Naples, what a headache: for every resurgent De Bruyne, there’s an injured Favasuli

The international break won’t just bring back a Kevin De Bruyne galvanized by his performances with Belgium. Napoli must also deal with the injury to Costantino Favasuli, who was forced to cut short his stint with the Under-21 team and return to Castel Volturno. Tests revealed a second-degree strain of the rectus femoris muscle in his right thigh. Favasuli will begin rehabilitation immediately, but his recovery will take time: it will take more than a month, likely around 40 days. Massimiliano Allegri will therefore have to do without the player for the next nine matches across the league and the Champions League. The goal is to have him back after the mid-November break.

Meanwhile, De Bruyne himself went into the break in top form: the Belgian led the Red Devils to a decisive 3-0 victory over Turkey, scoring a brace with a powerful right-footed shot in the 10th minute and a splendid curling finish into the top corner in the 59th minute. A performance that confirms the Napoli midfielder is in a very different form compared to what he’s shown in the Azzurri jersey in recent weeks.

Favasuli’s absence weighs particularly heavily given the role the young fullback plays in Napoli’s tactical setup. Having arrived in the summer from Catanzaro on a loan with an obligation to buy, the 2004-born player had been identified by the club as the future of the right flank—so much so that he effectively pushed Pasquale Mazzocchi out of the squad, who was then loaned to Venezia before the summer transfer window closed.

With Favasuli sidelined for over a month, Allegri now finds himself having to manage an emergency on the right flank at a particularly delicate moment in the season. The Livorno-born coach will have to find alternative solutions to cover that flank while awaiting the return of the young fullback, who, in the club’s plans, represents one of the pillars of the Neapolitan defense for years to come.