At the end of last season Mirco Antenucci was told he was no longer wanted at Leeds United, and subsequently his contract wasn’t renewed. The 31-year-old took the decision to sign for unfashionable Serie B side SPAL, but the move is working out better than expected for the forward.
Yesterday Antenucci scored a late goal during their 1-1 draw with Pisa, a point which enabled SPAL to go top of the Serie B table. At the start of the season it was unlikely many would have thought the Italian club would be challenging for a place in Serie A after only being promoted to the second-tier last year.
However, with the goals from Antenucci SPAL are in the race to grab one of the two automatic promotion places despite their lack of experience in the league. Antenucci already has ten league goals to his name in this campaign, the same as Leeds Untied Serie B target Massimo Coda, and his dream to play in Serie A could finally happen.
Antenucci spent two seasons at Elland Road following his move from Ternana in 2014, and was the top scorer at the club in his first season in England. The Italian exited the club last May when his contract expired, and has since gone on record to criticise the Massimo Cellino regime.
With his form this season Cellino may regret letting the player go considering the lack of depth Garry Monk has at his disposal in attack. Leeds United have had to rely on the goals of Chris Wood in this campaign, and Antenucci may have been a useful back up to the New Zealand international.
