Napoli Wins the Scudetto, But What Does It Mean for Their Future?
From rags to riches and back to rags.
Saturday afternoon, Italian champions SSC Napoli drew 2–2 against their Emiliani opponents Bologna FC in the penultimate matchday of the Serie A. Star-striker and Capocannoniere leader Victor Osimhen tallied his 24th and 25th goals of the season, though Bologna launched a late comeback to seal one point for the hosts. Even if it might seem like a big point for the 11th placed Emilia-Romagna side, the game was ultimately meaningless for both sides.
Post-game, Bologna finds itself mid-table, twenty points away from relegation and almost ten points away from European competition qualification with only one match (a possible 3 points) left in the season. Meanwhile, Napoli topped the standings and won the Scudetto five games ago, and since they were eliminated from the Champions League, the rest of the games became almost exhibition; a victory tour, per sé.
And while teams like Bologna might already be focused on the next season of play, Napoli faces a major predicament: namely, the summer transfer window.
After losing most of the star players last summer, like Kalidou Koulibaly and Lorenzo Insigne, the Napoli directors pulled off a masterclass of a transfer season, scouting young talents like Giacomo Raspadori, Kim Min-Jae and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia from smaller teams and stealing underrated depth like ex-Tottenham legend Tanguy Ndombele and Verona wonderboy Giovanni Simeone. With the revival of André-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Piotr Zielinski, and the world-class Victor Osimhen, Napoli had themself an all-star squad out of nothing. And when they won the Scudetto, big clubs from around Europe sprinted to get the first slice of the glorious Neapolitan pizza-pie.
It begs the question: will Napoli even have a squad next year?
Reports have suggested that star-centerback Kim Min-Jae is already on his way to Manchester United, while starting goalkeeper Alex Meret is primed to leave for Tottenham Hotspur. Midfielder Stanislav Lobotka is wanted by Real Madrid (and Madrid always gets their way) just as Hirving Lozano plans on leaving for Spain or England. And, of course, Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia are wanted by practically every team on the planet.
There is still hope for Napoli fans, though: Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis is working on a contract to keep Osimhen with the team for the 2023/24 season, perhaps for a Champions League run. And defender Amir Rrahmani just signed a contract with the team for the next four years. Best of all, the summer window has not even opened yet- Napoli is bound to make a big splash in the market.
So after 30 years of waiting for this Scudetto, will Napoli have to wait another 30 for the next? If the club is able to produce in the transfer market as well as they did last summer, then their next trophy is probably closer than it may seem… but in the end, only time will tell.
As for now, Napoli fans don’t seem too worried about the future.
