On Tuesday evening the window closed on the Italian transfer market and slammed shut on the Napoli career of Manolo Gabbiadini. The Italian international, who for weeks had been subject of a move away from the Stadio San Paolo, finally secured his move to English Premier League side Southampton in a deal worth £17m including add-ons.

 

News of Gabbiadini's departure was of little surprise to many; most of all to Napoli supporters who had long since accepted that the likeable yet moody striker had exhausted every opportunity afforded to him by manager, Maurizio Sarri.

 

The injury to main striker, Arkaduisz Milik, handed Gabbiadini the best chance he'd ever had and was ever likely to get at Napoli; this was his moment, Higuain was gone, Milik cruelly struck down with an anterior cruciate ligament rupture in his left knee. The spotlight was on him, his time had come to lead Napoli's exciting, attacking 'trident' and yet, when it mattered most, Gabbiadini faltered.

 

Looking out of sorts and out of place, Gabbiadini struggled to adapt to Sarri's system, the odd man out living Napoli's very own rendition of Reservoir Dogs; "Insigne to the left of me, Callejon to the right, here I am stuck in the middle with you."

 

As likeable as Gabbiadini is, and believe me he was by the majority of Napoli fans, many of whom had an intense desire to see him succeed, he failed to keep up with the attacking pace of his supporting cast and failed to get involved in the crucial link-up play between Sarri's midfield and attack, anchored so perfectly by Marek Hamsik.

 

And yet there was frustration too, a petulant sending off for kicking out at an opponent during an away day at Crotone, a game Napoli narrowly went on to win 2-1 and one which would ultimately lead to the ushering in of the 'False 9' and the rebirth of Dries Mertens as a goalscoring sensation who would revive Napoli's then flailing form.

 

Gabbiadini's best position is widely regarded to be on the right side of a front three, but at Napoli he was never going to dislodge the irreplaceable and ever present Jose Maria Callejon who not only gives Napoli one of the best creative outlets in Serie A, but also a player who works the right flank to near machine like effectiveness and consistency; watch Napoli play and Callejon is a player who will work the entire length of the right flank, winning back possession, dropping deep to take the ball and link up with team mates to build attacks. Gabbiadini, even if he could start in his favoured and most effective position, was never going to offer Sarri what Callejon does.

 

Much has been made of the statistic that shows Gabbiadini is second only to Higuain in terms of goals per minute, with 25 goals in 3119 minutes of football equalling a goal every 124 minutes. On paper it looks a reasonable return, however Gabbiadini had been at Napoli almost two years to the day when he was sold, which when taking his 3119 minutes of playing time equates to an average of just 34.65 ninety minute matches.

 

Of course, last season no-one was going to dislodge the on-fire Gonzalo Higuain as he broke the Serie A goalscoring record with 36 goals, but it's the several months since Milik's injury which has shown Napoli fans that, no matter how much we desperately wanted him to do well, he simply wasn't the right fit and possibly lacked the mentality required to succeed in Naples.

 

Despite this, there is still an odd tinge of sadness and regret that things didn't work out differently and, at the end of the day, Manolo moving on and kick starting his career in England was ultimately the best move for both parties; grazie di tutto e buona fortuna, Manolo.






James McGhie (@jrmcghie) is the founder of @SemprePodcast,the original & best SSC Napoli podcast for English speaking supporters across the world.