Napoli fans' indifference towards their team reached a new low on Sunday when only 5,000 turned up at the Stadio San Paolo to witness their 5-0 win over Monaco.
The Campania club are used to almost filling their stadium for their high-profile preseason friendlies, while the popularity of their games also means they are the only ones broadcast by Sky and Mediaset on pay-per-view, with the preseason games of all other clubs -- including Juventus -- invariably screened free.
However, following the controversial €90 million sale of Gonzalo Higuain to Juventus, that enthusiasm has ebbed to the point that the Stadio San Paolo looked almost deserted on Sunday.
Those who did turn up saw Manolo Gabbiadini score four goals with Allan supplying the other. They also witnessed the debuts of new signings Arkadiusz Milik and Piotr Zielinski, and the unveiling of the Azzurri's new away shirt for the upcoming season.
The club have reacted to fears the crowd figures may dwindle also once the Serie A season has started by granting all fans who purchased a ticket for their fixture with Nice last week a free ticket for the league clash with AC Milan at the end of August -- a game which would usually draw a capacity crowd without any further incentives.