Napoli Leading the Race to Onboard Lecce Starlet

Napoli will have the chance to scout Tiago Gabriel from up close in Saturday’s game versus Lecce. The defender is in their crosshairs. Several teams pursued him in January already, but the Salentini managed to retain him, Corriere dello Sport informs.

Their director Pantaleo Corvino confirmed the Azzurri’s interest in an interview with Radio Kiss Kiss (via Tribuna) but added that it’s too early to tell whether the center-back would indeed move to Campania to Il Mattino.

According to Nicolò Schira (via Tuttomercaoweb), Napoli will have to fight off a few clubs to sign Tiago Gabriel. Lecce turned down a €22M from Brentford in the last window. They believe they’ll be able to sell him for €30M. Inter, Juventus, and Milan have been monitoring him as well, but the Azzurri have done it more insistently. The competition would likely come more from the Premier League. The Giallorossi sent Patrick Dorgu there with great satisfaction.

The 21-year-old cut his teeth at Estrela Amadora before heading to the Peninsula for just over a €1M in January of 2025. He became a staple six months later. The Partenopei invested in Sam Beukema last summer, but he hasn’t lived up to expectations. They’ll evaluate the offers from him. Juan Jesus has been a regular, but his contract is expiring, and the extension talks are lagging.

Our Take on Napoli and Lecce

They have been playing with a three-man defense for a long time, but a tactical change could be in order with all their top midfielders set to be available soon and Alisson Santos thriving. He’s been brilliant, but giving Antonio Conte another young player is a challenging proposition if even Beukema, who was superb at Bologna, hasn’t panned out.

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