Exequiel Zeballos Joins Monza After Napoli's Near-Miss
Exequiel Zeballos was supposed to be walking into the Maradona Stadium. Instead, he walked out of Milan airport in Monza colours, the latest gamble by a club that has made a habit of punching above its weight.
A few weeks ago, the 24-year-old forward had personal terms agreed with Napoli. The plan was clear: a sharp, versatile attacking signing for a Scudetto contender, a deal worth around €10m plus add-ons on the table. Napoli were ready. Zeballos was ready.
Boca Juniors were not.
The Argentine giants rejected the proposal, holding their ground even with the player’s contract ticking down towards its December 31 expiry. What looked like a straight road to Naples suddenly twisted, and on deadline day Zeballos resurfaced in a different corner of Lombardy.
Monza moved. Quietly, decisively.
The club struck a deal believed to be around €4m, but only for 60 per cent of his rights. Boca kept 40 per cent of any future sale, a clear sign they still believe there is a bigger move – and a bigger fee – to come.
When Zeballos landed in Italy and faced reporters in Milan, the whirlwind of the last few days was written all over his words.
"It all happened so fast, I will speak with coach Ivan Juric today," he said, already looking ahead to the conversation that will define his role in this new project.
The pull of Italy ran deeper than tactics or salary.
"I wanted to come to Italy because my father's idol is Maradona," he admitted, tying his move to a family obsession with the most mythical figure in Napoli’s history. The irony is impossible to ignore: the son of a Maradona devotee, almost at Napoli, now starting again with Monza.
The decision was not made in a vacuum. Inside the Boca Juniors dressing room, one voice in particular helped shape his thinking. Leandro Paredes, who knows Serie A as well as anyone after spells with Roma and Juventus, weighed in.
"It's true, Paredes gave me a lot of advice, especially when we were talking about Napoli," Zeballos revealed. The destination changed, the league did not. The guidance still matters.
On the pitch, Monza are getting a wide attacker who can operate on either flank, a player who prefers to face up his marker and commit him. Across 140 competitive games for Boca Juniors, Zeballos produced 16 goals and 16 assists – not explosive numbers, but the profile of a winger who can grow, stretch defences and create imbalances.
For Monza, this is a calculated swing at upside: a 24-year-old with Copa Libertadores experience, a taste of the big stage and a contract situation that made him attainable. For Zeballos, it is a doorway into Europe, into Serie A, into a league where his father’s idol became immortal.
He did not get his move to Napoli. Now the question is simpler, and far more personal: can he make Monza the club where Italy learns his name?
