Quagliarella the latest Italian on Di Canio’s radar
Published:It’s been a busy summer on Wearside, with Paolo di Canio and his new Italian backroom staff overseeing nine player arrivals and eight departures so far.
Among the higher profile acquisitions include internationals Emanuele Giaccherini and Jozy Altidore, while Simon Mignolet, Titus Bramble and James McClean are among those who’ve been shown the exit door by their new manager.
And as the pundits struggle to come to a consensus regarding what lies in store for Sunderland fans this season – with some tipping another dogfight and others believing the Di Canio revolution will bear immediate fruit – Director of Football Roberto de Fanti is continuing in his task of refreshing his head coach’s squad.
De Fanti, along with former Inter Milan head scout Valentino Angeloni, have worked hard to bring in some of Europe’s best young prospects at cut-price fees, such as El Hadji Ba and David Moberg Karlsson, while proving themselves more than happy to splash the cash on proven internationals such as Altidore and Giaccherini.
And with just under a week to go until their season opener against Fulham at the Stadium of Light, Italian press is today reporting that they have returned to their homeland to recruit more of the latter, with Italian internationals Fabio Quagliarella and Alessandro Matri believed to be their targets.
Quagliarella is now 30-years-old and surplus to requirements at Juventus, though Norwich are believed to have also registered an interest. Bringing in Matri would no doubt prove more difficult, however, with Napoli believed to have already offered Juve £10m for the 28-year-old striker.
Nonetheless Sunderland’s dynamic new recruitment policy has already proven itself capable of a transfer coup – particularly in Italy – following the £7m purchase of Giaccherini, who swapped the black and white shirt of Juve for the red and white of Sunderland just last month.
And with the troublesome McClean now at Wigan, Di Canio may also instruct his staff to return for highly-rated Greek youngster Charis Mavrias to provide needed backup to Giaccherini and fellow winger Adam Johnson.
