Lorenzo Insigne @ Napoli
There was something painfully ominous to the way Napoli have lost out to Juventus, not once but twice in recent months.
Firstly, in the title race, as the club from Naples fell away after seriously threatening to end the Turin giants’ monopoly over Serie A (an agonising defeat against their rivals signalled the end of that particular challenge) and secondly, as those very rivals then swooped in to pluck out the team’s (and league’s) leading scorer.
There are reasons to be cheerful – or at least hopeful – for the new season, however.
Last campaign they were certainly the most exciting team to watch from Italy and central to helping them sparkle in that regard was Lorenzo Insigne. For a period, the man from Naples was the most dangerous talent in Serie A, forming a lethal title-challenging partnership with Gonzalo Higuain which seemed so telepathic at times it led the papers to label the phenomenon ‘HiguaInsigne’.
His talents had long been recognised but a new found level of consistency saw Insigne hit fresh heights for the first time in his adult career. Of course, the fantasista initially flourished in a generic Number 10 role, but his form remained when deployed on the left of the attack where he was free to cut inside with menacing intent.
The coming-of-age season culminated in inclusion to Italy’s Euro 2016 squad, and even calls for Napoli’s number 10 shirt to be brought out of retirement so the diminutive playmaker may grace it.
With no Higuain to dovetail with but a marker down for what individual performances can be achieved, as a son of the city, Insigne will have to take the weight of Naples on his shoulders and deliver if he is to fulfil his desires: to become Napoli’s Totti – that is, if a protracted contract saga does not destabilise his season before it has even started.
