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Previewing the transfer deadline for Napoli, AKA the craziest day of the year

The summer transfer deadline is upon us. How involved Napoli will be today is certainly up for debate, but it's always a crazy day worth watching.

"One defender, please. That's all I ask."
"One defender, please. That's all I ask."
Gabriele Maltinti

The big day is here. No, it's not a match day. That already happened. No, today is Deadline Day. The summer transfer window is coming to a close, and this day is a nutty one every single year. With rumors flying, cash flying, players flying, and coffee flying, today is guaranteed to entertain. Or is it fly? Both? Eh, moving on.

Napoli's business for the window is probably about wrapped up, but on a day where things always go a little crazy, you can never count out something happening. Napoli have been linked with an absolutely massive host of players all summer long, but few rumors have panned out in a meaningful way, and fewer still have materialized in to signings. Now with the last day upon us, Napoli will hopefully find the means for one or two last bits of reinforcement.

Before we get too far along, let's first look at what the club has done so far:

IN: CB Kalidou Koulibaly, Genk; MF/FW Michu, Swansea City (loan); MF Jonathan De Guzman, Villareal; MF David Lopez, Espanyol

OUT: CB Federico Fernandez, Swansea City; MF Valon Behrami, Hamburg; MF Blerim Dzemaili, Galatasaray; FW Goran Pandev; FW Eduardo Vargas, QPR (loan); CB Alessandro Gamberini, Chievo Verona; MF Omar El Kaddouri, Torino (loan); CB Paolo Cannavaro, Sassuolo

There's only one real surprise in the "out" list, that being Federico Fernandez, who had arguably been Napoli's best defender in the stretch run of last season. Still, on a whole this is a stronger squad than it was a year ago, and they could be poised to do big things in the league if things "click" even a little bit better than we've seen of late.

There are still needs, though, such as a seemingly dire requirement for better quality along the back line. Both a center back to better back up and rotate with Koulibaly and Raul Albiol (who has been dire in the first three matches), as well as a right back to potentially replace Christian Maggio (who has been worse than Albiol!) would be lovely if it can be managed. It won't be easy and funds will be limited now that Napoli have crashed out of the Champions League, but it can be done if the right players are available.

Around the rest of Italy, Roma seem to be done but Juventus can never be counted out to make a move or two at the deadline just because. Inter Milan seem more focused on offloading Fredy Guarin than on bringing anyone else in (especially after Saphir Taider came back early from his loan to essentially replace Guarin for free), and AC Milan need help... well, everywhere, but especially up front in the wake of the departure of Mario Balotelli. Fiorentina are probably not going to do much, though might bring in a midfielder if the right deal comes along.

The big mover and shaker we could see today in Italy, though, is Torino. They still have only reinvested a portion of what they got in the sale of Ciro Immobile, and now have a big chunk of change from selling Alessio Cerci to Atletico Madrid to play with. They could be in for a few new players today, and it could be a whole lot of fun to see what shakes out there.

Buckle up, percolate your coffee, and get ready boys and girls. This is going to be a long (and fun) day.