Napoli’s summer rebuild: How Luciano Spaletti has turned an ageing Napoli team into one of the most frightening in Europe

According to the proverb, “Rome wasn’t built in a day” but over in Naples, Luciano Spaletti has rebuilt an ageing Napoli team in just one summer as Gli Azzurri continue to take Europe by storm this season.

In an off-season which saw star players Lorenzo Insigne, Dries Mertens and Kalidou Koulibaly all leave the club, few fans could’ve predicted this youthful, inexperienced Napoli side would sit top of Serie A after nine games, as well as topping a Champions League group containing Liverpool, Ajax and Rangers.

Last season Napoli achieved the bare minimum by qualifying for the Champions League, finishing nine points ahead of Juventus to take third place in Serie A, seven points off champions AC Milan, but underperformed in Europe, losing in the last 32 stage of the Europa League to Barcelona.

Of the three players that managed over ten goals last season, Insigne (13), Mertens (13) and Victor Osimhen (18) only Osimhen remains but in Georgian wonderkid Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Giacomo Raspadori and Giovanni Simeone, new heroes have emerged in Naples.

Kvaratskhelia was a relative unknown before his move, plying his trade for Dinamu Batumi in the Georgian top flight when Spaletti took a £9m gamble on the 21-year-old in the summer.

Blessed with extraordinary pace and skill, Kvaratskhelia already has seven goals and seven assists in 13-games this season and it’s easy to see why the tricky winger has been given the nickname “Kvarodona”, striking comparisons to Napoli’s Golden Child.

Raspodori, who was loaned in from Sassuolo in the summer, was brought in as a back-up to Osimhen but when given the chance following an injury to the Nigerian, he’s performed excellently too.

The Italian international scored twice and contributed an assist in a 4-2 demolition of Ajax in the Champions League and English fans may know him as the man who scored the winner for Italy against the Three Lions in the Nations League last month.

To complete the attacking rebuild is Simeone, who comes in as a risk-free loan singing from Hellas Verona to bolster the forward-line and with crucial goals in wins over AC Milan and Liverpool already this season, the £3m loan fee looks a bargain.

Despite the departures of Mertens and Insigne, the sale of central defender Koulibay to Chelsea for £34m was expected to leave the biggest hole on Spaletti’s side.

The club once again used their extensive scouting network to find a replacement for the Senegalese skipper, this time heading to Turkey, where they picked up Kim Min-Jae from Fenerbache for £16m.

The South-Korean international has slotted into Spaletti’s back four with ease, helping his side keep four clean sheets so far this season, even picking up the Serie A player of the month award for September in the process.

In a move which may surprise casual Premier League fans, Napoli also completed the permanent signing of Fulham midfielder Frank Andre Zambo Anguissa in a move worth £13m after spending last season on loan at the club, replacing the highly rated Fabian Ruiz who left for PSG.

From holding midfield, the Cameroonian scored and assisted in Napoli’s win over Liverpool and notched two assists in their 6-1 win over Ajax.

Despite major changes to personnel, Napoli have kept the 4-3-3 system utilized last season, focussing on playing exciting, free-flowing football.

By creating tactical situations which allow their fullbacks to carry the ball up the field, it creates overloads on the wings where the likes of Kvaratskhelia can thrive.

Their strongest starting XI is still up for debate, with the likes of Raspadori, Simeone and even Spurs flop Tanguy Ndombele all creating fierce competition for places.

A great example of showing the impact of Spaletti’s rebuild is comparing their starting XI last season in a game they lost 1-0 to eventual champions AC Milan to the team their side which beat Milan last month.

 

Although last season’s team contains more household names, the clubs’ excellent scouting network has allowed Spaletti to find Europe’s hidden gems, who all fit into his system like clockwork, creating a young, exciting team while making a transfer profit.

Italian football’s big names are looking off the pace with Juventus struggling under Massimiliano Allegri, Jose Mourinho’s Roma being held back by injuries and both Milan clubs failing to live up to expectations set last season.

Although just nine games into the league season, the door has been left wide open for this Napoli side to win their first Scudetto since Diego Maradona lifted the trophy in 1990.

It was Maradona who led the team to glory in the nineties’, can it be “Kvaradona” in 2023 leading Gil Azzuri to Italian football’s biggest prize inside the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona?