After bringing in back-up goalkeeper Mouez Hassen earlier on deadline day, Southampton then tied up their main piece of business, acquiring Napoli forward Manolo Gabbiadini for a club-record fee believed to be worth around £15 million.
The 25-year-old Italian international signed a four-and-a-half-year contract and, according to Claude Puel earlier today, could be handed a debut in Saturday’s home clash against West Ham United.
Speaking to the club’s official website, the Saints manager revealed his happiness at being able to add a striker to his squad, particularly given the continued absence of the injured Charlie Austin:
“Manolo is a striker and after the injury of Charlie Austin it was important to give an opportunity for the squad and to try to make progress and to give all the possibilities in the squad. He will be important I think but it’s the first time he comes into the Premier League, another country, another squad, and it will be important to stay with patience at the beginning. He’s a good player, a good striker and he will bring good intention and good opportunities for the future.”
The History
Gabbiadini began his professional career at Atalanta, and made his Serie A debut as a substitute against Parma in March 2010.
He then spent the 2010/11 campaign on loan at Serie B side Cittadella, registering five goals and four assists in 27 appearances, before returning to Atalanta ahead of the 2011/12 season.
It was during that campaign where Gabbiadini established himself as a regular in top-flight Italian football, making 23 appearances in total, yielding one goal and two assists.
His performances did enough to attract the attention of Juventus and, in the summer of 2012, he joined the Italian giants in a co-ownership agreement, only to immediately be sent out on loan to Bologna.
Gabbiadini continued to steadily enhance his reputation as he tallied six goals and two assists from 30 league outings, although in the summer of 2013, Sampdoria acquired 50% of his registration rights, which saw the player move to the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.
He enjoyed a strong 2013/14 campaign, scoring eight goals and providing four assists in 34 matches, interestingly making the majority of his starts on the right wing.
After starting the 2014/15 season in red-hot form for Sampdoria, scoring seven goals in 13 matches, Gabbiadini completed his move to Napoli for a reported fee of €13 million.
He continued his good form, totalling eight goals and one assist in 20 outings during the second half of the 2014/15 season.
Gabbiadini has had limited first-team opportunities since Maurizio Sarri took over from Rafa Benitez in June 2015, though, managing just four league starts in 2015/16, and seven starts during the first half of this season.
He still bagged eight goals and three assists over that period, though, and has also gained plenty of Champions League and Europa League experience.
After representing Italy at U18 and U20 levels, Gabbiadini boasted an impressive record of 12 goals in 24 appearances for the U21s, before making his senior debut as a substitute against England in August 2012.
He’s struggled to establish himself in the senior setup, though, and has only made six appearances in total, yielding just a single goal.
The Prospects
Given that Austin is expected to remain out for the next month or two due to a shoulder injury, while Jay Rodriguez has missed the last two matches with an ankle problem, there should be an opportunity for Gabbiadini to immediately come into the starting XI.
Shane Long did score in Tuesday night’s 2-1 defeat to Swansea City, but that was just the second league goal of the season for the Republic of Ireland international.
After beginning the season with a midfield diamond and two forwards, Puel has over the last few months stuck fairly rigidly to a 4-3-3 formation.
The likes of Nathan Redmond, Dusan Tadic and Sofiane Boufal have generally operated in the wide positions, although Redmond has also played as the central striker, while youngster Josh Sims has impressed when given the opportunity.
While Gabbiadini played almost exclusively as a central striker for Napoli during the first half of this season, he has, as already alluded to, played plenty of football on the right wing, while he can also operate on the left and as a support striker.
His versatility provides Puel with plenty of options across the front three positions, something the Saints boss has been short of during large parts of this season due to injuries.
With Puel talking up Gabbiadini as a striker, though, it’s likely he’ll at first be given a chance to shine in the central role, particularly in the absence of Austin.
The 25-year-old possesses a cultured left foot, and has strong technical ability, while he’s also pretty dangerous in the air.
He could provide a nice compliment to the players already at Puel’s disposal, then, although given the significant outlay, his goal scoring record isn’t overly impressive.
That could be largely due to the fact he’s never spent an extended period of time as a regular starter, something which should change at St Mary’s.
Looking at his underlying statistics so far this season, he’s impressively averaged a goal attempt every 21.4 minutes, better than Austin (24.9), Rodriguez (28) and Long (32.5).
He hasn’t offered much in the way of creativity though, creating a chance every 257 minutes, inferior to Long (90.3), Austin (111.9) and Rodriguez (223.7).
The Italian, who spoke to compatriot and former Southampton striker Graziano Pelle before making the move to the south coast, has been priced at 6.5 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL).
That could represent decent value. then, potentially providing us with another viable option in the mid-price bracket.
But the fact that Southampton face a blank in Gameweek 26 due to their involvement in the EFL Cup final, and could also see their Gameweek 28 match against Man United need rescheduling, depending on the Red Devils’ progress in the FA Cup, means Saints players hold little appeal right now.
Obviously, the knock-on effect of those blanks means that Saints could well have a couple of double Gameweeks during the final months of the season, so their players could certainly return to our radars.
Having failed to really establish himself at one club during his career so far, there are some question marks surrounding how prolific Gabbiadini will be in the Premier League.
Their next couple of matches against West Ham United and Sunderland look ideal opportunities to take a look at the new boy and see whether he can adapt quickly to the English game and emerge as a possible Fantasy option.
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