Napoli midfielder Stanislav Lobotka feels that Inter’s Marcelo Brozovic has been a player who he’s looked to model his game around as a deep-lying playmaker.

Speaking to Rome-based newspaper Corriere dello Sport in an interview published in today’s print edition, via FCInterNews, the 28-year-old Slovakian international praised his Nerazzurri counterpart and noted him as an inspiration.

In a Napoli team who have been the outstanding side in Serie A featuring eye-catching attackers like Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Victor Osimhen, Lobotka has been one of the quieter revelations.

The former Celta Vigo man had to step in for Fabian Ruiz who left for Paris Saint-Germain in the summer, and given how Ruiz had been crucial to the Partenopei, there were some doubts on how the midfield balance would change.

Starting virtually every match alongside Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Lobotka has if anything made Napoli’s midfield look better than it had with Ruiz pulling the strings, and his improvement as a player has been widely commented on.

As for players he’s looked to emulate, Lobotka said that “There are a lot of great players in my position who each have their own characteristics and different styles of play.”

“Every coach expects something a bit different, but if I have to look for a specific point of reference I’d say Casemiro, here in Italy I think of Brozovic and Bennacer,” he added.

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