Benfica's €25m buy-back clause blocks Napoli's path to Varela

De Laurentiis had already set his price for Gustavo Varela: €20m. There is another figure attached to the striker, though, and it is higher and already signed: €25m.

Napoli saw him up close on Wednesday evening. At the U-Power Stadium, Varela scored Monza's 43rd-minute equaliser for 1-1, set up by Robinson. In the second half Politano, Marín and De Bruyne scored to make it 1-4.

Varela was born in 2005, he is Serie A's top scorer and plenty of clubs have noticed. Benfica hold the clause, Ajax and PSV are following him, and half of Serie A is watching. Napoli have a close relationship with Monza's directors and could try to use it as early as January. But the clause belongs to Benfica, and good relations with Monza do not make it go away.

Almost €90m already spent

This is where it matters for Napoli. In the summer the club spent almost €90m on Lucca and Højlund, €35m of it on the centre-forward signed from Udinese. On Wednesday Lucca stayed on the bench for the whole match, and the club is ready to let him go in January, probably on loan. Højlund scored again at Monza, but before that he had not scored since Saturday 5 September.

The board may not want to put more serious money into the attack. The awkward question has to be asked: if the €35m centre-forward is already a possible departure after two months, is the problem the name of the next striker, or the way the forward line was built? That question is for the man who builds the squad, Giovanni Manna.

Then there are the squad lists, which in effect force Napoli to look for younger players such as Varela or Cacciamani. For Cacciamani, Torino's winger born in 2007, Torino are asking at least €45m. The two young players who would fix the lists already cost as much as established ones: one more than the €25m buy-back, the other almost double that. That is not money you spend on a player you plan to develop slowly, and the fanbase would like to see it spent on clearer criteria than in the summer.

The defence comes first

The defence is the real talking point among supporters. Napoli have conceded 11 goals in nine matches, and on Wednesday a Monza side with 35% of the ball had 12 shots, 5 on target. Buongiorno has had meniscus surgery and will be back in January, while Badiashile and Spinazzola are out with muscle injuries.

Varela is a striker worth following, and Napoli got a good look at him. But if there is only one major signing to make in January, in our view it should be at the back, not up front.

The transfer window reopens on Saturday 2 January. Before then comes Juventus-Napoli on Sunday 1 November at 20:45 CET (19:45 UK, 14:45 ET) at the Allianz Stadium, with Landucci still in charge and Napoli on 14 points, six behind fourth-placed Como.

In Turin, what matters is beating Juventus, not thinking about Varela.