Building Napoli's Perfect Serie A Footballer
By Jake Purvis
Napoli's tale of incredible highs, incredible lows and an incredible recent resurgence is quite incredible.
The journey has sucked in players from far and wide, from the streets of Naples and all across the world. Some of Europe's most talented players have become adopted-Neapolitans, but what if we could fuse them all together?
Let's have a look at Napoli's perfect footballer if you could join the DNA of all the very best who donned the shirt.
Brain - Diego Maradona
Diego Maradona's pure talent can never ever be understated. He was a sorcerer, his sixth sense bound spells upon his opponents. He was unplayable, undefinable and somewhat, celestial.
The impact he had on Naples cannot be understated either. Maradona dragged Napoli from a relatively unfashionable mid-table side to the top of Italian football, smashing the down the walls of northern Italian powerhouses along the way.
The synergy between player and city was inconceivable. Defying the laws of physics on the pitch and uniting a city in the palm of his hands off of it.
Eyes - Marek Hamšík
Watching Napoli since Marek Hamšík moved to China in 2019 gives me the same feeling as watching The US Office when Steve Carrell left. It didn't sit right.
The Slovakian was consistently one of the best midfielders in Europe for years, and as soon as you saw the ball at the feet of the low-socked, tattooed-legged magician, well you knew something was about to happen.
Pavel Nedvěd once said Hamšík was his heir, and that's quite hard to argue with.
Lungs - Jorginho
Maybe a little surprising this one but Jorginho covered more distance than N'Golo Kante during the 2018/19 season at Chelsea. Different club and league I know, but Maurizio Sarri is the key.
Jorginho's tendency to race from his deep-lying position to press and collect the ball is synonymous with Sarri's style. A match made in footballing heaven.
Body - Kalidou Koulibaly
Kalidou Koulibaly has established himself as one of the best centre backs in the world since moving to Naples in 2014. Koulibaly is an awe-inducing talent, and somebody who uses their body so aggressively and powerfully, yet so elegantly at the same time.
Koulibaly would have no second thoughts of absolutely clattering you in a challenge - taking the man and the ball - then apologise straight after. Every team needs that.
Legs - Dries Mertens
When I was a young child, I read a book about a boy at school who had a magic football. The ball would stick to his feet and nobody could get anywhere near him.
That's basically who Dries Mertens is. The twists and turns, the pure pace, the way the ball sticks like a magnet to his Mercurials.
Left Foot - Arkadiusz Milik
Arkadiusz Milik has a wonderful left peg and the way he strikes the ball is amazing to watch. Although he should have a lot more than his 36 goals in 83 games for Napoli, the striker has got an injury wrap longer than Christian Vieri's former employer list - so let's cut him some slack.
Right Foot - Edinson Cavani
Cavani's Napoli record is quite frankly just ridiculous. 104 goals in 138 games. It would be absurd not to have Cavani's prolific right foot on this list.
One of the best strikers in Europe in his prime, but the fact he looks like a cover star of a romance novel about a poor boy falling in love with the rich girl you find in charity shops should automatically give him a spot here anyway.