On July 11, Manchester United announced the signing of Torino defender Matteo Darmian on a four-year contract, with an option to extend for a further year. The Italian international made 33 league appearances last season, helping i Granata to a ninth-place finish in Serie A. Darmian was United’s second signing of the summer, following the capture of PSV Eindhoven attacker Memphis Depay, while they have since added midfielders Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin.
Speaking about the addition of Darmian, United manager Louis van Gaal was quick to point out where he feels the defender’s strengths lie:
“Matteo is a right-sided full back with the versatility of also being able to play on the left. He is a strong defender and has the ability to go forward in the attacking positions which is a fantastic attribute to have and much needed in the fast rhythm of the Premier League.”
THE HISTORY
Having been trained by his father Giovanni, who was one of the coaches at local side Oratorio in northern Italy, Darmian was spotted by Milan scout Beniamino Abate. He joined the Milan youth system in 2000 and was handed his first-team debut for the Rossoneri six years later, aged only 16, in a Coppa Italia tie against Brescia.
At the end of the 2006/07 campaign, Darmian made his Serie A debut against Udinese, and featured three further times in the league for Milan before going out on loan to Serie B outfit Padova in 2009/10. He made 20 appearances, scoring one goal, before joining Serie A side Palermo in the summer of 2010 in a co-ownership deal with Milan for a fee of €800,000.
Darmian would only appear 16 times in all competitions for the Rosanero, before being sent out on loan once again, this time to the-then Serie B side Torino for the 2011/12 season. The defender would clock up 33 league appearances as il Toro gained promotion to the top flight, and Torino paid Palermo €825,000 for a 50% share of the player, meaning he stayed with the Turin-based team for the 2012/13 campaign. Now a mainstay of the side, Darmian made 30 league appearances, and at the end of the season, Torino paid Palermo a further €1.5 million to gain full ownership of the player.
He was named in the 2013/14 Serie A Team of the Year after featuring 37 times for Torino, registering three assists, with a seventh-place finish in Serie A securing qualification for the Europa League. Last season, Darmian played 46 matches in all competitions for i Granata, scoring five times and providing four assists.
Darmian featured through all the age-grades for Italy before making his senior debut against the Republic of Ireland in May 2014. He was then named in the 23-man squad for the 2014 World Cup, and started all three of Italy’s matches in the group stage, including the 2-1 win against England, but the Azzurri failed to qualify for the last 16. He currently has 13 international appearances to his name, and was awarded the Pallone Azzurro as the best player for the national team in 2014.
THE PROSPECTS
Firstly, it’s worth noting that Darmian’s attacking returns last season came as a result of being fielded as a wing-back in Torino’s default 3-5-2 system. Essentially, he didn’t make a single start in a conventional four-man defence – of his 34 starts in Serie A and the Europa League, 19 appearances arrived as a right wing-back, with 15 on the opposite flank.
It seems unlikely that Van Gaal will return to a wing-back system, however, after his experiment with three central defenders proved far from convincing last season. With Luke Shaw, Marcos Rojo and Daley Blind all capable of playing on the left, it would appear Darmian will compete with Antonio Valencia for the right-back berth in a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 formation.
Priced at 5.5 in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game, the Italian is arguably the safest option at the back for United, given the uncertainty over the rest of Van Gaal’s defence. Due to injuries, centre-halves Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo managed just 21, 22 and 20 starts respectively for the Red Devils last time out, whilst Luke Shaw featured in the first XI on 15 occasions, with Daley Blind (classified as a midfielder by FPL) filling in on a number of occasions.
Playing so much of his football as a wing-back does mean Darmian is very comfortable going forward, producing a total of 29 attempts on goal in Serie A last term, while he also clocked up 39 key passes over the course of the campaign. By comparison, only three defenders (Branislav Ivanovic, Daryl Janmaat and Patrick van Aanholt) registered more shots in the Premier League last season, while only two defenders (Leighton Baines and Kieran Trippier) created more chances for their respective team-mates.
United had the fourth best defensive record in the top-flight last time out, conceding 38 goals, and following the additions of Darmian in defence and Schweinsteiger and Schneiderlin in midfield, could well be an even stronger unit in the forthcoming campaign. Surprisingly, they did only register six clean sheets at home, however, which will need to be improved upon if their defenders are to become viable Fantasy assets.
Van Gaal’s side have a mixed start to the season, with difficult matches at home to Tottenham and Liverpool and an away trip to Southampton in the first six Gameweeks, although a trip to Villa Park and a home encounter against Newcastle could be more profitable. The fixtures do ease from Gameweek 11 (cpl, WBA, wat, lei, WHM, bou, NOR), so it could be that Fantasy managers take a watching brief during the opening months to assess how Darmian settles before investing in the Italian international.
