Insigne: Maradona will always be Napoli´s number 10

Napoli striker Lorenzo Insigne says he will never attempt to wear Diego Maradona’s famous number 10 jersey at the club.

The 21-year-old has made huge strides this season and was rewarded with his first call-up to the Italy squad at the start of September.

Insigne believes much of that is down to his relationship with coach Walter Mazzarri, but though he remains buoyed by his season to date, the youngster has played down talk of him one day wearing Maradona’s old shirt.

“Playing starter or not is not a problem for me, I respect the choices of my coach. Mazzarri is a coach who does a lot of work, is very precise and well-trained. I have improved a lot working with him in recent months,” he told Sport360.

“I’m a normal guy, I always try to give it my all on the pitch. The number 10 shirt? You cannot touch it, that is Maradona’s and must always remain his.”

The diminutive forward then revealed his targets for the season ahead and also highlighted the threat posed by several teams in their bid for the Serie A title.

“I want to keep enjoying my football. Winning the Europa League? It is not impossible because we don’t set any limits on ourselves at Napoli,” Insigne said.

“Juventus are the team to beat because they have something more than everybody else, but Inter and AC Milan could also climb up the table and challenge as well.

“(Zdenek) Zeman is a very good coach and Roma have started well and will be confident that they can challenge for the title also.”