First Ngonge and then Dendoncker. The first to try to give the Azzurri attack some verve, the second to further raise the banks in the midfield. The two new faces at Napoli made their debut yesterday in the blue shirt in the match at the Olimpico against Lazio. And they didn’t disfigure at all. Anzio. Cyril Ngonge he showed up with some incursions that forced the home team to use strong tactics and also took the free kick from the edge of the area which Zielinski narrowly failed to turn into gold. Leander Dendoncker he took the Pole’s place and respected Mazzarri’s instructions. The Belgian positioned himself in the crucial area, taking the place of an exhausted Demme (who was also booked) by screening in front of the defense and also trying to lend a hand on the restart. Although the insertions themselves are not among the best pieces of his repertoire, the former Aston Villa player almost had a hand in a dangerous counterattack by the Italian champions. He will have time to integrate into Mazzarri’s mechanisms and this Napoli team that continues to be in the running for a place in the top four, which would mean qualification for the next edition of the Champions League. Putting minutes into the engine will be fundamental for the Belgian who has chosen the blue jersey to relaunch himself and also dream of a place in the Belgium squad in view of the next match at the European Championship which will be played this summer. Convincing in Naples to convince at home, in short.
INSIGHTS
In short, the debut of Napoli’s two new signings from the January transfer market was not displeasing. Of course, there is still a lot to work on and a lot to study on the part of the two, as well as Traorè who wasn’t even on the bench yesterday (the Ivorian must recover his best physical condition after being stopped in the pits also due to the malaria). The presence of Ngonge can be more than a valid alternative to Politano in the role of right winger of the Azzurri attack. Not only. The former Verona player (who yesterday replaced Raspadori in the new 3-5-1-1 designed by Mazzarri) has shown that he can also adapt to pitches other than the tracks of the right lane. The Belgian striker acted centrally, showing interesting shots, a good touch of the ball and a decent physical condition. After all, until a few weeks ago, Ngonge was an immovable point of reference for Hellas. Yesterday he played and scored for salvation. Today he will have to do it for a place in the Champions League. Separate chapter for Dendoncker. The midfielder could be useful to the cause when there is a need to raise the banks in midfield. At the moment, in fact, Anguissa is untouchable in that role (the Cameroonian was eliminated in the Africa Cup of Nations by Osimhen’s Nigeria and on Tuesday he will be back in Castel Volturno to resume preparation in view of the home match against Verona next Sunday Maradona).
So far there are four new arrivals at Napoli from the January transfer window which will close its doors on Wednesday evening. To these should also be added Nehuen Perez of Udinese. The 23-year-old Argentine defender reached an agreement with Napoli some time ago (a 1.6 million euro contract is ready on the slopes of Vesuvius). If Ostigard doesn’t free up a place on the over list, he could be an obstacle to Perez’s arrival. On the Norwegian side – among the best yesterday – there are Genoa and Turin. Napoli would instead prefer that the destination was Udine for obvious reasons (technical counterpart). We will see.