Romelu out for three weeks and market with zero balance. The former Udinese player now has the opportunity to shine
It is fate, unbeatable, that chooses the wrong time to complicate your life: in the summer it all happened on the 14th of August, one of the worst dates because in theory everything is at a standstill and the market has left only the very last opportunities on the “banks”. However, by reshaping one’s strategies and digging into one’s wallet, when Lukaku broke down it even became simple to get to Hojlund. A nice package of pounds and the fear passed. This time the story is similar and yet different, because just the day before yesterday it was understood that Lukaku will not be able to return – not before at least three weeks, if not worse – and Napoli, in reality, cannot be given any extra room, he would have spent without parsimony in the summer, and also including 35 million for Lucca in that generosity pact. The “jewels”, those of football, sometimes do not shine (and the heritage is evaporating), and after five months Lorenzo Lucca has turned into an unknown: but for those who have to defend a scudetto, chase a Champions League qualification and also try in the Italian Cup, there is no middle ground and if there is it does not lead to glory.
the facts
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In reality, Conte now only has Hojlund as a first striker; Lucca were only allowed 41 minutes in the last nine games, half a game in total, but broken up here and there, so as if they knew nothing was happening. And the statistics, in cases of this kind, are not commented on, a bit like the sentences, but they are accepted: Lucca would have been rejected in considerations of normality, in reality it was postponed, with the hope that a spark will strike capable of igniting it, because money must still be respected.
money
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Lucca is in a complex situation, contractually: Napoli formally bought him on loan, paid him 9 million, and in July they will buy him out by turning over another 26 million to Udinese. Then there is the zero-balance transfer market: to bring in another centre-forward, this six-foot-three giant must necessarily leave, lightening the balance of his two million euro salary, the maximum sum that can possibly be guaranteed to the replacement. In this simply perverse mechanism, it is not easy to find a striker to exchange with Lucca: the Dovbyk hypothesis floats between perplexity and vagueness of prospects and the candidacy of selling the center forward to West Ham was supported in recent weeks but yesterday it disintegrated with the possibility that Castellanos arrives in the Premier League. Essential detours.
interrogative
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But something must (should) happen in the short term, because Napoli will put nine games together and lined up one after the other until February 1st, a slice or a slice will be played for the scudetto and also the qualification for the Champions League: Hojlund is a kind of modern-day workaholic, having missed out on the last thirteen (including cups) matches. And thinking of leaving it alone out front in this tour de force means putting it at risk of wear. The only one who has shown that he knows how to play a center forward, over time, has been David Neres, false new for a few nights but reworked as second striker behind the Dane: the danger of finding himself with an unexpectedly short team is perceived, especially in Castel Volturno, where they had budgeted for a midfielder and then diverted to a striker, possibly a central one, because there is no shortage of wingers. Lukaku is ill, Lucca isn’t doing very well: what shouldn’t you invent to try to enjoy the best of life!
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