Six goals and one assist. These are the numbers, achieved in 30 appearances, of Simone Verdi in this season. The 31-year-old is one of the pillars of the As, who is dreaming of the big leap into Serie A. Yet it is enough to go back only a few years to talk about one of the strangest transfer deals, which has seen the player moving from Bologna to Napoli. A story of rejection, illusion and a great wasted opportunity, which deserves to be analyzed in detail.
The explosion of Simone Verdi
Raised in a Milan team that then discarded him without much thought, the good Simone cut his teeth in Turin, Juve Stabia and Empoli. Here he worked with Maurizio Sarri, who was perhaps the first to notice his qualities. Here he learned to move and vary across the entire offensive front, becoming unpredictable and providing no points of reference. His apprenticeship then continued at Elbar and Carpi, with the Rossoneri never giving him an opportunity. The latter is called for him Bologna. His golden season was 2017/2018, which ended with 10 goals and 10 assists. The date to frame for him is November 4, 2017when he scored a brace from a free kick from 25 meters against Crotone: the first scored by kicking with the left foot from the right area and the second with the right foot from the left area.
In short, the playmaker, wearing the Bologna shirt, showed off his pure and crystalline talent, ballistic abilities, flexibility, technique, vision of the game and speed. All characteristics that attracted the interest of Napoli. Neapolitans, however, suffered a sharp refusal in January 2018. A no dictated by having found, at 25, his maturity and his football home. Obviously it was just a goodbye. The deal in fact closed the following June.
The reasons behind a failure
The Campanians paid 25 million euros to buy him from Bologna. The first months are all in all decent, with a goal and his debut in the Champions League. But, in hindsight, it was all a flash in the pan. One reason was undoubtedly a muscle injury, arrived in October and kept it out for about two months, in the key and most important period of the year. Beyond this, however, Verdi never shone and was in the shadow of Vesuvius a sort of real mysterious object. His performance in Florence was emblematic, where, in the final quarter of an hour, his performance was nothing short of disastrous. In short, Ancelotti, that year on the Neapolitan bench, tried to give him some chances, but without getting any answers.
Therefore there are very few memories of Verdi in Naples. Indeed, most likely they are almost all linked to that no which had made noise, caused controversy and accusations. Maybe that wasn’t the right time, maybe he paid for a Napoli that, with Ancelotti, never found the right fit. Maybe he still had to grow up a little. However, that negative experience marked his career, given that, even in his subsequent experience at Turin, the player was unable to return to the levels of Bologna, which had even allowed him to reach the national team. Now, at 31, his goal is return to Serie A with Como. And try to leave your mark again.