The Greek club AEK Athens have made a formal offer for Amato Ciciretti, according to reliable journalist Gianluca Di Marzio. The Napoli forward is considering the offer with the move potentially materializing in January. Below we take a look at the player, his positioning and attacking statistics, and how he could be of use to Nikos Kostenoglou’s squad.
Who is Amato Ciciretti?
Amato Ciciretti is a predominantly right-sided forward currently owned by Napoli. Although he can play through the middle, and AEK Athens may end up playing him there, he spends most of his time high up the pitch and closer to the right-hand side, as you can see from his heat map below.
Ciciretti has previously played for Benevento and Parma, among other clubs.
A look at Ciciretti’s most fruitful season
Ciciretti’s numbers don’t scream productivity when you apply them to the profile of a traditional number nine. However, his stats are much more appealing when applied to that of an attacking winger.
He had his most productive season at Benevento in 2016-2017, where he scored 6 goals and provided 9 assists for his teammates.
Beyond that, he had 104 shots, 33.7% of them hitting the target.
He crossed the ball 112 times with 35.2% of those crosses being successful.
Finally, he attempted a dribble 211 times with a very solid success percentage of 58.8%. It goes without saying that he can be a handful for opponents with his trickery and incision.
AEK Athens will undoubtedly be looking for those attributes to bolster their attack and service their traditional Centre Forwards with better crosses, passes, and generally scoring opportunities of a higher quality.
What is his situation at Napoli?
Ciciretti’s contract expires in 2023, a long time from now, however, he is clearly not deemed part of the squad by either Carlo Ancelotti or viewed as a prospect by the club in general. If he wants to play his best bet is to leave the club at the earliest opportunity. At 25 years old it would make sense to deduce that he does want to leave to boost his playing time.
It remains to be seen if other clubs are interested in the player and what competition AEK Athens have in obtaining his services.
