What price ambition?

One short month ago, Sampdoria had Antonio Cassano, Guido Marilungo and Giampaolo Pazzini on their roster.

That’s Antonio Cassano, one of the most mercurial and prodigious talents Italy has ever produced, a player for whom the old cliche ‘he can change a game with one touch of the ball’ seemed to have been made for. He plays for Milan now though, and the transfer actually cost Sampdoria money in order to fulfil a sell-on clause in the contract with Cassano’s old team, Real Madrid.

And Guido Marilungo, a young striker named by Spanish publication Don Balón as one of the 100 most important players in the world born after 1989. A player whose 13 goals while on loan at Lecce last season propelled them back into Serie A. A key member of Samp’s double-winning youth team of 2007/8, and Golden Boy of the influential youth team tournament in Viareggio in 2009, featuring teams from all over the world. Marilungo now plays for Atalanta, having joined them in a five-year contact on January 12th for a fee believed to be around €5m. Nice business, Atalanta. I’ve been following this kid for a couple of years now, and he’s going to be big. What exactly Samp were thinking when letting him go for such a paltry fee is simply unfathomable.

And then, and most sickening and sickeningly predictable of all, Giampaolo Pazzini has just joined Inter. Pazzo had scored 48 goals in 87 appearances for Samp, averaging more than a goal every other game. He signed for Doria almost exactly two years ago after a nightmare spell in Florence, costing €9m plus Emiliano Bonazzoli. So, after being one of Serie A’s most reliable goalscorers for two years, it’s quite reasonable to expect that his price should increase quite a great deal, right? Wrong. Inter have signed him for €12m plus Jonathan Biabiany, a kid who can run really fast but, it appears, little else. I really hope he proves me wrong. How it occurred to no-one at Samp that a €3m profit for a player who completely turned around his career while wearing the blucerchiata shirt is utterly perplexing. Then again, it’s not like we don’t have history in this area.

Our wonderful president, Riccardo Garrone, couldn’t resist a parting shot at Pazzini as he packed his bags – “He wanted to leave…it’s difficult to resist the lure of Inter, even if I thought he’d stay until the summer.” Well, Mr Garrone, you know that he’s got a contract, right? And if you receive a pathetic offer for him, you can also just reject it, right?
The the fans who, quite reasonably, I would argue, are upset at the club’s perceived lack of ambition also got a ticking off from Garrone, “I understand that they are disappointed, but if this goes any further, I will sell the club…if people aren’t happy with how we are working, they have short memories.”

Well, today we’re off to Napoli. Our new striker, Massimo Maccarone, is expected to make his league debut. He’s scored consistently for Siena over the last three years, but as a fan of English football, I just can’t get the picture of him in a Middlesborough shirt out of my head. He wasn’t very good there, you see, so I’m sorry Massimo, but I just don’t see you being anything close to a replacement for Cassano, Pazzini or even Marilungo. And since we’re in the middle of an injury crisis (Franco Semioli, Daniele Gastaldello, Stefano Lucchini, Daniele Dessena and Nicola Pozzi the victims) and have scored only two goals since the beginning of December, only a fool would bet against Napoli picking up all three points this afternoon.

Nonetheless, I can just about force myself the whimper forth a ‘Forza Samp!’.

Category: Serie A, UC Sampdoria