Mercato Madness: Armero Whining, Mesto Extended, El Kaddouri Loaned To Torino

While there's been no "big" news related to Napoli since Maxime Gonalons went and turned in to a prat, there have been a few smaller bits of news worth mentioning. With that in mind, let's take a few minutes and fill you in on what's been going on.

Pablo Armero has apparently gotten it in to his head that Rafa Benitez hates him, telling La Gazzetta Dello Sport that "Benitez never liked me and I don’t know why," and adding that he "expected at least a phone call from the Napoli directors while I was at the World Cup." Obviously one never came as Napoli agreed to a deal that saw Udinese buy back the partenopei's share of his ownership rights.

Now, Rafa does have a history of playing favorites. It happens with most any manager. The thing Armero seems to fail to realize is that he was miserably bad for Napoli in the first half of this past season, and was somehow worse when he was on loan at West Ham. Football Italia has called him a "sensation" at the World Cup, but the truth is that outside of his goal in Colombia's opener, he's been the same error-prone, largely-absent Armero that Napoli fans have all come to know and loathe.

That makes his statement that he thinks the likes of AC Milan, Juventus, and Inter Milan could "all use a player like [him]" all the more hilarious. He's so utterly tone-deaf when it comes to his shortcomings that of course he thinks that he should play for three of the better teams in Italy after failing at another, because why not? It's not his fault, after all, at least not in his mind.

In more productive and useful news, Omar El Kaddouri will indeed be returning to Torino on loan, with the Turin side seeking to keep their squad depth and quality as high as they can manage as they participate in the Europa League next season. It was reported when Napoli bought back his full rights out of co-ownership that it was likely that the Moroccan international would be heading back on loan, and sure enough that's exactly what has happened.

El Kaddouri played a big role for Torino last season, appearing in 30 matches in a mix of starts and impactful sub appearances, bagging five goals and eight assists in the process. With Ciro Immobile off to Borussia Dortmund, it's likely that his role will expand, especially with the additional games that Torino will be playing next season.

It's been reported that his loan deal includes an option for a permanent transfer, which makes sense. El Kaddouri looks like a good player, but for a club that wants to be as good as Napoli seems to be targeting, there might not be much of a place for him in the the long run. If he can find consistent success at Torino, staying there might be the better thing for him in the long run.

As mentioned the other day, Giandomenico Mesto was handed a one-year extension of his current deal, an act that was greatly appreciated by both he and his agent.

"We’re talking about a one-year contract and it pleases me that it has been finalised," Moreno Roggi said in an interview with Radio CRC. "It shows that the club have faith in the boy. Mesto is very happy, he is in great shape despite his long period out."

Roggi also hinted that Napoli are far from done in the transfer market and are satisfied with how things are shaping up so far. He mentioned that the World Cup has created an "interim phase" while clubs, players, and agents are waiting to see how things shake out, and that Napoli are doing "what they've planned" and have a number of things that they're working on behind the scenes.

So, there we have it. That catches you up on everything you need to know (except for another blatant attempt by James Rodriguez' agent to use Napoli as negotiation leverage, but that's too heartbreaking to talk about), and hopefully will serve to set the stage for more activity for Napoli in the coming days. With Gonalons joining Javier Mascherano in the "out of the picture" crowd, expect to see Napoli linked with more holding mids in the next few days. Sandro of Tottenham Hotspur in the EPL was a popular rumor a month or so ago, so we'll probably start seeing his and Alex Song's names quite a few times in the coming days.