Allegri weighs false nine option to spare Højlund

Allegri is starting to look beyond Lucca. To manage the busiest month of the season, the head coach is considering playing Vergara or Neres as a false nine on a rotating basis, alternating with Højlund to stop him carrying Napoli's attack alone match after match.

Lucca does not currently have the physical credentials to be that alternative: two goals in total since joining Napoli, none in this Serie A season. The club has already made clear, through his agent Beppe Riso, that the situation could change in January if the drought continues. Those in his corner point to a vicious circle: his physical profile needs consistent playing time to find rhythm, but without rhythm a starting place does not come.

The international break was supposed to be the chance to break out of it. Napoli hope two weeks of work with Landucci at Castel Volturno (the training ground) have given him back some sharpness, but Allegri does not appear willing to wait much longer: if Lucca fails to show he is ready, tactically as well as physically, he will stay on the bench.

Vergara and Neres are the options currently appealing most to the head coach: two lighter profiles, built to support the build-up play rather than play alongside a target man. It is an idea born from a concrete problem, not a tactical whim.

Napoli go into 10 October ninth in the table with 7 points from 5 games, on the back of two straight positive results after a difficult start. In an environment already marked by supporter protest, how the attack is managed in the coming weeks will show whether Allegri has found the right formula, or whether the Lucca problem stays unresolved until January.