Napoli’s Sporting Director Giovanni Manna has downplayed talk of a Scudetto challenge ahead of the team’s high-profile match against AC Milan. Speaking to DAZN before kickoff, Manna emphasized that it’s premature to discuss title ambitions at this stage of the season.
“It’s too early to talk about a Scudetto challenge, we’re not even a third of the way through the championship,” Manna stated. “This is a match between two great teams on a big stage. In recent weeks we’ve been linked with the Scudetto multiple times, but we know where we started from and there are teams better equipped than us who had a different journey last season.”
When asked if he expected Napoli to be in first place at this point, Manna responded: “Difficulties are part of the growth process. We’re doing our part, sometimes we struggle, but I think that’s normal. We need to stay humble and focused, working every day to get the best results. After Juventus, this is the strongest team we’ve faced. It’s a stage in our journey, but we’re not looking at the table. We work game by game.”
Regarding the team’s potential for improvement, Manna said: “We started by restoring the core group and added players who arrived at the end of the transfer window. The coach is working, we’re getting good results and we have room for growth. We’re objectively happy with what we’re doing, but we need to be aware that difficult moments will come and they’ll need to be faced exactly as we’re facing this moment.”
