Football
Ben Gladwell, Italy correspondent 8y

Napoli can cope without injured Arkadiusz Milik - Pepe Reina

Napoli goalkeeper Pepe Reina says there is no point in the club dwelling on the loss of marquee summer signing Arkadiusz Milik for up to six months through injury.

Milik, who had scored four goals in Serie A and three in the Champions League for the Azzurri since joining in the summer, tore his cruciate ligaments while on international duty.

"Milik's injury is hugely disappointing and it's a problem when you consider how well he was doing, but we've got to look forwards," the Spanish goalkeeper said in La Gazzetta dello Sport. "All we can do is wish him a speedy recovery and stand close by him.

"Let's see what [coach Maurizio] Sarri opts to do to cover for him. We've got Manolo [Gabbiadini] and other players who can adapt. We've got a big squad and we will find a solution."

Milik was drafted in to fill the void left by the sale of Gonzalo Higuain to Juventus, but Reina does not think that Napoli are any weaker, saying that all the summer signings put together will ensure that the Argentine, who set a new Serie A goal-scoring record with 36 strikes last season, will not be missed.

"His sale has enabled us to sign several players who round off a squad which was already very good last season," Reina said. "We've improved, even though obviously what has happened to Milik does change things.

"Losing Pipita [Higuain] was an inevitable sacrifice. If somebody comes along and pays the release clause, then the club can do little about it. It was unlikely [that Higuain would turn Juve down]. He had made demands which were refused and what happened.

"Now we need to turn the page and look ahead with faith in the people who were already hear and those who have arrived, with or without Milik."

That means reading little into the remarks made by Sarri that Juventus are in a league of their own and that Napoli could never even contemplate competing with them for the title this season.

"He spoke like that to take some pressure off us," Reina said. "I'm sure he doesn't really think the way he spoke. Of course everybody knows that Juve are overwhelming favourites and it would be a surprise if they didn't win the title, but we will push them all the way and we're never going to say we are beaten.

"If we were to start thinking now that they have already won, then we might as well turn the light off, close the door and leave. Of course it's always harder to talk after a defeat, especially when you are at Napoli where there are big and quick changes of mood, but like I said, I hope that we can challenge for the title, even without Milik."

Milik's injury may have played into Juve's hands in the race for the title, but their general manager Beppe Marotta says they have no schadenfreude. "We wish Milik a speedy recovery," Marotta said, reports La Repubblica.

"The fact that Napoli have got to do without this player is not a pleasure for us. We like to win against our opponents when they are at their strongest and with the best of their possibilities."

Juve are currently four points clear of second-placed Napoli, who host third-placed Roma on Saturday with one eye also on their Champions League tie with Besiktas next week -- a competition Reina believes they can also have a big say in.

"We want to get out of a complicated group and carry on moving forward from there," he said. "I've got great, great faith in us playing a fantastic Champions League campaign. We're not here just for the fun of it, to go out after the group stage, qualify again and so on and so on -- we have got to be ambitious and believe in ourselves.

"Winning it is difficult, but obviously compared to the league, it's a much shorter path to glory. Let's get into the last 16 and then we'll see. Over 180 minutes, we can give anybody a game. We can beat anybody, just like we can be beaten by anybody."

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