Lecce tie down Falcone to 2029, cooling Napoli's backup plan

Lecce have renewed Wladimiro Falcone's contract to 30 June 2029. The club's captain and the most-capped goalkeeper in Lecce's history, Falcone had just one year left on his previous deal, running to 2028.

Napoli had considered Falcone over the summer as a low-cost successor to Vanja Milinković-Savić, with sporting director Giovanni Manna weighing a sale of the Serbian goalkeeper to raise funds and bring in Falcone as back-up to Alex Meret at Castel Volturno (the training ground). Good relations between the clubs, and with the player's agent Fali Ramadani, had helped contacts along. Vanja stayed, and the plan was shelved until 2027 — a window Falcone's new contract now closes.

The goalkeeper question at Castel Volturno remains open regardless: Meret's contract runs out in June 2027 and he has yet to open talks on a renewal, while Manna is also tracking Frosinone's Lorenzo Palmisani, born 2004, who is also followed by Juventus.