Il Mattino says Allegri stays as Repubblica claims Napoli are for sale

The match is not the main story in the papers on Tuesday 27 October. The story is who decides, and for how long: Massimiliano Allegri's job and the future ownership of the club.

Allegri safe, but on notice

Il Mattino carries the most news. Its headline says Allegri's job is «not in the balance». Aurelio De Laurentiis is not thinking of sacking him and will carry on with him, but from now on the coach has to win.

The same paper says Allegri wants three signings, one in each part of the team, and names Bakola, Varela and Zoma. Varela plays for Monza, the very side Napoli face on Wednesday night. The window reopens on 2 January, so this is about the winter. On Lucca the accounts differ: Il Mattino itself notes that Radio Kiss Kiss is taking a different line.

For sale, or building

On the ownership, the two papers could hardly be further apart. In Repubblica, Antonio Corbo writes that Napoli are reportedly for sale, with De Laurentiis asking for around €2bn, and he is harsh about the club's transfer business.

Il Mattino describes a president making plans for the future. He is said to be meeting the Aponte family in Geneva about a 70,000-seat stadium, an MSC Arena, and not only about naming rights. The paper adds that the deal for a training centre at Qualiano is close, with the preliminary agreement expected early this week: ten pitches and a mini-stadium.

The two stories do not fully cancel each other out, since a new stadium would also raise the club's value. But they are two different readings of the same man. De Laurentiis has already given his own answer.

«Napoli are not for sale»

Anguissa and the injury list

Then there is Anguissa's new contract. He opened the scoring against Roma and his deal runs out in June 2027. TuttoMercatoWeb reports a demand that is «out of line with the market» and writes: «On these terms it is impossible». One of the few midfielders still in form is turning into a problem.

The injuries get little coverage, though the problem is a big one. Il Mattino had announced scans for Badiashile at the Pineta Grande Hospital. The result is a moderate strain of the right rectus femoris. He and Spinazzola, who has a low-grade lesion in his hamstring, will miss Monza. Di Lorenzo has a bruised knee and Rrahmani has only just returned to training with the group after flu. Badiashile is the twelfth Napoli player to be injured this season.

Our view

«Not in the balance» tells us what De Laurentiis has decided, not how Napoli play. The fanbase wants something else: a team with an identity and a defence that does not throw away a two-goal lead at home. No paper takes that on.

The sale, Geneva and Qualiano are real stories, but they are about the years ahead. On Wednesday Napoli go to Monza with a defence full of absentees and no coach on the bench, and the papers say little about that. Naming targets for January means little while nobody explains who answers for twelve injuries.