Manolo Gabbiadini made only his first start of the Premier League season for Mark Hughes’ Southampton in Sunday’s home defeat to Chelsea.
Manolo Gabbiadini could hardly have made a better impact at Southampton.
A £14 million arrival from Napoli in January 2017, the Italian striker scored six goals in his first four games for the Saints, including two at Wembley in a League Cup final defeat against Manchester United.
Since then, however, Gabbiadini has hit the net just five more times. And, despite scoring the goal that kept Southampton in the Premier League in a 1-0 win at Swansea City in May, he continues to struggle for opportunities under Mark Hughes.
Gabbiadini made his first start of the league season in Sunday’s 3-0 home defeat against Chelsea but was hooked after 78 minutes.
And, in quotes reported by Sky, the 26-year-old has indicated that he regrets staying at St Mary’s.
“The fans love me. But I would not have imagined a beginning of the season like this,” said Gabbiadini, who admitted that he had the chance to return to Serie A over the summer.
“Maybe I would have better evaluated the offers I had from Italy, even if I really wanted to not give up and stay in the Premier League.”
The enigmatic Gabbiadini impressed in Italy, particularly during spell with Sampdoria that earned him a big move to Napoli in January 2015 that never really worked out.
But the fact that Hughes handed him a start against Chelsea suggests that he could still have a role to play for a Saints side struggling badly for goals.
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