Rao shines on loan as Pisa crash out of the Coppa Italia

Pisa lost 3-0 to Paolo Vanoli's Fiorentina in a Tuscan derby in the Coppa Italia, Italy's cup competition, but the name everyone on social media was talking about was not on the winning side. It was Emanuele Rao, Napoli's 20-year-old winger, out on loan at Pisa since the summer. He hit the post and produced several eye-catching moments, and X filled up with clips of him taking on defenders and cutting inside onto his right foot.

The Favasuli effect

It is worth naming the phenomenon straight away. Since Favasuli, born in 2004, came on at half-time against Bologna and set up the winning goal on his first Serie A start, every academy loanee who beats a man on video has become, in the eyes of Napoli's fanbase, a missed opportunity. The comparison only goes so far: there is still a wide gap between being good and being ready for Allegri's Napoli, and a two-minute video does not tell the whole story.

Rao does have a story worth telling. He came through the youth ranks at Chievo and Spal — two clubs since dropped out of professional football — and scored his first senior goal at 17 years, six months and 13 days old, the second-youngest scorer in Spal's history behind only Mario Romani, whose record had stood since 1924. He made 67 Serie C appearances for Spal, Italy's third tier, with 6 goals and 3 assists, then moved up to Serie B and posted the same numbers — 6 goals, 3 assists — in 35 games, before Napoli signed him in the summer of 2025.

He has lived with type 1 diabetes since he was nine, diagnosed during his time at Chievo. He manages his blood sugar and insulin during matches with an automated system, the same method used by the tennis player Zverev.

After signing him, Napoli loaned him out, brought him back for pre-season training at Dimaro, the club's summer training camp, this year, then loaned him out again — this time to Pisa, who paid €1m for a straight loan with no option to buy. Rao is due back at Napoli in June.

He is not a small player: 1.81m, deployed mainly on the left but naturally right-footed, always looking to beat his man and cut back onto his stronger foot. He names Lookman and Leão as his reference points, not Insigne — the physical comparison with Insigne does not really hold.

Rao has everything to make a difference

That was Pisa coach Paolo Bianco's verdict after the defeat to Fiorentina. He added that Rao still needs to grow "in both phases" of the game, and that he is missing "a piece" — probably the one that currently keeps him out of Serie A.

Napoli's real dilemma

The sharper comparison, in Naples, is about the club's wide forward positions. One young signing, bought for over €20m, is still a starter in the making. Neres keeps struggling to stay fit through injury. Alisson Santos is out with a hamstring injury picked up against Arsenal. And a section of the fanbase still has doubts about Politano, the vice-captain and a fixture under three different coaches. In a position group this crowded with question marks, a 20-year-old who can go viral even abroad — one of the clips doing the rounds was posted in Portuguese, by a Brazilian account — is an easy regret to reach for.

Allegri had already run the eye over him in person, at Dimaro, before deciding to send him out for another year of experience. Pisa paid €1m for a loan with no strings attached. Rao comes back to Napoli in June regardless — and it will be there, not on social media, that this story finds out whether it deserved more trust than it was given.