Napoli warn Lucca's agent: January could bring a change

The club have sent a direct message to Beppe Riso over Lorenzo Lucca's continuing goal drought, while work with Landucci shifts to crossing and box positioning from Tuesday 29 September.

by Rosaria CimminoTuesday 29 September, 08:11 CET· 2 hours ago

Lorenzo Lucca — Foto: Original: Giova36 / Derivative work: Danyele · CC BY-SA 4.0

Napoli have warned Lorenzo Lucca's agent, Beppe Riso: "things can't continue like this." The message was direct, arriving at a moment when the striker has still not opened his goal account in Napoli colours.

The figure that weighs heaviest is the return on investment: net of what Napoli recouped from his sale in the Premier League, Lucca has cost the club €17m per goal. He arrived from Udinese on 20 September, right as the summer window was closing; since then Napoli have slipped to 9th place with 7 points from 5 games, their worst start in the last ten years.

Back to work with Landucci

From Tuesday 29 September the striker resumes work with Marco Landucci on crossing and positioning in the box, as well as on his physical condition. The fixture list offers him no excuses: in October's run of games taking in Frosinone on the 10th, Villarreal on the 13th and Bodo/Glimt on the 20th, Højlund will not be able to play every match. Lucca has been put on notice that he too will need to start matches, unless head coach Allegri opts for alternatives such as Vergara or Neres as a false nine.

In the summer, Allegri spoke of Lucca with conviction, picturing a partnership with Højlund that could rotate through the season. So far, that forecast has not been borne out on the pitch.

Those who have defended him, going back to the Conte era, argue that his imposing physical frame needs continuity to hit top form: if he plays little he cannot find rhythm, and without rhythm he struggles to perform. The international break was also used to get him back in shape, and it is from there that the club expect him to kick on.

Three months, they say at Castel Volturno (the training ground), to win everyone over. The first test comes already on Saturday 10 October, against Frosinone at the Maradona.