Alessandro Buongiorno, Napoli's first-choice central defender, remains absent from pre-season training as the club's new head coach Massimiliano Allegri completes the opening phase of the Dimaro camp — a period that has already begun to define how the squad will be structured without him.
The timing is pointed. Allegri has used these early weeks to assess what he has available, and Buongiorno's absence means the coach is building his defensive picture around a gap rather than a certainty. Napoli defeated Carrarese 2-0 in their second friendly of the camp, and Allegri's post-match comments reflected a deliberate patience about the transfer market — noting that the squad possesses important qualities and that the window remains open for everyone. What he did not say is equally telling: no public declaration that the current centre-back options are sufficient.
For Buongiorno, the 2025-26 season has been a study in interrupted momentum. The 27-year-old made 33 appearances across the campaign, contributing one assist and carrying an average match rating of 6.80 — numbers that reflect consistent rather than spectacular output, the kind of reliability a back four is built around. Napoli finished second in Serie A with 73 points from 37 matches, conceding 36 goals across the season. A defender who featured in 33 of those matches is not peripheral to that record; he is central to it.
The question Allegri must now answer is structural. His predecessor Antonio Conte built Napoli's defensive solidity around Buongiorno as the anchor. Allegri, arriving with his own ideas about shape and defensive organisation, has had no opportunity to work with his best centre-back in a live training environment. The Dimaro sessions have proceeded, the friendly results have been positive, but the foundation of the back line remains unresolved.
Buongiorno's AI overall rating of 65 out of 100 suggests a player still with room to develop — not a finished article but a significant one. At 27, he is entering the years when central defenders typically consolidate their authority. Missing pre-season does not diminish that trajectory, but it does delay the moment when Allegri can genuinely integrate him into his system.
Napoli's summer will be judged, in part, by how cleanly Buongiorno returns and how quickly Allegri can build around him. Everything else in Dimaro — the friendly wins, the market patience, the crowd singing old songs at a new coach — is prologue.