Spezia striker M’bala Nzola turned down a January move to the Premier League despite interest from West Ham and Newcastle United, his agent. Doug Pingisi, has told Grand Hotel Calciomercato.
Manager Vincenzo Italiano has compared Nzola to Didier Drogba and, fortunately for Spezia, the Angola international shares a tendency with the Chelsea legend to make his mark on the biggest of occasions.
Nzola scored crucial goals against Sampdoria, Bologna and Napoli as the Little Eagles pulled clear of the relegation zone in their debut Serie A season.
With one game of the campaign remaining, Spezia are six points clear of the bottom three.
Things could have been different, however, if Nzola had jumped at the chance to swap Italy for England during the winter window.
West Ham and Newcastle were leading the chase for his signature at the time, according to Calciomercato.
Now-relegated Fulham, meanwhile, made an £11.5 million bid when they retained hopes of remaining a top-flight team (Gazzetta).
“You have to know how to advise in the best possible way. In January, we received offers from three Premier League clubs, three Serie A clubs, and an offer from the Bundesliga,” explains Pingisi.
“It was serious talk. We had also talked about figures.
“But then we asked ourselves if it really made sense? Nzola needs stability, consistency. And, even if he was going through a magical moment, we thought it would be better to stay at La Spezia.
“We are convinced M’bala can become one of the five strongest players in Italian football. He has physique and power. We have to work on consistency, making sure his performances remain at a high level for a whole season.”
The agent has a point. Nzola may have marked his debut Serie A campaign with 11 goals but there remains a tendency for his purple patches to be followed by long barren runs.
In fact, nine of Nzola’s 11 strikes came in a two-month, ten-game spell between November and January.
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