Lobotka stays until June as Napoli weigh De Bruyne, Anguissa and Neres sales

Lobotka is going nowhere. The Slovak's future looks settled: he stays at Napoli at least until the end of the season, and the question will be reopened in June.

The January window, on the other hand, is shaping up as a market of swaps rather than spending. On 6 November De Laurentiis spent an hour at Castel Volturno (the training ground) with Allegri and Manna, and afterwards he promised reinforcements. But the club has no intention of spending wild sums, and it will have to sell before it can buy.

The problem is that the two departures most talked about, Lucca and Lang, will not bring in real money. Lucca has scored no goals this season, and his exit has been described as concrete since his row with De Bruyne in Porto. After his recent poor seasons, no buyer is willing to invest in him.

Lang cost Napoli €25m plus bonuses from PSV in summer 2025, but a significant fee looks unlikely. €15-20m could be enough, and Ajax, Galatasaray, Atalanta and Genoa are all interested.

Three big names on the table

To get incoming deals moving, Napoli would need at least three more sales of some importance. The names are De Bruyne, Anguissa and Neres.

Anguissa's contract expires on 30 June 2027. He has not renewed, and from January he is free to agree terms with another club. On the pitch he looks like a shadow of the player he once was, but he remains a valuable midfielder and several clubs like him. Manna is already following Bakola, Sassuolo's 2007-born midfielder, as a possible successor.

De Bruyne is the highest-paid player in the squad, on almost €13m gross, with a contract until 2027. San Diego have stepped up their contacts to sign him in January, and at the right price Napoli would not stand in the way.

Neres is a different case. He adds something the squad lacks, but his career has been dogged by injuries. The latest is to his semimembranosus, a hamstring muscle, and he is due back for the Torino game. The plan is to rely on Vergara and Politano on that flank, with Giovane as the alternative.

Replacing, not reinforcing

One thing needs saying plainly. If De Laurentiis's promised reinforcements are to be paid for by selling the most gifted player in the squad, the first-choice midfielder of four seasons and the most unpredictable winger, then this is not strengthening the squad. It is swapping it out.

And the two players the club really wants to sell will not fetch much because they were bought badly. That is not the fault of the supporters who whistle. It is the fault of whoever built this team. The summer window brought Badiashile and Favasuli, and the striker Allegri asked for never arrived.

Then there are the numbers that do not add up. In midfield the priority is still Coulibaly, and Monaco want €50m for him. For Varela, Napoli are offering €15-18m plus bonuses against the roughly €20m Monza are asking. The 25-man squad list registered with the league is full, and a place has to be freed up to re-register Buongiorno in January. With these fees and these constraints, sales are not an option. They are the condition for doing anything at all.

Napoli are tenth on 15 points, 9 behind fourth place, the stated target, and have equalled the lowest tally of the De Laurentiis era after 11 matchdays. The window reopens on Saturday 2 January. Before that, Torino visit the Maradona on Saturday 21 November at 20:45 CET (19:45 UK, 14:45 ET). De Bruyne, Anguissa and Neres risk playing as strangers in their own home, while Lobotka stays but still cannot help.