Cristiano Giuntoli has left Napoli after eight years and is set to take charge of Juventus, so take a look back at some of his smartest signings.
The 51-year-old started his directorial career at Spezia in 2008, then spent six years at Carpi before taking charge at Napoli in 2015.
He arrived at what was then the Stadio San Paolo at the same time as coach Maurizio Sarri, building a team that narrowly missed out on the Scudetto, something they eventually achieved in 2023 under Luciano Spalletti.
Kvicha Kvaratskhelia (Dinamo Batumi, €11.5m)
Has any player made as much of an impact in his debut Serie A season as Kvaradona? He scored 14 goals and provided 17 assists in 43 competitive games. Admittedly, Napoli were aided by the war in Ukraine forcing the Georgian to leave Rubin Kazan in March 2022 and therefore slicing down his transfer fee, but still Giuntoli did the advance work and got him locked down for just over €10m before any other clubs realised what was happening.
Kim Min-jae (Fenerbahce, €18.05m)
The South Korea international is set to make the move to Bayern Munich for over double what Giuntoli paid a year ago, but that’s not even the best thing about this signing. Everybody assumed losing Kalidou Koulibaly would be a disaster for the Partenopei, yet his replacement proved to be even more effective.
Victor Osimhen (Lille, €75m)
At first, the Nigerian centre-forward seemed to be vastly over-priced, and there were some big question marks over the formula of the transfer too, with three youth team players valued at €20m. Despite it all, his transfer price has at least doubled in just three years and could rise even higher if he delivers consistently in Serie A and the Champions League next season too.
Piotr Zielinski (Udinese, €15m)
The Polish midfielder had already shown promise at Udinese and then on loan at Empoli, but really flourished in Naples after the 2016 transfer, which included the loan of Juan Camilo Zuniga to the Friulani. Now 29, Zielinski has amassed 329 appearances for the club, scoring 47 goals and providing 44 assists.
Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Empoli, €9m)
It was a recent swoop, but a decisive one, rising to the status of Napoli captain in the Scudetto-winning side. It has been a remarkable rise for the Italy international, who got his Serie A debut at Empoli in 2018, at the age of 25.
Stanislav Lobotka (Celta Vigo, €20m)
It took a while for the Slovakia international to find his way, but when Spalletti made him the metronome of the midfield, it was a revelation. Lobotka is one of the players Napoli would do well to keep hold of for a long time to come.
Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa (Fulham, €17.3m)
Initially signed on loan from Fulham in 2021 and purchased outright a year later, the Cameroon international was another midfielder who hadn’t really been used properly in his career until finding Spalletti.
Giovanni Simeone (Verona, €15.5m)
Perhaps the most under-rated figure in the Scudetto success, Cholito was always happy to sit on the bench and come in when needed, scoring decisive goals and never complaining once about being sent back there. Giuntoli could’ve picked a striker with greater ambitions, but that would’ve upset the balance of the team.