Napoli: "There is no space for Hirving Lozano here"
Napoli’s boss Gennaro Gattuso made it very clear that it is unlikely that the Mexican winger will play even a few minutes in the first leg against Barcelona on Tuesday.
Since Gennaro Gattuso replaced Carletto Ancelotti as Napoli’s boss, Hirving Lozano has not been in consideration, despite being the most expensive signing this campaign. The Serie A team will host Barcelona on Tuesday for the first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League.
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Lozano has work to do for Gattuso
At Monday's press conference prior to the game Gattuso confirmed that it is very unlikely that the Mexican winger gets some playing time tomorrow against Spanish giants, “Lozano has to work harder and improve to be ready. Right now I am looking for different qualities that he doesn’t have so at the moment there I have no space for him in my team.”
Lozano has not played in three consecutive games and the last time he played was on February 9th when he came in as a sub against Lecce for the Serie A. Gattuso also said that like Lozano there are other players in the same boat, “It is not just him I want to make that clear there are other players that need to work harder and they are just as important as Hirving but they are also not playing right now.
Lozano will have to keep working hard during practice and earn Gattuso's trust in order to have some playing time in the remainder of the season. Napoli paid PSV 42 million euros for the winger making him the most expensive player in the history of the team last summer.