‘Extraordinary’ midfielder ‘like Iniesta’ turns down Tottenham and Arsenal

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Serie A playmaker Stanislav Lobotka is set to turn down potential moves to Premier League trio Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Liverpool while signing a new deal at table-topping Napoli, according to 90Min. 

Is there a better midfield in the whole of Europe right now than Stanislav Lobotka, Andre-Franck Zambo Anguissa and Piotr Zielinski? Former Italy international Sebino Nela doesn’t think so. 

“Anguissa, Lobotka and Zielinski; at the moment, the best midfield trio in Europe,” Nela tells Il Messaggero; Luciano Spalletti’s seemingly unstoppable runaway train cruising at the top of Serie A while taking the Champions League by storm. 

If not the best, then Anguissa, Lobotka and Zielinski are surely the most underrated.

Lobotka, a Slovakia international signed for £20 million from Celta Vigo nearly three years ago, is far from a household name outside of Italian shores. That could soon change, however; his intelligence and guile a driving force behind a Napoli side dreaming of their first Scudetto triumph since 1990. 

Tottenham, Arsenal and Liverpool like Stanislav Lobotka

“There are few around like him,” former England manager Fabio Capello tells Il Mattino. “And by ‘few’ I mean that I don’t see any. Nobody. For me, he is the most complete (midfielder) in Serie A in that role. He is intelligent. He is always in good shape and does not lose the ball, as well as being aggressive.” 

Comparisons have even been made between Lobotka and one of the most iconic playmakers of the 21^st century; a man who, like Napoli’s number 68, defied his diminutive frame and bullied opposition players with his finesse rather than his physique.

“Lobotka looked like (Andres) Iniesta today,” Partenopei coach Spalletti said of the 27-year-old after August’s goalscoring display against Hellas Verona. “He played an exceptional game. The goal is of a quality; extraordinary.” 

Reports suggesting that Lobotka will extend his contract at Napoli – while rebuffing the advances of Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal – will therefore be music to Neopolitan ears.