Napoli knocks on Cagliari’s door

Napoli is starting to move the first pawns in view of building its attack for the 2026-27 season: one of the names that ended up on sporting director Giovanni Manna’s notebook is that of Sebastiano Esposito, the protagonist of a growing season at Cagliari. The class 2002 striker is currently on loan to the Rossoblù from Inter, with a buy-back obligation set at 4 million plus 40 percent on future resale, subject to the achievement of specific sporting conditions. A detail that makes the operation more articulated, but not impossible, especially if the Sardinian club were to actually complete the acquisition outright.

Reporting the hypothesis of a forthcoming offer by Napoli is ‘La Repubblica,’ according to which the Parthenopean club would be very close to permanently give up Romelu Lukaku, who is on the verge of breaking with the club, replacing him with a young, ductile profile with room for growth, who could serve as an alternative to Rasmus Hojlund in case of need.

The name of Esposito, in particular, intrigues for value for money, age and tactical adaptability. His season in Sardinia showed signs of maturity, continuity and a good incisiveness in the last sixteen meters. Napoli is watching and evaluating, but has every intention of knocking on Cagliari’s door should the Rossoblù actually be obliged to redeem the player from Inter.

In the meantime, the club currently second in the standings is also working on the exits: Lorenzo Lucca will return from his dry loan to Nottingham Forest, but for him there is unlikely to be space after his effective rejection this winter. Also in the balance is Brazilian Giovane, who since his arrival in the winter from Hellas Verona has yet to score and has struggled to carve out important spaces in Antonio Conte’s rotation.