Wading Through the Swamps of Rumors

There's already been minor activity in the winter transfer window, but what hasn't been minor are the heaping slops of transfer rumors flying around. The various outlets and individuals (insert BOOM! here*) that deal in such things have been operating at full flow, and Napoli has not been immune to the speculation.

*Ten imaginary internet points to whoever gets that reference

The biggest news in the last few days comes via England, where Chelsea is reported to have made a £50 million bid for the services of Gonzalo Higuain. Per the reports, the offer was flatly rejected, which is good, because I think we all want Chelsea to stay far, far away from El Pipita. Rumors vary as to whether or not Chelsea will be making a further offer, but suffice it to say that it should take a lot of money for Napoli to part with Higuain.

Such a move for Napoli would certainly bolster the transfer budget, but would also demand immediately require acquiring another top-shelf striker to lead the line, and that is not a cheap proposition in the winter window. Any gains in the transfer budget would almost entirely be offset by his replacement, and given the prospect of adjusting the side to a new striker in the middle of what's going to be a tight race to secure a Champions League place (and hopefully hang near Juventus in the Scudetto race), it might not be worth it at all.

The remaining rumors as far as Napoli departures go are mostly focused on Paolo Cannavaro, Napoli's captain and denizen in Rafa Bentiez's doghouse. As we discussed last month, his exit from the club is pretty much a foregone conclusion at this stage, it's just a matter of where he goes and how much (well, how little) he brings in. The latest rumor floating around is a move to Lazio, which is amusing me no end for some reason.

As for the potential arrival of Maxime Gonalons, it still sounds as though that move is imminent. The latest rumor is a bit of supposition and clue-adding, but it's believed that a transfer-related announcement that Antonio De Laurentiis supposedly has planned for after Monday's match will be to announce the Frenchman's signing. Obviously we'll have to wait and see what actually happens, but it's starting to seem more and more like Gonalons signing with Napoli is just a matter of time.

Other rumors largely focus on defenders. Martin Caceres of Juventus and Luca Antonelli of Genoa have been two of the more frequently mooted targets, and would both seemingly fit well should they come in. It's worth noting that there were several rumored links to Antonelli over the summer; whether you choose to interpret that as digging up old rumors or evidence of continued interest is up to you. There's also been continued mentions of interest in Liverpool defender Daniel Agger, but not by any sources that can generally be termed as "reliable".

The most amusing bit of transfer talk of the last few days was an audacious mention that Rafa Benitez wants to bring in Juan Mata given the Spaniard's lack of playing time with Chelsea. It's OK, I'll wait here while you finish laughing. Done yet? Good! Let's be honest: it'd be fantastic to see Mata join Napoli, but even if he's sold this month (and that's a big if), there will be so many huge clubs lining up to give Chelsea massive bags of money that it's just not going to happen.