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Sun, sea, and a city basking in the recent Scudetto’s triumphant glow. For wealthy footballers looking for a new summer experience, Napoleon is a sell.

Naples is amazing, according to journalist Vincenzo Credendino, who praised the city. “You board the boat and travel to Capri, Amalfi, Pompeii, and then Capri. You get good food, and there are many activities. If you are wealthy, Naples is very alluring. This is how it has always been.

Estate agents have long pointed out recent arrivals to Posillipo’s upscale hillside villas, but it’s no secret that Napoli’s president Aurelio de Laurentiis is a Premier League fan.

The film producer-turned-football club owner returned to add six-time Premier League champion Kevin de Bruyne to Antonio Conte’s ranks after Scott McTominay, who left Manchester United, established cult following his leadership of Campania’s success.

Romelu Lukaku and Billy Gilmour are just two players who have been cut from the Premier League’s payroll since last summer’s Conte era.

And more might be possible.

De Bruyne’s former City teammate Jack Grealish, who signed for £100million from Aston Villa four years ago, and United winger Alejandro Garnacho have also been linked, Credendino believes there is interest in United and England international Jadon Sancho, who last year went on loan at Chelsea on a season-long loan deal.

Credendino chuckles, “People in Napoli believe Aurelio de Laurentiis is crazy.” He is the president who, in our opinion, always strives to win, without putting the financial interests first, being extremely cautious about the economic side, and engaging in significant player trading.

Napoli won Serie A for the fourth time in their history and for the second time in three seasons. The Diego Maradona era saw the release of the first two titles, 1987 and 1990. Before Conte led I Partenopei to the title of last season, Luciano Spalletti won their first Scudetto in 33 years.

Conte’s side came out on top of Inter Milan, which lost successful boss Simone Inzaghi to Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal earlier this month. Gian Piero Gasperini, the man who helped them to triumph in the Europa League two years ago, also left for Roma, who finished third.

AC Milan won’t play in Europe next season, while the traditional powerhouses Juventus are currently going through a bit of a restructuring. Napoli are attempting to capitalize on their rivals’ stagnation.

Napoli has a good reputation. Federico Mari, a Milan-based international football executive with a focus on transfer strategies, club acquisitions, MCO, and cross-border strategy, says that they make their plans before others so they can get the money to persuade players like De Bruyne to embrace this new adventure.

Napoli are ranked 30th among the world’s most valuable clubs, just behind 15 Premier League clubs and fifth among Italian clubs, according to Transfermarkt.

In 2004, they went bankrupt, dropping into the third tier, and De Laurentiis bought them, who had re-joined Serie A in 2007. Since then, they have won three Coppa Italia titles and those coveted league titles, which they have a long history in Europe.

According to Mari, “Napoli is a very well-run club.” Napoli is the De Laurentiis family’s main family business, and over the past 10-15 years, they have done well both on and off the pitch.

Mari cites the sale of Edinson Cavani and Gonzalo Higuain to Paris St.Germain for £55 million, as well as Gonzalo Higuain to Juventus for £75.3 million. Victor Osimhen was signed by Napoli for more than £70 million in 2020, but he is expected to leave this summer after a year on loan at Galatasaray.

De Laurentiis may have a serial winner in his dugout tickling his nostrils if he “smells blood.”

Conte became the first manager to win a Serie A title with three different clubs last year, making it his fifth managerial success. Between those victories at Juventus and Inter Milan, he also won the Premier League with Chelsea.

According to Naples-based journalist Credendino, “You pick other coaches if you want to make young players grow,” You already know that Antonio Conte will ask you to purchase Romelu Lukaku if you choose him. No issue.

Indeed, Lukaku signed for Napoli permanently from Chelsea at the start of Conte’s reign last summer after loan spells at Inter and Roma.

Conte adds that Credendino “wants to live in the moment and succeed in the moment.” With only a few young players with limited experience, he cannot win. He enjoys young players even when they are already famous.

Grealish, Sancho, or Garnacho would not be inexpensive, which begs the question: Why are Conte and De Laurentiis shopping for expensive but unpopular Premier League names?

With the current division between the Premier Leagues, players who play in the Premier League at six out of ten and in Serie A are at eight out of ten, says Credendino.

It’s no secret that Serie A is older. Last season, Napoli finished second in the Italian top flight with an average age of 28.2 years, just behind champions league runners-up Inter, who finished with 29.1 years. Fulham, in contrast, had the oldest Premier League record at 27.9, according to Transfermarkt.

With 40 more goals scored in the lead-up to high turnovers, Opta’s statistics indicate a higher level of intensity in the Premier League, teams that press harder, and possession won in the opposition’s final third over 600 times more than it did in Serie A last year. In addition, players significantly increased their dribbling or carrying capacity than they did in Italy.

Striker Keinan Davis, who left Aston Villa for Udinese last year, claimed that the game’s tactical side is slower than English football.

There aren’t really that many players like that because I’m physically active. You observe strong physical performance from Lukaku and other players. Everyone in England is physically fit and quick.

Conte is known as a manager who works with his players very effectively, despite this. Despite its charming charm, those who join shouldn’t anticipate a weekend getaway.

De Bruyne likely feels like he will join a competitive team under the leadership of one of the best coaches in the world, who is known as a killer in training because he causes players to flee like they’re crazy, but Mari agrees.

First Test between England and India

Venue: Headingley Dates: 20-24 June Time: 11: 00 BST

On Friday, England play their first Test match of the series against India at Headingley.

Ben Stokes’ side and a new-look India square off in a five-game match that features superstar players from both sides in a brimming of intrigue.

The status quo was the subject of England’s biggest, and probably only, selection decision for the first Test. Ollie Pope, the long-term number three, has been turned down by Jacob Bethell’s potential.

England’s vice-captain needs to be consistent. An average of 43.06 at first drop is more than respectable, but Pope frequently veers between feast and famine.

Pope made three centuries in 2024, including an all-time record-breaking 196 to help India defeat India in Hyderabad. Pope did not pass 10 of his 27 previous top-seven innings, more than any other top-seven batter in the same period.

It extends Pope’s career’s scope. In 98 innings, the 27-year-old has scored 3 301 runs, but only 34% of those runs have been knocked. Pope can cash in when he enters. With an 18.4 false-shot percentage, which is the highest of any regular Test number three in the previous six years, the problem is with the getting in.

The bad news for Pope is that Indian magician Jasprit Bumrah is about to confront one of his foes. Although Pope is not the only fast bowler in the world to struggle against, Ravichandran Ashwin, a retired Indian off-spinner, has only been the seven times he has been dismissed by Bumrah.

7 to 8 meters from the stumps, the length that Pope struggles most with pace in this country, is most frequently targeted by Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, who is likely to be his new-ball partner.

There is perhaps no other person on either side who is more capable than the India paceman to win the series on their own. Bumrah, who is the best cricket player in the world, is pound for pound and has compiled a career that will make him one of the best fast bowlers.

The outcome may depend on how England plays or survives in Bumrah. Although the extra time between the first and third Tests could mean Bumrah sneaks in a fourth, the India management has indicated he may only play three of the five.

Surprisingly, Bumrah only has played 12 home Tests. 31 of his 45 caps have been spent traveling throughout South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia. He has 145 wickets, more than any other India bowler, and almost three-quarters of his total, which is the “SENA” nations’ most adept at fast bowling.

Bumrah was devastating in brief, sharp bursts last year when England traveled to India. He took 19 wickets with a strike-rate under 33 in the four Tests he played, bowling less than 104 overs. Every spell was thrilling, much like Mitchell Johnson’s 2013-2014 Ashes tear.

Therefore, the way that England approachs the rest of their bowling for India might be the key to their success.

The rest of the pace attack, aside from Siraj, is made up of all-rounders Shardul Thakur and Nitish Kumar Reddy.

Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar both have Test experience in this country, and their career average in England is above 44.

Shoaib Bashir, the fourth of four England spinners, was spotted by Ben Stokes in a clip on X eighteen months ago.

He is happy to admit that he is just beginning to learn his trade and will face the best spinners on the planet at the moment when he becomes England’s first-choice spinner.

All of India’s batters have proven themselves strong against off-spinners, including the left-handers, who would typically give Bashir a favorable match-up. In fact, Rishabh Pant and Yashasvi Jaiswal are the most likely targets for Bashir.

India generally prefers to display off-spin aggression. India has attacked 38% of off-spinner deliveries since the start of the year, trailing only the Bazballing English, who received 53% of balls from offies. The outcome is what makes a difference. India had a 60 on average, which was significantly higher than England’s 36.

In the defeat of Zimbabwe, Bashir took nine wickets despite having an unsatisfactory winter that looked to have benefited from some technical adjustments. He bowls a better line and is thus getting closer to the stumps.

While the entire squad has a collective lack of first-class cricket in this country, Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, and Karun Nair would all be playing their first Test in England. Only Nair and KL Rahul in the UK average more than 40 against the red ball, with the majority of Nair’s and Northants’ cricket appearing in the County Championship.

Indian batters frequently view the movement of the Dukes ball as their final frontier, despite the fact that English conditions frequently challenge them to control the movement of the ball.

The importance of length has been present in the top three players in India who have previously played Tests in England, Rahul, Gill, Pant, and Jadeja. In this country, they average only 14 against a good length, rising to 42 against a shorter, hard length collectively.

In a Test in this country, no member of the quartet has ever been let down by a bouncer, which highlights the importance of Chris Woakes, or perhaps Sam Cook in comparison to the other pacemen preferred by England.

Despite all the analysis, match-ups, and hunches, India’s UK tour shows frequently come up with controversy or off-field issues that alter the series’ direction.

India outscored England in the 2021 World Cup, and the fifth Test was postponed due to a Covid scare. When India returned a year later to finish the series, England pushed them to a record 378 to level the score at 2-2.

Further back, there was the Ian Bell “run out” at the same venue in 2011 and the row between Jadeja and James Anderson at Trent Bridge in 2014. The Oval hosted “Jellybeangate” for India’s final series victory in this location in 2007.

After arguing with tour captain Mohammad Azharuddin, India opener Navjot Singh Sidhu exited the tour in 1996. Sudhir Naik was detained in 1974 after allegedly stealing a pair of socks from the Marks &amp, Spencer store in Oxford Street.