CONTE'S TARGET: NAPOLI PUSHES HARD FOR TOTTENHAM STAR DEJAN KULUSEVSKI
Amid injuries to De Bruyne and Anguissa's AFCON trip, Napoli is targeting Spurs' flexible midfielder Kulusevski, who is valued for his 55 goal contributions.
Area Napoli, an Italian news source, says that Napoli is interested in Dejan Kulusevski. The Serie A champs want to add a flexible midfielder to their team next year, and the 25-year-old Tottenham Hotspur player is now on their radar.
Antonio Conte is pushing Napoli to make this happen, and he really wants to bring Kulusevski to their stadium. Still, he won't be able to make the move in January because Tottenham Hotspur won't agree to let Kulusevski leave during the winter.
How well has Dejan Kulusevski played?
Since joining Tottenham Hotspur from Juventus, Dejan Kulusevski has become a reliable player in the Premier League. The North London team first got the 25-year-old on loan in January 2022 and then made the move permanent 18 months later for £25 million.
The Swedish player has played almost 150 games for Tottenham Hotspur, scoring 25 goals and making 30 assists. But Kulusevski hasn't played this season because of a knee injury. Despite this, his hard work at Tottenham Hotspur has caught the eye of many clubs, including Napoli.
Will Conte and Kulusevski reunite?
Napoli's interest in Dejan Kulusevski makes sense. The Serie A champs are looking for a flexible midfielder as the winter transfer window approaches, since Kevin De Bruyne is dealing with an injury. Also, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa will soon be going to Morocco for the African Cup of Nations.
So, Napoli needs to find a midfielder, and some options, like Kobbie Mainoo, have appeared on their list. But Kulusevski is also a good choice for Tottenham, and Antonio Conte sees the 25-year-old Swede as his top pick.
Conte coached Kulusevski when they were both at Tottenham, so he knows what the player is good at. But Tottenham won't allow the Swedish player to leave in the winter, so Napoli will have to look somewhere else.
LUCIANO SPALLETTI OFFICIALLY EXTENDS JUVENTUS TENURE UNTIL 2028 AFTER IMPRESSIVE INTERIM SPELL
Juventus coach Spalletti extends his contract until 2028. Get the latest on the Serie A top-four race and match news.
Juventus coach Luciano Spalletti just signed a new two-year deal with the club, capping off a promising six months at the helm.
He broke the news to his players first, right before Friday’s training session. Not long after, Juventus posted a video of Spalletti sharing the update. “I wanted you to hear it from me before anyone else,” he told the squad. “We’ve decided to extend my contract by another two years. I wanted to tell you before the news got out. Honestly, the road ahead looks tough, but I’m convinced we’ll tackle it together. With your character and your fight, we can turn every challenge into something bigger.”
Spalletti took charge back in October, stepping in after Juventus sacked Igor Tudor. Tudor’s departure came after three straight losses and a long, frustrating stretch without a win. At the time, Juventus handed Spalletti an eight-month contract. The word was, he'd get an automatic two-year extension if the team qualified for the Champions League.
Right now, Juventus sits just outside the Champions League spots, one point back from fourth-place Como, with seven games left in the season.
“When I joined seven months ago, the club gave me this short contract,” Spalletti explained. “The idea was simple: let’s give it some time, get to know each other, then decide at the end of the season if we want to keep going.”
Back then, Juventus sat in seventh place, fighting just to stay in Europe. In the Champions League, they were already scrambling to avoid elimination.
Things have improved since Spalletti took over. Juventus has picked up 17 wins, six losses, and eight draws in 31 matches. They managed to push through to the Champions League playoffs, though Galatasaray knocked them out.
Club CEO Damien Comolli praised Spalletti’s impact. “Since joining us, Luciano’s made a real difference on the pitch, around the club, and among our fans,” Comolli said. “He’s exactly the kind of leader we need. His ambitious football matches what we all expect from Juventus, and he stands for what our club’s all about. So, we want to keep going with him. We believe stability and continuity are key to reaching our goals.”
Juventus hasn’t lifted the Serie A trophy since 2020, when they wrapped up a run of nine straight titles.
Before arriving in Turin, Spalletti led Napoli to the Serie A title in 2023, then took charge of Italy’s national team. That stint didn’t go well; he lost his job last June after a shaky start in World Cup qualifying. Now, he’s got another shot to lead a powerhouse club.
NAPOLI LEAPFROG AC MILAN INTO SECOND PLACE WITH VITAL 1-0 SAN SIRO VICTORY
Napoli beat AC Milan 1-0 to move into second place. Discover how Politano and McTominay are chasing Inter for the title.
Napoli snatched a late 1-0 win over AC Milan at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, keeping their hopes for a second straight Serie A title very much alive. Scott McTominay played the entire match, and with Napoli sitting third before kickoff, their victory bumped them ahead of Milan into second place, just seven points behind Inter. That gap was a daunting 11 points a mere three weeks ago, but Napoli's five-game winning streak, combined with Inter dropping points, has changed the picture fast. With seven matches left, McTominay and the team aren’t giving up on defending their scudetto.
Early in the game, McTominay nearly had Napoli fans holding their breath when he tried a bicycle kick, a move that’s become one of his signatures. This time, though, he couldn't duplicate his Hampden magic from last November against Denmark. The ball skipped wide.
The game felt tense and looked to be heading for a draw until the 79th minute. That’s when Napoli broke through with a quick attack down the left. McTominay didn’t get the goal, but his movement from a Mathias Olivera cross caused chaos in the Milan box. Matteo Politano, coming on as a sub, pounced at the far post and put in a tidy left-footed finish.
Billy Gilmour, McTominay’s Scotland teammate, didn’t get on the pitch. He’d started in three of his last four Serie A appearances, but this time watched from the bench.
Napoli’s next game takes them away to Parma, who sit in 13th. Inter travelled to play Como later that same day. Talking about the title race, manager Antonio Conte said, “Scudetto? It's tough. Inter is really strong and is having an incredible season. We can’t slip up; we need them to make mistakes, and not just once. Honestly, we have to be realistic… Inter deserves to lead. Still, we’ve won the Supercoppa and sit second. We should be pretty happy. With all our injuries and problems, this season could easily have gone off the rails.”
Around the rest of Serie A, Lennon Miller, who didn’t see action for Scotland over the international break, came off the bench for Udinese in the 65th minute of their scoreless draw with Como. On Sunday, Lewis Ferguson saw red for the first time in Italy after picking up two yellows in thirty seconds late in Bologna’s 2-1 win at Cremonese. Che Adams found the net for Torino in their 1-0 victory over Pisa.
