Sabatini: Italiano Wanted 4 Signings, Allegri Just 1

Good evening, Napoli supporters, this is Napoli Tonight for Friday 25 September.

Sandro Sabatini has the story that explains Napoli's summer. On his YouTube channel, the journalist revealed that Vincenzo Italiano asked the club for four signings before taking the head coach's job, while Massimiliano Allegri asked for only one, telling the board this squad could be managed and would need, at most, one more forward if Romelu Lukaku left. Napoli backed Allegri's cheaper reading, and the name in his plan was Gabriel Jesus, sought after Dušan Vlahović fell through over his financial demands. Instead they kept Lorenzo Lucca, signed for €35m from Udinese. Five matchdays on, Allegri is paying for that bet. Rasmus Højlund touched the ball inside the box only twice across the Genoa and Inter games, and Sabatini's own words are blunt: Allegri isn't happy with Lang, Lucca or Neres, just as it happened with Antonio Conte. Our take: choosing one reinforcement over four was never really about trusting the squad, it was about saving money, and a ninth-place start with seven points from five games is the bill coming due.

That same shortage explains this week's other moves. Napoli turned down Mauro Icardi before the window shut on Tuesday 1 September, judging the free agent striker did not fit Allegri's plans, and are now looking at Udinese's Davis for January, with Udinese valuing him at €20m, a fee Napoli see as high. Lucca's place is shakier by the week.

None of it changes what is coming on Saturday 10 October: Frosinone, sixth in the table with ten points, at the Maradona. Scott McTominay had a cardiac ablation on 9 September and Allegri hopes to have him back during the week of 28 September, while Anguissa's return is still in doubt after a muscle injury. A home win over a side below them is the minimum this fanbase will accept.

That's Napoli Tonight for tonight. Every story, in full, at arenarete dot com slash napoli slash e n. Back tomorrow evening at eight o'clock CET.