There are dodgy debuts – and then there is Federico Fazio.
Cast your mind back to October 2014, if you dare, as Mauricio Pochettino’s still-embryonic Tottenham Hotspur team where ripped to shreds by a Sergio Aguero-inspired Manchester City.
While one Argentina international was enjoying a day to remember at the Etihad, another was in the midst of a debut performance that would have made even Jonathan Woodgate wince.
Fazio lasted just 67 minutes before being handed the opportunity to check out the Etihad facilities. And, by that, we mean the former Sevilla stopper was sent for an early bath after dragging down an unstoppable Aguero inside the penalty area.
City’s all-time top scorer fired home the third of his four goals from the spot as Tottenham’s new Argentina international trudged off, dejected and disappointed after the debut from hell.
While things obviously got a little better for Fazio after that humiliating introduction to English football, there was to be no Gareth Bale-esque renaissance for the sluggish central defender in North London.
His lack of pace was exposed time and time again by Pochettino’s high line and, after just 20 Premier League appearances, Spurs were only too happy to accept a £2.8 million offer from Roma (Mail).
That ill-fated spell in England is, however, merely a rare blot on Fazio’s otherwise pristine copybook.
The ten-time Albiceleste star was one of La Liga’s most commanding stoppers at Sevilla and it didn’t take him long to adapt to life in the home of Catenaccio, with the less-expansive Serie A style suiting Fazio down to the ground.
After three years at the Stadio Olimpico, Sport claims that Barcelona have identified the Buenos Aires-born 33-year-old as a short-term addition to Ronald Koeman’s stretched and increasingly error-prone backline.
Fazio is unlikely to be taking Gerard Pique’s place in the starting XI any time soon. He will instead act as an experienced back-up during a packed fixture schedule, a la Martin Braithwaite, Arturo Vidal and Paulinho.
But the fact that Fazio is even being considered by one of Europe’s bona fide super clubs proves that no player should be written off after 12 miserable months in the Premier League.
There is life outside English shores after all.
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