Part of the Paulo Di Canio revolution at Sunderland, Emmanuele Giaccherini didn’t exactly set the Stadium of Light alight during his three year stay there.
Admittedly, he did spend one of the seasons on loan at Bologna, which eventually led to his return to Italy with Napoli, but the Italian midfielder still only managed five goals and five assists in 43 appearances for the Black Cats.
Never managing to make a space for himself in Maurizio Sarri’s starting line-up, the 32-year-old was loaned out to Chievo Verona for the rest of the season in January.
On the back of that, Gazzetta dello Sport had a quick chat with him, where they briefly went over his time at Sunderland.
Asked if he felt his move to the Stadium of Light was right, a mistake or inevitable, he replied: “Inevitable. For Juventus, it was a big profit and for me the contract of a lifetime. The Premier League is something else. Bournemouth set out to avoid relegation every year and they always end up 10th without problems”.
Unlike Juventus, Sunderland didn’t make a profit off the ageing midfielder, only managing to recoup £1.3m of the £6.5m they originally spent on him.
Admittedly, he was on the wrong side of 30 by then, but the now Championship side just wanted rid, as he was taking up a chunk of the wage bill.
