Napoli considering pair of Udinese goalkeepers

One of the most common themes of the summer so far for Napoli has been their search for a new goalkeeper. Pepe Reina is still in the team and still virtually locked-on to be the starting goalkeeper, but between his age and some lingering tension between he and Aurelio De Laurentiis, Napoli need to find a goalkeeper of the future. If current rumors are to be believed, they may not have found that future goalkeeper just yet, but they may be on the verge of getting a solid veteran to serve as a backup in the meantime.

That goalkeeper is Udinese’s Orestis Karnezis, who has fallen out of favor with an Udinese team that’s trying to go young with Simone Scuffet in goal. Udinese want to bring in Luigi Sepe to serve as Scuffet’s backup, and reportedly the Zebrette are willing to exchange the two out-of-favor goalkeepers in a straight swap.

Karnezis wouldn’t be the long-term, high-upside goalkeeper that Napoli fans want, but he could be a solid backup for whoever that goalkeeper winds up being — which could be another Udinese player in Alex Meret, an up-and-coming 20 year old goalkeeper who was the best netminder in Serie B last season as he starred for newly-promoted SPAL on loan. Napoli are reportedly considering signing him for somewhere around €25 million and loaning him back to SPAL for a season while Pepe Reina’s contract runs out, then using the Karnezis-Meret duo in the following season.

Meret has a nice high upside for Napoli fans to get excited about, and while Karnezis is older at 32, he can be a solid squad player for them in the meantime. The pair would represent a good solution for Napoli, and that’s certainly something worth considering and hoping to come true.