Allan left out of Napoli squad

Amid growing speculation of Allan’s transfer to PSG, the star midfielder was left out of Napoli’s squad set to face Milan on Saturday. The move indicated to many that the Brazilian would be on his way out, however, the higher ups at Napoli were quick to dispel this notion. According to Carlo Ancelotti, the decision came down to a lack of training during the week and insisted that Allan is staying. “He didn’t train much and had a tough week” Ancelotti said during Friday’s press conference. The Napoli manager also stated that “The only thing I know is that Allan will stay… He’s an important player for us and he’ll be even more so in this second part of the season.”

Nevertheless, it still seems like a strange move to not include a key player for such a big match. Earlier this week Higuain was left out of the starting lineup in Milan’s Supercoppa loss to Juventus all but sealing his move to Chelsea. As for now it seems more likely that Allan will stay with the club at least for the rest of the season, although it may be hard to hold onto him past this summer. The emergence of players like Fabian Ruiz and Piotr Zielinski (and possibly even Diawara) puts De Laurentiis and Napoli in an enviable position of having depth in a the center of midfield where there once was none. If Allan does indeed go in the summer, Napoli should be able to withstand the loss and reinvest in younger talent.

On Saturday, Napoli will face a rejuvenated Milan side back in the top 4 and looking to earn a spot in the Champions League for the first time since 2013. Milan will also be with their new striker Krzysztof Piatek who was included in Milan’s squad although it’s unlikely that he will start. The partenopei will be back at the San Siro in just a few days for their Coppa Italia clash with Milan on Tuesday.