Exequiel Zeballos: From Napoli Target to Monza Star

Exequiel Zeballos was supposed to be dressing in Napoli blue by now. Instead, he stepped off a plane in Milan and into Monza’s biggest transfer story of the summer.

The 24-year-old left Boca Juniors on deadline day for a move that almost nobody saw coming. Napoli had pushed hard, agreed personal terms and put around €10m plus add-ons on the table. Boca said no. Monza slipped through the gap.

From Napoli target to Monza coup

Napoli had identified Zeballos as a sharp, versatile attacking option and moved early. The player was on board, the project appealed, and the numbers worked for him. They did not work for Boca.

With his contract ticking down towards a December 31 expiry, the Argentine club chose a different route. Instead of cashing in fully with Napoli, they accepted a smaller deal with Monza – roughly €4m for 60 per cent of his rights, keeping 40 per cent of any future sale.

It was a financial bet on his future value, and it opened the door for Monza to land a player who had been on the verge of a move to a Champions League contender.

Maradona, a father’s idol, and a new league

Zeballos arrived in Italy and spoke briefly to reporters at Milan airport, still catching up with the speed of the move.

"It all happened so fast, I will speak with coach Ivan Juric today," he said.

Then came the line that explains a lot about why Serie A, and Italy in particular, mattered to him.

"I wanted to come to Italy because my father's idol is Maradona."

For an Argentine forward leaving Boca Juniors, the shadow of Diego Maradona still looms large. Napoli might have felt like the natural continuation of that story. Instead, the Maradona connection has delivered him to a different corner of Lombardy, where Monza now ask him to write a new chapter.

Paredes, advice and the Napoli sliding door

This transfer was shaped not only by numbers and contracts, but by dressing-room conversations in Buenos Aires. Zeballos leaned on Leandro Paredes, the former Roma and Juventus midfielder, as he weighed up a possible move to Napoli.

"It's true, Paredes gave me a lot of advice, especially when we were talking about Napoli," Zeballos admitted.

The advice did not end with a move to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. The deal collapsed at club level, not on the player’s side. Yet the guidance from a man who knows Serie A inside out still follows Zeballos into his new job at Monza.

What Monza are getting

On the pitch, Zeballos brings flexibility and end product. A wide attacker comfortable on either flank, he can stretch defences, cut inside, or stay wide and deliver. For Boca Juniors he produced 16 goals and 16 assists in 140 competitive appearances, numbers that hint at steady growth rather than sudden explosion.

Monza, often tagged as Serie A minnows, have paid for potential and for upside. Boca’s 40 per cent stake in any future sale underlines that belief. If Zeballos adapts quickly to Juric’s demands and to the rhythm of Italian football, this could be the deal that shifts Monza’s ceiling.

He came chasing the league of his father’s idol. Now he has to prove he belongs in it.