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Torino, Fiorentina circle as Mirko Valdifiori heads for Napoli exit

The little-used and poor-performing midfielder looks set to leave after just one season at the San Paolo.

Keep running, Mirko. All the way to the door. There you go.
Keep running, Mirko. All the way to the door. There you go.
Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images

This will probably come as little surprise, but it looks as though Mirko Valdifiori will soon be a former Napoli player instead of a current one. With additional playing time for the midfielder looking unlikely any time soon, Valdifiori is apparently looking for a fresh start, and both Torino and Fiorentina are reportedly considering his services.

Valdifiori was brought in last summer with cautious optimism -- a low-money signing to bring in a midfielder who knows the new manager well can hardly be a bad signing, right? Well, apparently he can -- word eventually slipped out that Maurizio Sarri never wanted to bring Valdifiori with him from Empoli, and after the midfielder had a dreadful start to the season, he was replaced as Napoli's primary regista by Jorginho, a move that ultimately proved to help spark Napoli's dramatic rise in the table. Even his vaunted skill on set pieces was rarely in evidence, with more balls sent far afield than accurately delivered.

Since then, Valdifiori was little better in Napoli's early Europa League exit, and was downright mediocre in two Coppa Italia appearances. In all, he made 15 appearances for the partenopei, and with two matches left to go in the season, it looks unlikely that he will add more.

Despite that stunning lack of real ability, it doesn't seem as though Napoli will have much trouble shifting him -- in addition to Valdifiori's fee almost certainly being very low, he already seems to have a number of suitors. Torino and Fiorentina have been mentioned as very interested repeatedly in recent days, and AC Milan were reportedly considering him as recently as a few weeks ago. Even Empoli would be likely to be willing to take him back, as they missed his presence at times this season.

No matter what, we shouldn't expect to see Valdifiori suiting up for Napoli next season. And really, will that make anyone particularly sad? Nothing against the guy, but he just wasn't good enough. Hopefully he has better luck elsewhere.