Luigi Sepe set for season-long loan

In the last year, Napoli discovered that they had one heck of a gem on their hands in goal. Luigi Sepe had gotten mixed results on loans in lower levels of Italian football, but last season in Serie A with Empoli something clicked in a big way. He excelled and opened a lot of eyes, and that, of course, lead many to wonder what's next.

Well, what's next isn't at Napoli. Not quite yet, at least.

According to reports, thanks to Pepe Reina being locked in as Napoli's starting goalkeeper, Sepe is set for another loan in Serie A, this time aiming a little higher in the league than Empoli. Just who he goes to hasn't been determined yet -- Atalanta are supposed to be very interested, but they probably aren't a sufficiently better team than Empoli to do Sepe's development a lot of good.

One other team has been very interested in Sepe as well, though, and they could make a lot of sense -- Fiorentina. The viola have struck out on their efforts to get a more veteran goalkeeper to replace Neto, and are apparently very willing to turn to a temporary option in Sepe to tide them over. It's rumored that negotiations have already begun, and we could see a move develop soon.

While it would have been nice to see Sepe get a role with Napoli this season, loaning him to a team that will get him starts an an almost-every-match basis will be much better for his development. Sometimes you've got to let things go a bit in the present to let your future be better, and Napoli are probably making the right decision by loaning Sepe. Now we've just got to figure out who's going to back up Reina...