Luciano Spalletti drew attention to two Empoli players in particular ahead of Napoli’s clash with the Tuscan side, suggesting that they’re both ready to join top clubs.
The Partenopei are comfortably on track to win their first Serie A title since the days of Diego Maradona, sitting 15 points clear of second place Inter with 15 games left to play.
Their next opponents, Empoli, are also having a relatively good season and sit 13th in the league table, 11 points clear of the relegation zone. They fell to Napoli 2-0 in their first meeting earlier this season.
Speaking in a press conference today, Spalletti was asked about last year’s defeats to Empoli and if they were the team’s lowest moment of the campaign.
“I think there have been important steps forward after the defeats, the reading and handling of similar situations have been well handled.
“It’s a very delicate match because of their precise tactical geometry, we will have to weaken their compactness. They have a way of playing that comes from afar, they know how to stay on the pitch very well.
“They have strong players, very strong players like Vicario, everyone talks about him now, Parisi, Baldanzi, they’re players that we’ll find next year in the top teams competing for the top spots and they already know how to behave on the pitch.
“Then there is the experience of Luperto that we had, and he had to play with consistency, all signs of the difficulty of the match and that we’ll have to be good.”
The 22-year-old Fabiano Parisi has been heavily linked with a move to either Juventus or Lazio in recent months and seems destined for a move in the summer. His teammate, 19-year-old Tommaso Baldanzi, has recently emerged as a possibly for Napoli.