 The following years were less positive for the "biancoazzurri"; an eighth place in the championship was followed by a ninth-place finish in 1938–39.In his early years in Rome he invariably started matches, missing only a few games, the majority due to a fractured collarbone.He moved to Napoli in 1940 and the Neapolitan side finished the 1940–41 season in eighth place.