WHEN Napoli sold Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to Paris Saint-Germain for a record €80m transfer fee back in January there were few in Italian football who expected them to maintain their push for a second league title in three years and be crowned champions for just the fourth time in their history.
They may have been four points clear of their nearest rivals Inter Milan courtesy of a five match winning run at the time the Georgian internationalist departed for the French capital.
However, they had relied heavily on the supremely gifted winger, a former Serie A Most Valuable Player and Champions League Young Player of the Season, up until that stage. Many predicted that a collapse lay ahead.
Sure enough, a five match winless run soon followed and Antonio Conte’s out-of-sorts side surrendered top spot and tumbled down the table.
Napoli, though, have recovered from that slump in form in impressive fashion in recent weeks and currently sit three points ahead of Inter with just three games remaining. So how have they turned things around and atoned for the loss of their talisman against all the odds?
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Fabio Mandarini, the Napoli correspondent of respected Italian sports newspaper Corriere dello Sport, believes their Scottish duo Billy Gilmour and Scott McTominay, who only arrived last summer from Brighton and Manchester United respectively, have been key to the unexpected comeback and must accept much of the praise for the unexpected revival in fortunes.
"Both of them have been fundamental to the position that Napoli are in,” said Mandarini. “They have brought attitude, mentality, technique and tactical nous. They both have enormous personality. And they have increased the athleticism, intensity and pace in the side.
“In Italy just now, there are few players like Gilmour and McTominay. They have brought Premier League quality to an already very strong group. They have raised the level of internal competitiveness in the squad and ensured they are better equipped to compete with top class opponents like Inter.
“They are both really exceptional professionals. I don't know what would have happened without them. But one thing is for certain - it is far better to have them in the Napoli team.”
“There was an enormous void in the attack and the responsibility to pitch in with the goals that Kvara supplied fell on the shoulders of [Romelu] Lukaku, who is a centre forward. But it was actually McTominay who stepped up provided them and showed that he is a total midfielder.
“Billy played an important role too because other players were sidelined at the same time. He managed to atone for the absence of first [Stanislav] Lobotka and then of [Frank] Anguissa. Those were very difficult tasks. Anguissa especially is a real totem for the team. But Billy managed it on both occasions.
“He has quality, intelligence, intensity and geometry. He plays vertically. But, like McTominay, he is very good in the defensive phase. On top of all that, he has personality beyond his 23 years. He is a modern and complete footballer.
"The Napoli fans think they're both great. They're in love with Billy and Scott and it's easy to understand why. They give everything on the pitch, they never stop, they're decisive. They're perfectly behaved away from the pitch as well.”
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The impact which the Scotland internationalists have made in Italy this season has been an uplifting story and Napoli fans are now hoping the dynamic duo will be able to help their heroes writing an exciting final chapter.
Mandarini knows that McTominay has been the main character and compares him to both a secret agent in a cult 1980s television show and an organised crime fixer in an Oscar-winning 1990s movie due to his extraordinary ability to successfully address whatever complex issues his manager has been confronted with.
“Conte can change the formation easily because Scott guarantees both the offensive and defensive phases. But he scores goals and provides assists. He wins his duels and dominates in the air. He has an extraordinary impact athletically. When everyone in the team is tired, he still runs hard.
“He is a top player. He has been the greatest transfer buy in Italian football, not just for Napoli, this season. He has been the difference, he has been deciding factor in the matches. He can decide the Scudetto.”
