Didn’t see this one coming

By: Joe | June 21st, 2007

I was all set to write a post about Raffaele Auriemma, the radio voice of Napoli, when I saw the news about Rolando Bianchi. Mulitple reports are reporting Napoli have reached an agreement with Reggina to purchase the dynamic forward for between 7 and 10 million euro. The sticking point now remains convincing Bianchi of the move. Someone take the kid up to San Martino on the funicolare, have him overlook the city with Vesuvio in the background and say “Rolando, if you do well here, you’ll be a God.”

The fact is 24-year old strikers who have started every game for their squad and have just had a breakout season (18 goals) simply don’t get signed by Napoli. Certainly not the Napoli we’ve been accustomed to in this century. Looks like Aurelio De Laurentis is done screwing around and is looking to make a splash. Potentially signing young gems from South America like Gargano is one thing, but to make a ploy for the 4th best goal scorer in Italy and at a time when he is just coming into his own speaks volumes for the future direction of the club.

Rolando Bianchi began his professional career in Atalanta in 2000 but didn’t get much time with the club until two years later. Atalanta then loaned him out to Cagliari where he played for a year and a half with mixed results. Bianchi put it all together this year for the Reggina. The club was in a relegation dogfight from the beginning of the year due to its 11 point calciopoli penalty (the squad would have fought for a EUFA cup spot without the points deduction). Bianchi teamed up with veteran Nicolas Amoruso to form the most lethal 1-2 forward combination in Serie A. The pair were dynamic and Amoruso must have helped shape Bianchi’s development. Bianchi is equally adept at scoring with both his head and feet and reminds me a little of Calaio in that he’s a strong forward who can hold up the ball, distribute well and has a nose for goal. Juventus were also after Bianchi because, you know, you need to make sure you have 14 strikers on your squad like Inter Milan.