Napoli could shore up next year’s squad with some current loanees who have proven their worth elsewhere and could get another shot in Campania, lessening the need for reinforcements and containing the summer spending.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Rafa Marin has the most chances of staying put despite his situation. He has been a pillar for Villarreal, which are third in La Liga, totaling 28 appearances across all competitions. The Spanish club has a €15M option to buy, but the defender has to sign off on it. He seems more tempted to play with the Azzurri. He was part of the Scudetto-winning squad last season but didn’t play a lot. He’s matured during his time in his home country.
Napoli will also welcome back Noa Lang, who had a seesawing relationship with Antonio Conte but was fine in his lone stretch as a regular. He left in January because he asked for consistent playing time. He’s been okay with Galatasaray, but they’d have to pay €30M to keep him permanently.
Lorenzo Lucca and Luca Marianucci will also head back after spending time at Nottingham Forest and Torino. Neither has had too much luck after leaving temporarily. The striker isn’t in the Partenopei’s plans, but they must redeem him from Udinese for over €30M. Instead, the center-back could stay to round out their defense.
It’d be a bonus if any of them proved to be an adequate contributor, but it’ll be interesting to see whether it’ll take a coaching change for them to be considered for the future, as Conte is quite rigid with his evaluations.
