Selling De Bruyne in January would make Napoli pay twice for the summer

Napoli are tenth with 15 points from 11 games. That matches the worst start of the De Laurentiis era, and it leaves the team 9 points off fourth place. Every day brings another name said to be on the way out: De Bruyne to PSV, De Bruyne to San Diego, Anguissa, Neres, Lang, Lucca.

Start with De Bruyne

De Bruyne is the best player in the squad. His contract runs to 30 June 2027 and he costs almost €13m gross. We have already said the accounts could gain from a sale: he arrived on a free, so every euro received in January would be pure profit on the books.

On the pitch the sums look different. Lobotka is out with a left ankle injury until mid-December. Anguissa is heading towards the end of his contract, and a new deal looks difficult. If the Belgian goes too, who runs the midfield in the second half of the season? If the club really is willing to sell him on the right terms, it needs his replacement lined up before it takes the money.

The 2022 precedent cuts both ways

Those who want a hard line point to the nerve De Laurentiis has shown before. In a single summer he let Koulibaly, Mertens, Insigne, Fabian Ruiz and Ospina go. Ospina recently announced his retirement after 103 appearances for Napoli. The following season, Spalletti won the scudetto (the Serie A title).

But that precedent also says something else. It was a summer rebuild, with all the time needed to put a team back together properly. In mid-season new signings have no time to settle, and the games come every three days.

Targeted sales make sense

January calls for targeted changes, and some sales are sensible. Lang is the clearest case. Napoli paid PSV €25m plus bonuses for him, and €15-20m may now be enough. His falling-out with the Curva (the hardcore end behind the goal) after the Lazio game has sped up the club's thinking. Lucca's exit, after his row with De Bruyne in Porto, is described as a real possibility. Then there is Anguissa, who can agree terms with another club from January. Selling him now is the only way to avoid losing him for nothing.

The problem is that neither Lucca nor Lang has much of a market. Paying for winter signings would take at least three more significant sales, and that is where the reports start reaching the regular starters. The squad list registered with the league is also full: a place will have to be freed to bring Buongiorno back after his meniscus surgery.

Who answers for the squad

If dismantling is on the table now, it is because the squad was not built in the summer. Badiashile and Favasuli arrived. The striker Allegri asked for did not, and the one that got away is Gabriel Jesus. On 6 November at Castel Volturno (the training ground), De Laurentiis kept Allegri in his job and promised reinforcements in January. The verdict on the clubs' accounts is expected on 30 November.

Reinforcing is not the same as tearing the team up. A mid-season overhaul would mean admitting the summer was wrong from top to bottom, and paying for it twice: first with tenth place, then with more months lost waiting for new players to settle. The people who built this squad, the club and sporting director Giovanni Manna, need to say clearly what they plan to do before the reports say it for them.

The pitch comes first

Before January, there are games to play. Torino visit the Maradona on Saturday 21 November at 20:45 CET (19:45 UK, 14:45 ET), Napoli's first home game since the supporters' protest on 8 November. Three days later comes Manchester City at the Etihad, then Sassuolo at the Mapei Stadium on 29 November.

We will judge the transfer window in February. The team will be judged from 21 November.