, Allegri has come under fire for the team's approach, and on Thursday 17 September De Laurentiis ruled out any change of coach — despite not having watched a single match live this season. Knowing a concrete alternative existed, and slipped away within days, doesn't change the table, but it feeds a question many are already asking: was the project the club defends so firmly really the only one available, or just the one it chose?

This isn't a trial of what was decided in summer, but a detail that carries weight whenever results confirm the doubts. Napoli are writing the real answer match by match; the next chance to test it comes on 10 October, after the international break, against Frosinone.