The Italian international left the Stadium of Light permanently in the summer.
Sunderland’s Emanuele Giaccherini
This summer saw Italian international Emanuele Giaccherini make a permanent move away from Sunderland.
Giaccherini was a shock coup for Sunderland back in 2013. He arrived from Juventus for a fee reported by The Mirror to be in the £6.5 million region.
But he struggled to find form and fitness at Sunderland, despite shining out on loan and with the Italian national team at Euro 2016.
His form in France saw many a Sunderland fan asking for the club to give him a chance in the first-team, but he was moved on, joining Napoli in the summer.
So, were Sunderland right to get rid of him?
On paper, it looks as though they cut their losses at the right time. The Italian international has started just once in Serie A this season – although he did score in that game.
Speaking about the player his agent is quoted by ItaSportPress today as stating:
“Emanuele there has been bad but he did cheer for throughout the race. The group is fantastic.
“His future? We still have two years on my contract, would like to play a little ‘more, but we’ll see when we get to the end of the season. Now it’s too early to talk about it.”
Italy’s Emanuele Giaccherini celebrates scoring their first goal
Napoli of course are a class outfit, with the likes of Dries Mertens and Jose Callejon to battle for first-team football – so struggling for first-team football at the Stadio San Paolo is not necessarily a reflection of whether he would have succeeded at Sunderland.
Despite his failure at Napoli this season, it is hard to see Sunderland not benefitting from his presence this season judging by their current league position.
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