Vergara shines as diamond in the rough for infirm Napoli

Antonio Vergara is the man of the moment at the minute in Naples.

Napoli are currently going through the motions as the Scudetto holders face a growing injury list, an awkward early exit from the UEFA Champions League and a real fight on their hands to retain the Serie A trophy.

However, if there was one silver lining amongst all these dark clouds it would be the impressive performances of Vergara.

The 23-year-old had not played a senior minute for the Partenopei before this season, and spent the last two seasons on loan with Reggiana in Serie B.

Despite this, it is Vergara who has won the heart of Naples in the last couple of weeks.

On Wednesday, he scored a spectacular goal after a slick solo run in the Champions League against Chelsea. It was his first goal for his boyhood club and he scored it in style.

On Saturday, Vergara scored again, this time in Napoli’s 2-1 win against Fiorentina, that helped ease the pressure on the side after the disappointing Champions League exit. The Italian also assisted the other goal on the night, as he continues to impress.

It is strange, though, that his opportunity was only really born out of the ongoing injury crisis in Naples.

Without the circumstances, it was unlikely Vergara was going to see much first team football this season and, at 23-years-old, he is moving past the point of being sent out on loan again and again but Napoli.

When Napoli have a full roster again, it will be interesting to see whether Conte rewards Vergara’s impressive run of form with more minutes, or if he falls back down the pecking order completely.

Regardless of that, Vergara can only gain from his continued performances – in the sense that he may be able to convince another Serie A side to take a gamble on him – and Napoli may choose to cash in if he’s not deemed of the right level for the first team.

A move to a club like Genoa or Sassuolo could suit the Italian, where he would be able to get more game time than at Napoli and I would not be surprised if this was the case.

We shall see what happens – and obviously it feels exceedingly premature to be having these sorts of hypothetical conversations about a player with just 12 appearances to his name for Napoli.

However, Vergara is winning the hearts of Napoli fans and impressing pundits, and right now he is a much needed breath of fresh air in Naples.