FIFA 22 Napoli Career Mode Guide: Starting Lineup and Who to sign

Napoli have been an exciting team in recent times, yet that hasn't led to a league title, with their last being in the 1989/90 season.

Saying that, Serie A has been dominated by Juventus Piemonte Calcio, however, with Inter showing the crown can be claimed by another team, you could be the manager to take the team to success.

Their first XI is solid, but there is a building job to be done by bringing in youth, so if you like developing young players, Napoli could be the job for you on FIFA 22 Career Mode.

Team Rating

Napoli have a four-and-a-half star rating on FIFA 22.

That is due to their team rating of: 82 ATK, 79 MID, and 80 DEF.

Starting Lineup and Formation

Napoli's default lineup is a 4-3-3, but we would switch it to a 4-2-3-1 Narrow, to better utilise wide attacking players that don't have insane speed.

Don't get us wrong, we're playing with three CAM's that all have over 80 PAC, and they could do a job on the wing if you wanted, but we feel playing them as CAM's opposed to wingers will let their quality ball control, passing and shooting really come into play, as well as letting them get wide if they need to.

Victor Osimhen leads the line and is a great frontman that offers pace in behind, an aerial threat, strength, and clinical finishing.

He isn't top-class at dribbling yet, but get him on the training ground and he will only improve.

Behind him are three CAM's that, as mentioned, all offer similar attributes of top dribbling, passing, and shooting, with added pace.

Matteo Politano is on the right of the three, with Lorenzo Insigne on the left, meaning both can cut inside and shoot on their preferred foot.

Dries Mertens sits centrally and will look to push on into the box and play as a second striker when needed.

The two CDM's have a more attacking option in Piotr Zielinski and a solid, mobile option of Andre-Franck Zambo Anguissa.

The two full-backs, Mario Rui and Giovanni Di Lorenzo, are comfortable on the ball but not the best defensively, but that's ok because there is the solid partnership of Kaildou Koulibaly and Kostas Manolas to take control of all defensive situations.

Alex Meret gets ahead of David Ospina, as they are both rated the same but he is younger with more potential.

The most noteworthy player on the bench is Hirving Lozano, who can offer 93 PAC to exploit tiring defences.

Tactics and Instructions

We've set for the team to be balanced in width and depth defensively, and to Press After Possession Loss, to swarm the opposition with the nippy CAM's if we lose the ball around the area.

The build-up play and chance creation are both set to Balanced to allow varied attacks from the intelligent forwards, with more width introduced.

To make use of Osimhen as a real goal threat, he is set to Stay Central and Stay Forward, so he is always nearer to the goal.

The three CAM's are all set to Free Roam, to allow them to find space wherever it appears, with Mertens also having Get Into The Box For Cross.

Zielinski is set to Get Forward, with Zambo Anguissa on Stay Back While Attacking, and both on Cover Center.

Development Plans

There aren't many youngsters in the squad, with Osimhen being the only star with a potential of 89 OVR.

Fabian is 25 but still could reach a potential 86 OVR, with Meret and Eljif Elmas the only other players to concentrate on improving.

Zielinski isn't the happiest playing at CDM, despite being a CM, so it could be worth giving him a position change.

Transfer Market

Starting transfer budget: £48 million

Starting wage budget: £361,000 a week

Who should go

There isn't much depth to the squad, so make sure you bring in replacements for anyone who does go.

The other issue is that a lot of the players are ageing, so won't pick up much money if you do sell them.

It could be worth selling Fabian if you get the right offer, as the money that transfer would bring in will double your budget.

Arkadiusz Milik is out on loan, but you could recall him just to sell him, with his value at £26 million.

Loans

There are no players in the squad who you would want to send out on loan, so that will save some time.

You have three players who are out on loan, Milik has already been mentioned, Amin Younes can be recalled to give you another CAM option, and Sebastiano Luperto, who can be sold upon his return.

Zambo Anguissa is on loan from Fulham, and it could be worth trying to sign him as he offers the legs in midfield none of your other players have at CDM.

Who to Sign

The starting XI is pretty settled, with the only position in dire need of change being left-back.

You don't want to spend all your cash on one player, so try to find someone with decent ability that will progress well, with Kieran Tierney being the most expensive we'd go for.

Left-back options

Then you want to look for as many young talents with decent potential that will break into your first team, but also be good enough to tag in throughout the season.

Promising young player options

Contracts

There are 10 players in the final year of their contract, including Zambo Anguissa who we have already spoken about.

To keep some sort of squad depth you will want to renew them all, especially star players Mertens and Insigne.

Ospina is another you should tie-down, as he is one of only two goalkeepers at the club.

Osimhen has four years left on his contract, but it does contain a £95 million release clause, so you may want to re-negotiate to take that out, as you don't want to lose your most promising player and star striker.

Board Expectations

There is just one critical expectation from the board, Domestic Success.

Luckily, they don't expect you to win the league (yet).

It is broken down into Short Term and Long Term targets, with the latter being the expectation to win Serie A within 2 seasons.

In the Short Term, you should reach the Semi-Final of the Coppa Italia and finish in a Champions League place in the league.

Of high priority is Brand Exposure and Continental Success.

Brand Exposure is fairly simple, only having to sign 1 player of a different nationality from the club.

Continental Success is where you need to deliver silverware, by winning the Europa League.

Youth Development is of low priority, where you will need to sign 1 defender to your youth academy, and sign at least 2 players younger than 20 with a potential greater than the average overall rating of players currently in the same position.

Finally, there is the other low priority Financial target, which asks you to sell 2 players and sign 2 crucial players to replace them and also finish the season without any unspent transfer budget.

We love a board that wants you to spend all the money!