Napoli, not just the best pizza but the best striker too?

Napoli might be famous for having the best pizza in the world but one member of their football team might also be worthy of a place in the “best-of” ranks.  Do Napoli have the best striker in the world at the moment?  A lot of talk of late has focused on Radamel Falcao, claiming he is the best player available to buy in world football but should that title be bestowed on 25-year-old Uruguayan Edison Cavani instead?

Napoli’s leading light has throughout his club career scored at a rate of better than a goal every other game (just, at 0.52 goals per game).  This stat isn’t just for 10 or 20 games either but is over his 267 club appearances that have yielded 140 goals.  Since being at Napoli his goals haul has been particularly impressive with 91 goals in 118 games in all competitions.

His goals have fired the club to their first silverware of the millennia (if you discount them winning the Serie C1 title in 2005-06 after their relegation due to bankruptcy) last season when they won the Coppa Italia.  But could his goal scoring days in the Gulf of Naples soon be over?

He has been the subject of intense press speculation of late with several clubs chasing his signature, most notably Manchester City.  This speculation peaked recently after his agent revealed to the Sun that his client was likely to leave Napoli this summer.  Manchester City are thought to be lining up a large bid in an attempt to prise him away from Napoli.  He is believed to have a buyout clause of £51 million in his contract and Manchester City’s bid is alleged to be in that region.

But what of his greatness or potential for it?  Footballers, I think, can be adjudged to be great by having either, extraordinary success and continually impressive individual displays at one club in a top league (Lionel Messi, Ryan Giggs, Pele etc) or successes and strong displays for several clubs (Cristiano Ronaldo, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Ronaldo etc).  Does Cavani need to move from Italy to secure a place on my list of greats?  I would say yes and strongly believe that if he were to move and win trophies elsewhere he would go on everyone else’s lists of great footballers too.

Peter Stickney

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