Last season, Napoli’s attacking front three of Jose Callejon, Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne had everyone talking both in Italy and abroad. That trio scored 36 goals between them as they terrorised defences with their attacking prowess, the side under Maurizio Sarri having recorded a record points total and almost pipped Juventus to a seventh consecutive Scudetto.
This time around, it seems as though new boss Carlo Ancelotti will include striker Arkadiusz Milik in a revamped attacking 4-2-3-1 formation, and there is a new front three in town that might give that famous Partenopei front line a run for its money.
Fiorentina have secured the signing of Juventus winger Marko Pjaca on an initial season loan with an option to buy, the Croatia international having made headlines when he became the most expensive ever sale from Dinamo Zagreb back in summer 2016, joining Juventus for a fee of €23 million.
The winger impressed in his initial performances, but a serious injury sustained in March of his first season in Turin saw him move down the Bianconeri pecking order as Juve continued to strengthen with more and more quality acquisitions.
Following a six-month loan spell at Schalke last term, the 23-year-old now completes the Viola front three alongside Giovanni Simeone (22) and Federico Chiesa (21).
“Watch out for my Pjaca,” the Croatia international’s agent Marko Naletilic told Tuttosport this week. “We wanted Fiorentina so that he could be guaranteed consistent playing time. If he gets back to being the player he was before the injury, and you’ll see that he will, then assists and goals will be a natural consequence.The trident attack in Florence this season has so much quality to it, matching to Chiesa, Simeone and Pjaca.”
😳👌🔥💜
Federico Chiesa (20)
Giovanni Simeone (23)
Marko Pjaca (23)
The player’s return to full form is still a slight unknown quantity as Pjaca only played 260 minutes of Bundesliga action in the second half of last season, in which time he managed to score two goals. However he – and the other two youngsters in that trio – can only get better and Fiorentina can also boast the experienced new signing Kevin Mirallas as a backup.
Meanwhile Simeone continues to grow having scored 14 goals in first-team action last term, and Coach Stefano Pioli believes that Chiesa has a lot more to give than just six strikes fired in last season, describing him in a recent interview as the “best young Italian” footballer.
Chiesa is a good lad, very young, and fortunately, he doesn’t listen much to everything that is said about him,” the Coach told reporters before the start of last season. “He just focuses on improving every day in training. Federico evidently has immense quality, but he can be more consistent during a game, like all his teammates. He knows that he’s just at the start of his journey and there was never a chance he would leave this summer.”
Those words still ring true about the Italian international, and the winger has enjoyed the benefit of now having worked with the excellent man-manager Pioli over a full campaign.
Many people have a soft spot for the Viola thanks to their vibrant purple shirts, and this young and talented attack now looks set to give them and indeed the die-hard supporters something to cheer about this season.
