Playing six months under Marco Silva at Hull City last season, Andrea Ranocchia got a nice taste of Premier League football, and that has changed his life completely.
Returning to Inter at the end of his loan spell, the centre-back has, since the beginning of the summer, been waiting patiently for another English club to come and rescue him from Italy, with no one really that forthcoming.
Over the months, teams like West Ham, Huddersfield, Southampton, West Brom and Sunderland have all been linked, yet he’s either turned them down or their interest hasn’t materialised into a bid.
The last couple of names on that list, West Brom and Sunderland, appear to be the only two left in the race, according to Corriere dello Sport on Friday, but, again, it doesn’t seem like there’s much going on there.
As we’ve explained before, a move to Sunderland remains highly unlikely for Ranocchia, mostly because he’s already rejected Huddersfield twice, but also due to the fact he wants Premier League football and the Black Cats got relegated to the Championship last season.
West Brom, on the other hand, do seem like an ideal destination for the Inter defender.
On paper, they only have three first-team centre backs in Jonny Evans, Ahmed Hegazy and Gareth McAuley, and with the latter now 37, some bolstering in that position is needed.
The last time there were reports of the Baggies’ interest in Ranocchia was back in mid-July, and not a lot has changed since.
Something needs to happen quickly for the 29-year-old, who keeps rejecting a move to Genoa, or he might end up having to stay in Italy for another season.
