Napoli Third In Serie A Salaries

Good evening, Napoli supporters, this is Napoli Tonight for Monday 7 September.

Here's a number Saturday's scoreline doesn't tell you: 109.8 million euros. That's Napoli's gross wage bill for this season, third-highest in Serie A, above Milan, Roma and Atalanta, behind only Inter and Juventus. It comes despite a transfer window that closed with almost no incoming signings, and even after Romelu Lukaku, the squad's top earner, left for Fenerbahçe. Spending well on wages and losing three-two at San Siro on Saturday can both be true at once, and this week they are.

On the pitch, former Napoli forward Roberto Carlos Sosa criticised Lucca on Radio Marte, saying he lacked the grit to simply clear the ball before Inter's winning goal. A fair jab after two games that have cost Napoli five goals conceded.

Monday's papers split over how to read that defeat. Il Mattino calls it one of Napoli's worst starts in fifteen years; the Gazzetta looks at Inter, now top on nine points, and sees mostly a great comeback. Corriere dello Sport points at the second-half collapse after Napoli's two-goal lead vanished in half an hour. On the referee, the papers agree: Sozza's handling comes under fire, with claims Lautaro Martinez should have been sent off twice. Fair enough, but it shouldn't crowd out the story further down the page: Il Mattino reports McTominay could be sold as early as January. For a midfield already missing him through heart surgery, that's the story that should worry us more than any refereeing decision.

Wednesday brings Champions League finalists Arsenal to the Maradona, kick-off at nine o'clock CET. Mikel Arteta's side arrive on three wins from three in the Premier League, with last season's Champions League final still fresh behind them. Ticket sales sit around forty-five thousand, short of the stadium's capacity of fifty-four thousand seven hundred and twenty-six, a contrast with the eighty-thousand-plus crowd that lifted Inter on Saturday. The game is classified high-risk for public order, with fifteen hundred Arsenal supporters expected from London and police finalising plans today to keep the two sets of fans apart.

That's Napoli Tonight for tonight. Every story, in full, at arenanapoli dot com slash e n. Back tomorrow evening at eight o'clock CET.