4 days ago
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Insight from Italy
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Few would doubt that Nottingham Forest have thought big in their attempts to sign much-needed reinforcements to their struggling Premier League squad. The Reds currently sit 17th in the English top-flight and have now turned to Italian striker Lorenzo Lucca to bolster their attack. According to reports in Italy, the 25-year-old striker will complete a permanent transfer to Napoli - who he joined on loan at the start of the season - and then move on his second loan of the season to the City Ground. The deal includes an up-front fee of €2m, with an option for Forest to make the move permanent with a further €35m fee. But who is the towering striker and is he the answer to all of Sean Dyche’s problems?
How good is Lorenzo Lucca?
Despite only being 25 years of age, Lucca’s move to Forest will be the seventh transfer of his career. After spells at Torino, Palermo, Pisa and even Ajax during his formative years, the striker really found his feet at Udinese in 2004 and that’s where he announced himself as a Serie A talent. Over the course of 36 games for the Italian club, the towering striker bagged 14 goals and two assists and clearly thrived under head coach Kosta Runjaić. “At Udinese, he found a favorable environment, little pressure, and finally a decent number of goals,” said Stefano Buonfino, Transfermart’s Serie A expert, when asked about Lucca’s breakthrough season. “And in a market where tall, physical strikers are paid at least €20-25 million, Lucca, being over two meters tall (6ft7in) attracted the attention of Napoli, who needed to find two strikers due to Romelu Lukaku's injury.”
And it’s not hard to see why Napoli would consider Lucca as an ideal replacement for the former Manchester United and Chelsea No.9. When the striker completes his move to Forest he’ll become the fifth tallest player to ever play in the Premier League. No less than eight of Lucca’s 23 goals for Udinese came from winning headers in the air. However, as Buonfino points out, assuming that Lucca is a traditional target man was ultimately what led to him not working out for Antonio Conte’s side. “He was unable to provide Conte with what he wanted: a tall, strong striker who could protect the ball with his back to goal for his teammates and be a decisive factor in aerial duels,” noted the Serie A expert. “Unfortunately, Lucca lacked both the right mentality, being too compliant, and what should have been his best weapon, his height.”
As such, despite spending €9m to sign him on loan in the summer and now a further €25m (plus €5m in bonuses) to make the move permanent before his move to England, Lucca departs Napoli having failed to live up to the hype. “The main problem is that he could not continue his scoring streak in Naples,” explained Buonfino. “On the contrary, some spectacularly missed goals have become the symbol of an incomplete transfer market.” The 25-year-old centre forward now departs southern Italy with just two goals in 23 appearances. “At the end, Antonio Conte rejected him, and the last image of him with Napoli could be the failed goal against Copenhagen that could be very problematic for the champion’s board.”
However, none of that is to say that Lucca can’t thrive at Forest under Dyche’s more direct style of football. The towering talent clearly showed what he was capable of at Udinese and also has a number of caps to his name for the Italy U21 and senior team. “He is a very tall striker, but that does not mean he lacks technical ability,” added Buonfino, when asked what Forest fans can expect. “He manages to exploit his height in the penalty area but also outside it, scoring goals or creating chances and space for his teammates.” The question that will now be on every Forest fan’s mind is whether Lucca can thrive in Nottingham like he did at Udinese, or whether he’ll falter at his second, successive club.
“At Naples his skills were hidden by his lack of mentality, in a team with a coach that forgives nothing,” revealed Buonfino, when asked if he thinks the Italian striker can thrive in the Premier League for Forest. “He began poorly and then he wasn't able to recover, he lost his confidence. If he manages to stay focused, he has the skills and the physicality to do better in the Premier League. My only concern is if he can handle the pressure.”
