The following season, the club signed duo Gianfranco Zola and Massimo Crippa for a total of £9 million from cash strapped Napoli, putting Brolin's place in the team even more in the balance. Coach Scala, having seen the benefit of playing Brolin in midfield during the previous season, decided to play Brolin in a deeper position than his first three seasons at the club. He was handed Melli's number 7 jersey and played in a three-man midfield with Gabriele Pin on the right, Crippa on the left and Asprilla and Zola leading the attack. When the team was a goal down or in need of extra firepower up front, striker Melli came on as a substitute in place of Pin and Zola dropped into midfield, a tactic that was deployed by the coach during the 1993–94 season.