Sports
Napoli chief Manna on Supercoppa, fresh Mainoo and Raspadori report
Napoli director Giovanni Manna and coach Antonio Conte
Napoli director of sport Giovanni Manna shrugs off Kobbie Mainoo and Giacomo Raspadori updates, assuring they are ‘doing very well’ ahead of the Supercoppa with AC Milan.
The first EA Sports FC Super Cup semi-final kicks off in Riyadh at 19.00 GMT.
The Supercoppa Italiana Final Four format means tonight a winner is decided after 90 minutes or on a penalty shoot-out, without requiring extra time.
Whoever wins this goes on to face either Bologna or Inter in the Final on Monday.
Manna on Napoli issues
There are quite a few changes in the Napoli side going into this game, with the usual absentee list of Kevin De Bruyne, Alex Meret, Billy Gilmour and Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa.
At least Romelu Lukaku is back on the bench for the first time since tearing a muscle during a pre-season friendly in August.
“We are so happy Lukaku is back in the squad, but he is not yet in a condition to play. He has character, we’ll see how he improves over the next few weeks, and then we’ll see,” Manna told Sport Mediaset.
There were reports today from Sky Sports UK that Manchester United have no intention of letting Kobbie Mainoo go on loan in January, and will only accept an ‘exceptional’ offer to sell. With that in mind, are Napoli still confident they can sign the midfielder?
“I always said we must reflect on the January transfer window, as there are important players out and sooner or later they will return. So we’ll wait and see what happens over the next few weeks,” responded Manna with a shrug.
There are also numerous reports that Giacomo Raspadori will return to Serie A for Roma, just six months after leaving Napoli for Atletico Madrid. Would that surprise Manna?
“He is a player who gave a lot to Napoli, Napoli gave a lot to him, he made a choice and we supported him in it. Personally, I don’t think he will leave Atletico Madrid. Personally.”
The Partenopei have a rough atmosphere in the build-up to this match, as they lost back-to-back fixtures against Benfica in the Champions League and Udinese in Serie A.
Antonio Conte had lashed out in the media last time they had these setbacks, so is the situation calmer on this occasion?
“We never had internal problems, I don’t feel Conte ever sparked controversy, he was just sounding the alarm. We had two defeats after a spell where we had a series of victories in head-to-head clashes, so with the squad a little limited in options and so many big games, some fatigue is physiologically inevitable,” assured Manna.
“The team is doing very well, we are confident in what we are doing and what the coach is doing.”
