Joe Fischetti

On Saturday, Kalidou Koulibaly made his English Premier League debut for Chelsea FC. The central defender played 75 minutes in the 1-0 victory, before leaving the match with what appeared to be a cramp. In his post-match interview with Chelsea TV, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel praised the defender's performance and attributed the injury to a lack of fitness. "Very happy, verry happy. Kouli simply showed his quality, his experience and his courage and today struggled physically. Raheem (Sterling) played the whole match, looked very sharp until it got a bit too tough for him, also physically. He came late, like…

SSC Napoli and RCD Espanyol played to a scoreless draw in Napoli’s final friendly at Castel di Sangro, though the match was anything but friendly. The Spanish club was often late with their challenges, particularly in the dying minutes of the first half. In the 44th minute, after shepherding the ball out for a throw-in, Victor Osimhen collided with a substitute Espanyol player warming up nearly the touch line. A scrum between players of both clubs promptly ensued. Moments later, both Stanislav Lobotka and Hirving Lozano were caught by late tackles in quick succession. The tackles caught the attention of…

On Saturday, SSC Napoli unveiled the club’s third kit for the 2022/24 campaign ahead of their final friendly of the summer. The shirt, which will be warn against Espanyol on Saturday, is aqua blue and, contrary to what has been rumoured, the Lete sponsor on the front of the shirt is red. https://twitter.com/sscnapoli/status/1555819187532169221?s=21&t=UQNI_h91YNy7u7znl6FLyw A model inspired by the suggestive natural beauty, characterized by a degradé pixel design that recalls the sea at night illuminated by the moon. The shirt is signed EA7 Emporio Armani. New styles, new textures, new colors to dress SSC Napoli players The new shirt is available for…

On Friday, SSC Napoli announced a new partnership with MatchWornShirt, a company who specializes is selling match-worn and autographed football shirts. As noted by Napoli's Chief International Development Partner, Tommaso Bianchini, this partnership is the latest in a series of partnerships intended to improve international fan engagement. https://twitter.com/sscnapoli/status/1555495382976798720?s=20&t=Ic9vnWaxxCVeRe7XO5k_Yg We are pleased to welcome MatchWornShirt within our network of international partners. Through this innovative digital platform we will allow our fans from all over the world to be able to collect the jerseys worn by our players during official matches. After the restyling of the new official website we have planned…

On Friday, Corriere della Sera published a long interview with SSC Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti. The interview covered a wide range of topics, including what the city of Napoli and Spalletti have in common, his relationship with Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis and, inevitably, Francesco Totti. Spalletti also addressed the departure of Dries Mertens. "Let's clarify: it wasn't me, it wasn't the club that didn't want him with us. Mertens could have given us a great hand. But the company made him an offer and he didn't accept. I keep myself out of these dynamics, and that's right" A player…

Napoli Mayor, Gaetano Manfredi, has elected to grant long-time Napoli player Dries Mertens honourary citizenship. Manfredi made the announcement after a City Council meeting on Friday. https://twitter.com/GaeManfredi/status/1555488228496531456?s=20&t=MN-lYhafJeSgtrKrtQguKw "I have had a lot of solicitations both from City Council and from many citizens, all struck by Mertens' bond with the city, also testified by his decision to keep his house in Napoli. We will start the process of honourary citizenship because it seems to me not only appropriate but also a recognition to one of our fellow citizens who has given so much from a sporting point of view and also…

Matteo Politano walked off the pitch in the 20th minute of Napoli’s friendly against Girona FC, clutching his left calf. On Wednesday, SSC Napoli confirmed that Politano suffered a calf strain, but did not indicate the severity of the injury. A Grade 1 calf strain, the least severe of the three classifications of calf strains, takes approximately two weeks to recover from. That would rule Politano out for Napoli’s final summer friendly against RCD Espanyol on Saturday. The injury could also keep Politano out of Napoli’s opening match of the 2022/23 campaign against Hellas Verona on Monday, August 15.