Fleming discovered it by chance while studying mold: the Juventus player was in danger of gathering dust on the bench and was on the transfer list, but two starts turned everything around. Forty years ago, Napoli also found in Serie B the key ingredient that led to their first Scudetto: it was Francesco Romano, one of Maradona’s favorites

He was in danger of gathering dust on the bench, waiting to be traded in January. Instead, almost by chance, after Conceiçao’s injury, it turned out that Fabio Miretti was the right ingredient to cure Juventus. I used the word “gathering dust” on purpose. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin almost by chance while studying mold. History moves forward this way too, stumbling upon the unexpected—and so does soccer. Exactly 40 years ago, Napoli fished out of Serie B (Triestina) the key ingredient that led to their first Scudetto: Francesco Romano. With Pecci gone, Ottavio Bianchi considered Falcao, Barbas… He needed a defensive midfielder behind the Ma-Gi-Ca trio. During the midseason transfer window, he chose the curly-haired player who had come up through Milan’s youth system. A second-division player… But not even mold seemed to foreshadow a historic invention. Maradona immediately fell in love with Romano’s tactical intelligence; he called him Tota, after his mother. He was the tiny mechanism, hidden inside the case, that powered the luxurious watch.

And so it is with Miretti, paired with another No. 10 (Yildiz), who also joined midseason. He’s the technical link that was missing between midfield and attack. Neither Locatelli—lacking finesse in the final pass—nor McKennie—a raider—could fill that role. Miretti has the timing to make runs (goal against Sassuolo) and the flair to set up (assist against Cremonese). Two starts are all it takes to take him off the transfer market. He is the symbol of Spalletti’s Juve, which has brought technical quality back to the forefront after the dismal three-year Allegri era and the subsequent struggles. Is Miretti a key ingredient for the Scudetto? It’s too early to say. But let the first stone be cast by those who rule him out already.