Napoli have made goalkeeper Rafael Cabral available for transfer, according to reports.
La Gazzetta dello Sport, as cited by website Football Italia, claims that the stopper is one of a number of players the Partenopei are looking to sell before the end of the summer transfer window.
The report names Rafael, alongside fellow Brazilian Henrique, Mariano Andújar, Ignacio Fideleff, Nicolao Dumitru, Eduardo Vargas, Camilo Zúñiga, and Omar El Kaddouri as the group of players in question and it is seemingly unlikely that they will feature for Napoli again.
Rafael’s demise at the Serie A club played out last season. He began the campaign as first choice goalkeeper under then Head Coach Rafael Benítez, but despite starting Napoli’s opening 23 Serie A matches, a series of costly blunders saw him replaced by Argentina international Andújar for the remainder of the campaign.
Rafael’s time with Napoli has been largely unfortunate from the outset. After arriving from Santos for a reported fee of €5 million in July 2013, he began as an understudy to Pepe Reina, but featured occasionally to gain experience.
In a UEFA Europa League tie against Swansea City in February 2014 however, he ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, which ended his season.
Now, with new Head Coach Maurizio Sarri preferring the returning Reina and Brazilian Gabriel as his goalkeepers, it seems Rafael’s time at Napoli could be over.