Chelsea sent Benoit Badiashile to Napoli hoping a change of scenery would get the defender playing again.
He’s now made his debut. Apparently, that was enough for one Italian journalist to wonder whether Napoli kept the receipt.
Columnist Antonio Corbo has absolutely hammered the Chelsea defender after his first appearance for the Italian club.
Writing in an editorial for La Repubblica, Corbo wasn’t willing to give Badiashile any settling-in time.
The 25-year-old made his Napoli debut against Inter Milan at San Siro. He came off the bench in the second half.
Massimiliano Allegri wanted more physical presence in his defence, which sounds reasonable enough when you’ve got a 194cm centre-back sitting there.
Napoli then allowed Inter back into the game, and Badiashile’s contribution quickly came under scrutiny.
“A 194cm question mark”
Corbo described the Chelsea man as “a 194cm question mark” after what he saw at San Siro. And he was only getting started.
The journalist then took a swipe at Napoli’s apparent fondness for players who have struggled for football in England.
“Napoli love Premier League cast-offs,” Corbo said. “Like in department stores, if Badiashile is the one we saw on Saturday night and if Giovanni Manna still has the receipt, perhaps it’s better to return him to Chelsea within 30 days. That explains Napoli’s decline.”
That’s quite a verdict after one substitute appearance. Corbo backed up his criticism by pointing towards Badiashile’s recent record at Chelsea. He says the French-Congolese defender has played very little over the past four years.
More specifically, he highlighted just 13 Chelsea appearances across the past two seasons.
That lack of football was, of course, a big part of why getting Badiashile away from Stamford Bridge made sense.
Chelsea may want Napoli to wait
Badiashile needed regular fotball. Preferably with the chance to get some rhythm back after spending so much time on the sidelines in London.
Napoli were supposed to provide exactly that. His introduction at San Siro wasn’t exactly an easy way to start, either. He was thrown into the second half of a difficult match against Inter and asked to help Napoli see things out.
It didn’t work. Corbo has made very sure everyone knows what he thought about it. So there will obviously need to be much more from Badiashile if he’s going to win people over in Naples.
Chelsea will be hoping Napoli’s actual patience lasts considerably longer than Corbo’s 30-day returns policy.
