Alex Meret, Napoli's 29-year-old goalkeeper, has missed the club's last two Serie A fixtures — the away match against Fiorentina on September 20 and the home game against Bologna on September 13 — and his absence has cracked open a competition for the starting position that Allegri's side can no longer quietly defer.
The timing matters. Napoli sit ninth in Serie A with seven points from five matches, a record of two wins, one draw and two defeats, and a goal difference that reads seven scored against six conceded. That is not a crisis, but it is not comfort either, and a goalkeeper controversy is precisely the kind of distraction a mid-table side cannot afford to absorb in October.
The reason for Meret's absence from both squads is not established, which makes the situation harder to read from the outside. What is clear is that Vanja Milinkovic-Savic has entered the frame, and the question of who starts between the posts for the partenopei is now an open one. Allegri, who has managed Napoli's early-season turbulence with characteristic pragmatism, will need to settle on an answer.
Meret's numbers from the three Serie A appearances he has managed this season tell a partial story. An average rating of 6.63 across those matches is functional rather than authoritative — the kind of figure that keeps a goalkeeper in the conversation without closing it. His AI overall of 76 out of 100, with a potential of 78, suggests a player operating close to his ceiling, which makes the competition from a younger or fresher rival more consequential, not less.
At 29, Meret is at the age where a goalkeeper should be consolidating, not defending his position. The preseason did him no favours — a high-profile error in a friendly against Celta Vigo had already placed his reliability under scrutiny before a competitive ball was kicked. Two consecutive absences from the matchday squad, whatever their cause, extend that narrative thread into the heart of the season.
Allegri's Napoli are at a juncture where small decisions compound. The goalkeeper is not a peripheral concern; it is the foundation of the defensive structure, and with six goals already conceded in five matches, the foundation is showing cracks. Whether Meret returns to reclaim his place or finds himself in a genuine rotation battle, the next few weeks will define his season — and possibly his future at the club.