Costantino Favasuli: Napoli's New Signing

Costantino Favasuli is on the brink of a major step up. The 22-year-old Italian defender arrived at Rome’s Villa Stuart clinic this morning, where he is undergoing medical tests ahead of a move to Napoli.

The deal is set up as an initial one-season loan from Serie B side Catanzaro. Napoli will pay €1m for the loan, with an obligation to buy for around €6m already built into the agreement. For a player who only last season was fighting for promotion from Italy’s second tier, it is a rapid rise.

Napoli fans were waiting outside the clinic to greet him, a small but telling sign of the expectation around one of the most highly regarded young full-backs in the country. Favasuli has built that reputation on versatility and end product. He has mainly operated as a right-back but is comfortable on the left as well, a profile that fits neatly into modern tactical demands.

His numbers from last season underline why a club of Napoli’s stature has moved. Favasuli scored two goals and delivered seven assists in 36 appearances for Catanzaro, driving the Calabrian side all the way to the Serie B play-off final. That campaign turned him from a promising youngster into a serious prospect for the top flight.

The leap was recognised at international level too. In June, under caretaker coach Silvio Baldini, Favasuli made his senior Italy debut and featured in both friendlies against Greece and Luxembourg. Those caps, even in a transitional phase for the national team, added weight to the idea that he is ready for a bigger stage.

If the medical goes as expected, Napoli will not just be securing a depth option. They will be betting €7m on a full-back who has surged through Serie B, broken into the Azzurri setup, and now arrives in Naples with a clear chance to turn potential into permanence.