Former Chelsea goalkeeper Marco Amelia has spoken out about backing Napoli shot-stopper Alex Meret as a player for the Blues to sign during his time at Cobham as a player.
The 38-year-old spent a single season at Stamford Bridge as the third-choice option between the sticks behind Thibaut Courtois and Asmir Begovic in the pecking order.
He advised the coaching staff to look into signing Meret after becoming impressed with the young Italian during his time on-loan at SPAL from Udinese.
Fast forward to the summer of 2018 and Courtois left west London to join Real Madrid with Kepa Arrizabalaga leaving Athletic Club to replace the Belgium at Chelsea in a world record deal for a goalkeeper.
Meanwhile, Meret left Udinese to join Napoli where he has become one of the best players in his positions across Europe according to Amelia.
In an interview with TuttoMercatoWeb Radio, translated by Sport Witness, the former Chelsea back-up 'keeper explained how he tried to line Meret up with a move to the Blues.
"For me, Meret is among the best out there. When I was at Chelsea, I recommended him as a name to the goalkeeper coach, because he's a great prospect and has shown excellent things both at the beginning of his career and in Naples.
"He's currently fighting with a more experienced goalkeeper [David Ospina] who in the past has fought with Wojciech Szczesny and Lukasz Fabianski and is more used to it.
"It's part of the growth path that will turn him into a mature goalkeeper as a team for the top, where I am convinced Napoli will return to fight alongside Lazio, Inter and Juventus."
Kepa's future at Chelsea has been the subject of speculation after a number of disappointing performances saw the Spaniard dropped by Frank Lampard for Willy Caballero.
He was also involved in a controversial moment last season in the Carabao Cup final as he appeared to refuse Maurizio Sarri's instructions to leave the pitch to be substituted.
