For most Napoli supporters, the new season cannot come quickly enough. And while competitive action may well have gotten underway on Wednesday evening as Napoli faced Nice in the 1st leg of their Champions League play-off, the journey towards the main prize begins in earnest on Saturday evening with a trip to newly promoted Hellas Verona.

 

The summer mercato is historically a nervy time for Napoli supporters as our best players are linked with moves away from the San Paolo, but Aurelio De Laurentiis has had a steely determination about him this summer, thus ensuring that our best players remain in Naples.

 

Two of Napoli’s crown jewels last season, Lorenzo Insigne and Dries Mertens, have signed new long term deals with the former signing on until 2022 with no release clause, another huge move by De Laurentiis who is often insistent that one be included in any of his players’ renewal. The lack of such a clause is fantastic news for supporters, because it means any potential sale cannot be dictated by a super-rich club simply activating it, giving more power to both Napoli and Lorenzo himself. 

 

And while certain English tabloids continue to peddle the rumour that Liverpool will move for Insigne should Coutinho get his way and force a move to Barcelona, the simple fact is that Lorenzo Insigne is not for sale and the player himself has reiterated time and again that he wishes to see out his career in Naples. In fact, none of the Napoli players are for sale, and it all comes down to the much talked about and very real ‘Scudetto pact’ that this group of players forged late last season.

 

After going out of the Champions League at the hands of eventual winners Real Madrid, Napoli went unbeaten for the remainder of their domestic season, finishing in style and breaking numerous records for points gained and goals scored. In fact, while the club finished 3rd in Serie A, most supporters felt the season went better than the one before it. We sensed a growth, a maturity about the team. You could call it a coming of age.

 

Higuain leaving was considered a hammer blow, and the injury to Milik hardly helped calm the nerves but the simple fact is that these events combined to help create a better Napoli, a stronger Napoli, a more together Napoli. While many say Sarri’s maiden season and the 36 goals scored by Higuain were fantastic viewing, they simply pale in comparison to the attacking football on display last season; Napoli were the only side in Europe to finish the campaign with four players in double figures for goals as Insigne, Mertens, Callejon, and Hamsik scored 72 Serie A goals between them (86 in all competitions).

 

And while some may mock that finishing lower in the league than the previous season isn’t success, you had to be there, you had to live it, you had to experience it. After the Real Madrid tie there was a clear and tangible shift in Napoli’s mentality, there was a sudden belief that they could go to any ground in the country, play their game, impose their style on the opposition, and get a result. Many label Napoli as ‘bottlers’ but that tag is one which should be well on it’s way to being eradicated in the coming season, if not already, if you look at the way Napoli dealt with their fixtures post Madrid; 9 wins, 2 draws, scoring 32 times and conceding only 9.

 

And it’s that which De Laurentiis wanted to retain and take into the new campaign. You can throw all the money you want at a football team but at the end of the day new signings are a risk and take time to gel, whereas Napoli will look to hit the ground running when they start away to newly promoted Hellas Verona on Saturday night. It’s about using that momentum, putting faith in that togetherness and bond which this squad clearly has, believing that this team can kick on exactly where it left off against Sampdoria back on May 28th.

 

Dare I say it, Juventus are the model for which Napoli should look to build their success on. Juventus have a steely mentality about them, part of which comes from the experience of being champions, but part of which is down to sheer self belief and a winning mentality. 

 

While I feel Napoli have a far better bonded dressing room than Juventus (see the Bonucci debacle and constant tales about Cardiff), how often do Juventus simply get the job done? Napoli play very attractive football, arguably the best in Italy, but it’s not always going to win games. There will come a time in the season, more than once, where Napoli will have to do what Juventus; win dirty.

 

Of course, frailties from last season remain, namely in the goalkeeping department where Pepe Reina will retain his place. Napoli had briefly shown interest in Real Sociedad keeper Geronimo Rulli, but with no deal to be had, faith was placed in Reina but that may be no bad thing.

 

Yes, Reina can be culpable of the odd howler, get beaten near post or concede a soft goal and I absolutely hear the side of the argument which states any Scudetto winning side starts with a solid goalkeeper (case in point, Gigi Buffon), however you have to take each case on merit and there’s far more than Reina’s goalkeeping abilities to consider going into the new campaign. Reina is a huge influence in the dressing room, his character raises morale and he’s adored by his team-mates, which is a part of the game far too many people overlook. In fact, many attest that Reina is the epicentre of Napoli’s incredible squad morale.

 

Football isn’t a perfect machine with identical cogs that are interchangeable, you can’t simply swap out old for new and expect immediate results. Would Rulli have been a better goalkeeper for Napoli than Pepe Reina? Most likely. Would Rulli have been better for the Napoli dressing room than Pepe Reina? Most likely not.

 

It’s been a wise move by the club to retain the exact same squad as last season, and Reina is an integral part of that because of what he brings to the team off the pitch. Had Napoli replaced Reina there is every chance that certain players’ morale would have dropped, in turn affecting the balance and harmony of the squad. Retaining that ‘pact’, encapsulating the morale from last season and using it as a positive in the new campaign is what Napoli are all about this season.

 

Napoli have never been better positioned to win the Scudetto. There have been no high profile departures or season ending injuries like the one sustained by Milik to deal with, and as such the club have a clean run at the new season.

 

Only Bordeaux winger Adam Ounas and Roma stand-in full back Mario Rui have joined the ranks as the club look to offload the likes of Strinic, Giaccherini, and Pavoletti and should Champions League group stage qualification be gained next week, there may well be a further name added to the squad, but the simple fact is that we don’t really need it.

 

How you gauge a clubs mercato is all down to perspective. Some prefer to focus on the total sum of money spent while others like to count the numbers in and out the revolving door. For me, the mercato was always about retaining our best, harnessing that momentum, and most importantly - utilising it.

 

Money spent retaining your best can, and in Napoli’s case will be, better than money spent elsewhere. Money can’t buy harmony, it can’t buy togetherness, and it can’t buy morale; these are things that in football happen organically. 

 

If Napoli can start season 2017/18 as they ended 2016/17, and if they show the same consistency as they did after losing to Real Madrid, then these Napoli players could very easily take their places alongside Diego Maradona next summer as Napoli legends.

 

And the best part? The players all know it too.




James McGhie (@jrmcghie)