Napoli open to letting Lucca leave on loan in January

Lorenzo Lucca can leave Napoli in January. The club is open to letting the striker go in the winter window, and a loan is the most likely route.

One number explains the story: €35m. That is what Lucca cost, and by the end of October Napoli are considering loaning him out for six months.

He never won the trust of the bench, either under Antonio Conte or under Massimiliano Allegri. In recent weeks his position has become clearer. After the Villarreal and Venezia games, the coach changed his pecking order in attack. Giovane moved ahead as Højlund's understudy, and Lucca dropped to third choice.

This is not the first time Lucca's name has come up in a mid-season window. Last winter Nottingham Forest showed interest, and offers are expected again. In recent days Torino have been mentioned again too, with a possible swap involving Casadei. Nothing has been agreed.

A verdict on the people who built the squad

This raises a question nobody at Castel Volturno (the training ground) wants to hear. If a €35m striker ends up behind Giovane and becomes a loan candidate, the blame is not only his. Nor is it only the coach's for leaving him out. It also lies with the people who chose him and paid for him.

Giovanni Manna has spent more than €300m in transfer fees across five windows, and Lucca is part of that €300m. Loaning him out puts the problem off until the summer without solving it. In the meantime, the club will still have a player whose value nobody has raised.

There is also a footballing problem, and it is happening now. Napoli are ninth with 10 points from seven games, nine behind Inter, and they cannot score. Højlund has not scored since Saturday 5 September, and at Venezia Napoli had 29 shots without a goal. At a time like this, the club is preparing to lose a striker.

You can accept that Lucca is not the answer, and so far the facts back that up. But then the question is who comes in to replace him, because in January the squad cannot simply lose a forward. The situation has become more awkward since the argument at Venezia, where some fans clashed with the player's family in the stands.

Until January Lucca is still a Napoli player, and the window is closed. On Saturday 24 October at 18:00 CET (17:00 UK, 12:00 ET), Roma visit the Maradona. They are third with 17 points. The club has made this game Allegri's second test. If Lucca gets minutes against Roma, we will learn whether the coach still sees him as an option or already as a player on his way out.