Napoli's board wants Allegri to finish fourth and progress in Europe

The owners have reportedly set two fixed targets for Massimiliano Allegri's tenure: stabilising the club in the Champions League places and taking a step forward in Europe. The mandate lands as Napoli endure their worst start in a decade.

by Gennaro SanninoFriday 2 October, 22:24 CET· 1 hour ago

Massimiliano Allegri — Foto: Original: Quirinale / Derivative work: Danyele · Attribution

Not the Scudetto, but fourth place in Serie A and concrete progress in the Champions League. Those are said to be the two targets the owners have set for Massimiliano Allegri, the head coach who arrived on 3 July on a contract to 30 June 2029, replacing Antonio Conte after last season's second-place finish.

The context for this mandate is not an easy one. Napoli are ninth in Serie A with 7 points from five games (2 wins, 1 draw, 2 defeats, 7 goals for and 6 against), some way off the pace set by Roma, Inter and Lazio, who lead on 13 points, with Cagliari on 12. In the Champions League, Napoli opened with a 0-1 home defeat to Arsenal; the club are 25th in the UEFA ranking.

The problem the board reportedly wants the new coaching setup to address is not a lack of ambition but squad-building: among the starting XI, Napoli are said to have the highest average age after Inter. Hence the idea of structural renewal and quality additions, planned across several seasons rather than a single transfer window.

Nine games before the next break

Between the restart and the next international break, Napoli play six league matches and three in the Champions League — the block in which they are expected to close the gap on the teams above them and make a step forward in Europe. It starts on Saturday 10 October at 20:45 CET at the Maradona against Frosinone, followed by a Champions League trip to Villarreal on 13 October, a league game away to Venezia, and a home match against Bodø/Glimt on 20 October.

Allegri is said to be seen as the least responsible for the current situation: he reportedly inherited pre-existing problems, and his task is said to be managing a rebuilding process, not winning immediately. The summer window closed with a net spend of around -€47.5m: a move for Vlahović was dropped over cost, a deal for Gabriel Jesus fell through, talks over Icardi did not conclude, and the club ultimately turned to Lorenzo Lucca, signed from Udinese.

What remains to be seen is how far a stated horizon of fourth place can hold in a fanbase that has won two Serie A titles in the last three seasons, and which treated last season's 76 points and second place as a disappointment rather than an achievement. Asking for patience and multi-year planning in a climate already marked by protests against De Laurentiis is a bet that will be judged match by match, starting Saturday against Frosinone.