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We heard a couple weeks ago that Napoli were set to acquire a bit of an unknown player in Carrarese midfielder Eddy Gnahore. Well, now the move is official, with Gnahore signing his contract on Tuesday to complete his transfer to Napoli, with the 22 year old immediately joining Carpi on loan for the remainder of the season.
La #SSCNapoli ufficializza l'acquisto di Eddy Gnahoré dalla @CarrareseCalcio. Il calciatore passa, in prestito biennale, al @carpifc1909.
— Official SSC Napoli (@sscnapoli) January 26, 2016
Gnahore is a 22-year old French midfielder who originally came up through the academies of Manchester City and Birmingham City. He enjoyed an impressive FA Cup debut for Birmingham at 18 years old, but suffered a serious injury in training just weeks later. Birmingham's mounting financial woes forced them to cut ties with Gnahore -- among a variety of other players -- in 2013, and in 2014 he signed on with Carrarese in Lega Pro.
That move has been a good one for Gnahore, as getting regular minutes even for a third-tier side has allowed him to get the experience and reps that he needed to get his career back on track. He's got a lot of skill, but is still very raw and fairly inexperienced -- though obviously Napoli have seen enough to think that he's worth turning into a project.
That video is from his first season at Carrarese, and even though he reportedly wasn't comfortable in the side yet thanks to living in a new country with a major language barrier, you can tell that Gnahore's physical skills are a step above those of his opponents and teammates. His technical skills still need development, but there's definitely a lot for Napoli to work with.
His time at Carpi will bear close monitoring, because this will be Gnahore's first extended taste of first-team football. he should get plenty of playing time at Carpi -- their midfield badly needs someone with his skills -- so we should get plenty of time to evaluate Gnahore and see just what Napoli have bought.