Sassuolo: transfer market with an eye for the present and the future

Sassuolo focused on both the present and future during the winter transfer campaign. The football team owned by the Mapei Group signed the midfield player Alberto Aquilani, aged 32, and the big centre forward, Gianluca Scamacca, who is 1 m 95 cm tall and only turned 18 this January; both players were born in Rome. Aquilani was signed on loan from Pescara and has a very distinguished past. He came from AS Roma’s junior ranks and made his debut in the Italian Serie A on 10th May, 2003, in the home match Roma won 3-1 against Torino. Roma then sent Alberto to play for Triestina for one season in the Italian second division to gain experience. Aquilani played for AS Roma for the next five seasons before moving to Liverpool in summer 2009. When he came back to Italy he played for AC Milan (2011-12 season) and then joined Fiorentina for three seasons. He also played for Sporting Lisbon (2015-16) before transferring to Pescara. He won an Italian League Super Cup and Italian Cup playing for AS Roma. Alberto has also won 38 international caps and scored five goals playing for Italy.

 “Aquilani needed to be included in the squad - according to Giovanni Carnevali, the managing director of Sassuolo - because of all the injuries to our midfield players. Tactically speaking, Alberto is perfect cover for our captain Magnanelli. Aquilani will be extremely useful to Sassuolo, because of all the experience he has: he can set an important example to our younger players and, considering everything he has achieved, he will help boost the club’s image”. The player who at Roma was nicknamed “the Prince“ was one of the first transfers on the winter market. After arriving at Sassuolo in early January, he was immediately included in the team by Mr Di Francesco. “Thanks to Aquilani’s contribution - so Mr Carnevali went on to say - we have seen some clear improvements and we have won some important matches”.

Scamacca, on the other hand, joined Sassuolo right at the transfer deadline on 31st January, just a few hours before the market closed. This goal scorer comes from the Dutch club PSV Eindhoven, well-known for being sponsored by Philips and for having won a European Cup and UEFA Cup. Scamacca began his football career in Roma’s youth teams. He was extremely successful as a young player: playing for the AS Roma youth team, this big, strong young striker won the Italian Youth Championship, scoring 34 goals in 30 matches. He moved to PSV in January 2015. “The fact that Scamacca comes from a foreign club – so Mr Carnevali continued - is something in his favour: it means he has already gained some excellent experience that will serve him both in football and in life”. Gianluca has won lots of caps for various Italian youth and junior teams. “He has the ideal profile for a club like ours: he is Italian, young and a real prospect”.

The class of ’99 is turning out to be something special: other outstanding talents include AC Milan’s young goalkeeper, Donnarumma, who is already in the Italian senior squad, and Inter Milan’s young striker, Pinamonti, who has already caught the eye playing in the Europa League. Scamacca is a different kind of player than the rest of the strikers in the Sassuolo squad and many people believe he will be a real asset to the team. “That’s true – so Carnevali was quick to note - but I do not want Gianluca to be seen as the new signing who solves all our problems, getting promoted to the first team straight away or, in any case, placed on the bench ready to come on. For us he is a great young prospect, who still needs to develop, so to begin with he will play for the youth team, and then we will see. He will definitely need time to settle in and learn his trade”. Scamacca is owned 100% by Sassuolo.

The club managed to hold onto its striker Gregoire Defrel in January; various Italian and foreign clubs offered lots of money to sign this centre forward, who originally comes from Martinique (an island in Central America, which is part of France), but the boss, Mr Squinzi, and his staff rejected all the offers.

On the other hand, the outside defender, Emanuele Terranova aged 29, is no longer part of Sassuolo after signing for Frosinone. Emanuele joined Sassuolo in summer 2011 and scored lots of goals to help get the team promoted into the Italian Serie A. He has also been a useful player in the top division.