Marko Rog officially completes move to Napoli on loan with option to buy

It’s official: after weeks of speculation and hope and waiting, Marko Rog is a Napoli player, completing his move from Dinamo Zagreb after passing his medical and finalizing his season-long loan to Naples.

The deal, believed to be worth €1.5 million up front with a €12.5 million purchase clause triggered at a low-but-unknown appearance count, is one well worth taking for Napoli. The 21 year old Croatian international is a tremendously talented young player, with playmaking skills to spare and plenty of drive, passion, and upside for days.

While he’s played deeper in midfield for Dinamo in a role vaguely similar to the one Jorginho plays for Napoli, that tended to come out of a combination of need and lack of other viable options. Rog’s skillset makes him significantly better suited to playing further up the pitch, ideally behind the striker in a band of three attacking midfielders, but also capable of playing out wide as well.

His versatility and skill will be valuable for Napoli both this season and in the future. For now, Rog is a wonderful option to have coming off the bench and a rotation option, something Napoli definitely needed more of. And in the future, his upside is high enough that Napoli could easily have a budding star on their hands.

It also helps that Rog has plenty of high-level experience, having played with Dinamo in the Champions League group stage a year ago, and lead his former team back to that stage with a strong qualifying run this year. Add that to earning his way into Croatia’s Euro 2016 squad through strong performances in the league for Dinamo, and there’s a lot of reason to be excited.

Welcome to Napoli, Marko. The fans are excited to have you, and it’s going to be a fun ride to see where things go from here.