He wears the blue shirt with pride and is the host at the Maradona stadium, but he seriously risked finding himself on the other side. Napoli-Atalanta is a particular crossroads for Alessandro Buongiorno, the new “defense minister” of Antonio Conte’s team.
In the summer of 2023, Atalanta insistently looked for him. Gasperini – who has an eye for identifying talent – had specifically asked for it to complete his mosaic. 25 million euros on the table for Toro to complete the deal. But Buongiorno spoke with the Granata president Cairo and in the end he refused: he wanted to play another season in Granata, the color that has accompanied him since he was a child.
He played a high-level championship in terms of performance and then in the summer he said yes to Antonio Conte: the approval arrived just before the European Championships and was the fundamental prerequisite for defining the negotiation between Napoli and Toro. De Laurentiis increased Atalanta’s offer by closing the deal for 35 million euros (plus 5 in bonuses) and guaranteed Napoli an absolute leader in the backfield.
The feeling between Buongiorno and the blue was immediate. Conte used him first as a left arm player (in the 3-4-2-1), then as a central defender together with Rrahmani in the tactical change that began against Juventus. Buongiorno had no problems, the performance remained at a high level.
It is simply decisive and has changed the face of Napoli’s defensive department which from a sieve (48 goals conceded in the last championship) has transformed into an impregnable fortress with just 5 goals to its credit (three on its debut against Hellas Verona).
Buongiorno is synonymous with absolute safety: he is relentless in his closures and is always attentive to his opponent. It’s practically an impassable wall.
Conte is also asking a lot of him in the setup phase and the result is improving. The 24-year-old born in Turin has already celebrated his first goal in the blue shirt: he did it in Cagliari in the 4-0 defeat of Napoli at the Domus Arena.
He would like to repeat himself at the Maradona stadium which will be packed today for the match against Atalanta. The feeling with Buongiorno was immediately high. It all started from a statement he made in the summer, when he explained his refusal to Juventus. The Old Lady looked for him a lot during the transfer market, but his no was adamant: «I couldn’t betray myself», explained the defender who has an important history with Toro: he grew up in the youth sector and did all the he works his way up to becoming captain. For those who read the names in Superga on the occasion of the commemoration ceremony of the heroes of the great Turin, it would have been complicated to wear black and white. He chose the blue and immediately settled in in Naples, so much so that he even used the word “cazzimma” on social media to celebrate his feat at San Siro against Milan. We still need more to overcome the obstacle of Atalanta, which has the best attack in Serie A, and remain in first place.
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