Benoît Badiashile has completed his move to SSC Napoli, joining them for a season-long loan that could turn into a permanent transfer thanks to the included buy-option, reportedly set at €27m. Up front, Napoli are paying just €3+1m, in addition to covering all wages. It’s a decent bit of business for a player who’s been little more than a spare part, and on often broken spare part, at Stamford Bridge for the past couple years.
The 25-year-old first joined Chelsea halfway through the 2022-23 season,
and for the first six months or so, he looked quite a promising signing, especially when paired with Thiago Silva in defense. Of course, Silva could make any player next to him look pretty good, and that would prove the case for Badiashile as well unfortunately. The frequent injuries didn’t help either, limiting the big man to just 71 appearances all told in the past three and a half seasons.
Napoli finished runners-up last season under Antonio Conte and will be hoping to do one better now under Max Allegri, with a largely unchanged squad (Badiashile is the first new arrival).
Good luck!
