Lorenzo Lucca had a disappointing spell at Nottingham Forest in the second half of last season. Things aren’t improving for the striker, who is back at Napoli.
SportWitness had tracked how the Italian constantly faced criticism for his attitude in the Italian press. He scored on his debut for the Midlands club, however, injury problems constantly held him back later.
This made sure Nottingham Forest didn’t exercise their option to buy. He stayed at Napoli, who couldn’t move him on to another club.
While he has featured for the Naples this season, Lucca hasn’t made a positive impact. He is being heavily criticised once again, as he has failed to turn things around after Nottingham Forest.
Player compared to giraffe
Today’s Il Mattino have some scathing criticism for the lanky forward. This is because he was rather disappointing when he came off the bench against Fiorentina, as Napoli were held to a dull 1-1 draw.
The Naples paper – via CalcioNapoli1926, say that Lucca is at risk of becoming ‘the missing footballer’. This is because he is ‘missing’ in every sense when he plays to a point where he plays ‘against his team’.
He also seems ‘lost’ and ‘distant’ from an attitude perspective.
Further, the newspaper note that sometimes, he has the ball at his feet but doesn’t even know that. This brings in a harsh comparison with a giraffe. Il Mattino go a step further, saying that despite being taller than Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Lucca can’t even head the ball properly.
The striker is also said to lack humility, with question marks being raised over why Antonio Conte even signed him.
Our take: Lucca is the least of the problems
Napoli currently have much bigger problems than Lucca. Max Allegri’s approach hasn’t suited them, making attackers have to rely on very little service.
But even at Nottingham Forest, Lucca was subjected to harsh and sometimes pointless criticism by the Italian press. Even then, he was facing fitness issues, as he looked to put the Napoli spell behind him.
Now, the Partenopei failed to find a new club for him. That is also their fault, as they couldn’t find a replacement.
Besides, the spell at Nottingham Forest wouldn’t define the 26-year-old. He has to find a new club where can start regularly and score goals. He did that at Udinese and needs something similar.
