From war with Osimhen to #GarciaOut: Napoli hit by an earthquake, LITERALLY

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 27 Sept 2023 18:38 BST
• 5 min read

On Tuesday evening a 4.2 magnitude earthquake hit Naples. Thankfully, no one was hurt and there appears to be no major damage.

It was fitting that such an event should take place right now because, on a footballing level, there has been one seismic shock after another at Napoli this season.

It started in the close season when coach Luciano Spalletti left the club soon after leading Napoli to a historic first Scudetto in 33 years.

READ MORE: Osimhen threatens to sue Napoli

Spalletti didn’t leave Napoli on the best of terms - and the Partenopei even threatened to sue when the boss succeeded Roberto Mancini as coach of Italy in August.

Weeks after Spalletti exited, Napoli sporting director left also to join Juventus.

Napoli lost two giants who had built and developed a truly special team that had enchanted all of Europe last season.

Giuntoli had signed a host of hidden gems at a pittance who, under Spalletti’s tutelage, developed into top-class players. These include Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Kim-Min Jae, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Stanislav Lobotka.

To make matters worse, Napoli then lost Kim to Bayern Munich as the Germans paid his €50 million release clause. Kim was the best defender in Serie A last season and, to some, the best centre back in Europe.

Napoli made a complete mess of replacing these three pillars.

Spalletti was bizarrely succeeded by Rudi Garcia, a coach who most recently had been sacked by Al Nassr.

Giuntoli was replaced by Mauro Meluso, a sporting director who had been out of work for two years and had only been in charge of provincial clubs - most recently Spezia.

As for Kim, he was replaced by Brazilian rookie Natan from Red Bull Bragantino.

Napoli’s transfer market was largely non-existent with the only other signings being Reims’ Jens Cajuste and Eintracht Frankfurt’s Jesper Lindstrom.

Napoli struggling in 2023-24

So far this season, Napoli have been a shadow of the amazing, free-flowing, goal-crazy team of 2022-23.

They are already seven points behind league leaders Inter after just five games.

They have gone three games without a win - and Garcia is being pilloried by the media.

The identity, patterns of play and cohesion that was so impressive under Spalletti has already disappeared.

Napoli look bereft of ideas, lack any kind of fluency or spirit, and are struggling badly from both a collective and individual point of view.

There are already reports that Garcia has lost the dressing room. In the last two games, star players Kvaratskhelia and Osimhen have both shown dissent after being substituted. Osimhen mouthed off at Garcia in the 0-0 draw at Bologna and later had to apologise.

Garcia appears out of his depth, and Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis is said to be already considering replacing him with former PSG coach Christophe Galtier.

De Laurentiis hasn’t helped matters off the pitch. He is refusing to give Kvaratskhelia a new contract despite the Georgian earning just a paltry €1m a year. This has undoubtedly played a part in his poor form, having not scored since March.

The power and success appears to have gone to De Laurentiis’ head, who has made one bad decision after another in the last months.

Amidst all the chaos off the pitch, Napoli were then hit by another football earthquake.

Osimhen missed a penalty that would have given Napoli a 1-0 win over Bologna.

Inexplicably he was mocked for the miss on Napoli’s own official TikTok account. The video was later deleted but has infuriated Osimhen.

Osimhen’s agent Roberto Calenda has threatened legal action, while the player himself has since deleted most of his Napoli pictures on his Instagram account.

The player’s future will now be in doubt as contract renewal talks to extend his deal that expires in 2025 were already making little progress.

From the ecstasy of winning a first Scudetto since Maradona as recently as May, no one could have predicted Napoli to self-destruct so quickly.