Napoli midfielder André-Frank Zambo Anguissa enters the 2026 summer window as one of the club's most prominent potential departures, with Besiktas having identified the 30-year-old Cameroonian as a transfer target and the club setting a price for his exit. The development lands at a structurally significant moment: Massimiliano Allegri has been confirmed as Napoli's new head coach, replacing Antonio Conte and beginning what the club frames as a new competitive cycle.
The managerial change is the central variable in Anguissa's calculus. Conte built his Napoli around physical intensity and midfield compactness — a system in which Anguissa's engine and defensive work rate were not incidental but foundational. Allegri's preferred structures have historically demanded different qualities from central midfielders: more positional discipline, less vertical aggression. Whether Anguissa fits that template is a legitimate question, and the fact that Napoli have already attached a price to him suggests the club is not assuming he does.
His 2025-26 numbers offer a fair portrait of a player still contributing without dominating. Across 18 Serie A appearances, Anguissa registered four goals and one assist, carrying an average match rating of 6.90. Those are solid returns for a midfielder in a side that finished the season second in the table with 73 points from 37 matches — a campaign that was competitive but ultimately fell short of the summit. The AI overall score of 72 out of 100, paired with a potential ceiling of 45, reflects a player assessed as performing near his ceiling rather than one with significant upside remaining.
That profile — reliable, experienced, limited room for growth — is precisely the kind Napoli may look to move on from as Allegri reshapes the squad. The club has already confirmed the departures of Eljif Elmas and Juan Jesus as their contracts expired, signalling a broader restructuring rather than isolated decisions. Anguissa's situation fits that pattern: not a player being pushed out for poor form, but one whose contract status and age make him a logical candidate for a sale that funds incoming business.
Besiktas represents a credible but not elite destination for a player of Anguissa's standing. At 30, with a Serie A runner-up campaign behind him, he retains genuine market value — and Napoli's decision to fix a price rather than simply field enquiries suggests they believe that value is real and time-sensitive.
Allegri's Napoli project is only days old, and the squad it will field in 2026-27 is still being assembled. Anguissa's place in it, if he has one, has not been confirmed by anything in the public record. The Besiktas interest, the club's willingness to sell, and the shift in managerial philosophy all point in the same direction: this summer is likely his last at the Stadio Maradona.