Scouting Report – Manolo Gabbiadini
Ever since the very start of the season, it’s been apparent that Southampton are in desperate need of a striker.
Saints have only managed to score 19 goals all season in 21 Premier League matches; a measly total by the standards of any side in the league. Charlie Austin contributed to six of those 19 goals and he’s set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
So, the need for a prolific striker is greater than ever at St Mary’s and as we pass the midway point of the January transfer window, a forward that has been heavily linked with the club is Manolo Gabbiadini of Napoli.
The Italian international has been touted for a move to the south coast ever since the summer transfer window prior to the season, but the interest appears to have heavily increased in recent times.
Reports claim that are leading the chase to sign the Italy international and that the player himself wants to join a Premier League side, boding well for Claude Puel if he is seriously looking to bring Gabbiadini to St Mary’s this month.
However, just who is Manolo Gabbiadini and why is there such a great, apparent interest from Saints? I’ve analysed what he can offer to Puel’s side, what his strengths and weaknesses are and how he could slot in at Saints.
Gabbiadini signed for Napoli in the 2015 January transfer window for a fee of around €13 million from Serie A rivals Sampdoria after impressing regularly for them in the first half of the season.
Prior to his move, the then-23-year-old had bagged an impressive nine goals in just 15 games in all competitions for Sampdoria, before Napoli came calling and brought him in. The Italian giants recognised Gabbiadini’s potential and acted upon their admiration for the versatile attacker, bringing him to Naples. In the same season, the former Juventus man fired in 11 goals in 30 games for Rafael Benitez’s side, with his tally up to 20 goals in just 45 games for the season.
However, last season didn’t quite bear the same fruit as the subsequent one for Gabbiadini, as he struggled to really impose himself on the Napoli side and nail down a consistent place in the team. The young Italian made just eight starts in the 2015/16 Serie A season, coming off the bench on 12 occasions.
Although he was frustrated by the lack of game time, Gabbiadini still managed to bag a fairly respectable eight goals in 30 games, with many of his appearances being cameos.
This season has been much the same so far for Gabbiadini, who has struggled to make his mark and find consistent game time with Napoli. He has so far started seven games and made six substitute appearances in Serie A.
Whilst his current goal record of just three goals in 13 appearances in the league doesn’t really bode to well in Saints’ pursuit of a clinical forward, the stat is somewhat flawed by the lack of game time.
Gabbiadini has played just 514 minutes of football for Napoli in Serie A in the 2016/17 campaign so far, meaning that his three goals during this time averages out as a goal every 171 minutes – a goal every two games, if you will.
It’s been heavily unfortunate for Gabbiadini this season. With the departure of world class striker Gonzalo Higuain from the Stadio San Paolo, the Italian would have been licking his lips at the prospect of featuring more this season.
However, even in spite of new signing Arek Milik’s long-term injury, he still fails to start regularly as a result of the emergence of Dries Mertens in Maurizio Sarri’s free-flowing system, with Gabbiadini only really becoming of use to the manager as an impact substitute.
Even club president Aurelio De Laurentiis has admitted that Gabbiadini is simply a square peg in Sarri’s system of round holes, but not denying his quality.
It’s not that he wasn’t able to express himself, but rather different things are asked of him and they are not in his wheelhouse. Gabbiadini scored many goals at Sampdoria and also here under Rafa Benitez, so with a system other than the one Sarri uses he should have a better chance of being decisive.
I thought that his performance in the first season was due to physical issues, but that wasn’t the case. He is simply not suited to Sarri’s football.
So, this leads us to the interest from Saints, and a whole host of other clubs. Gabbiadini is a man in high demand and he’ll be hungry to seek a new challenge elsewhere with first-team football. But just why would he be of such interest to Puel and his side?
Although Gabbiadini does not cut the most empowering figure, standing at just over six foot one but not really specialising in physical prowess, he is in fact very gifted when it comes to hold-up play. During his time at Sampdoria, he was often used as the focal point of an attack, not necessarily to win headers and to bulk defenders off the ball, but to bring his teammates into the game and to ease the pressure from his side.
Gabbiadini often suits a style that involves him playing largely with his back to goal, being able to link up with the forward players around him to then free up the open space in behind for either himself or his teammates to exploit.
However, despite his ability to retain the ball and influence the play by linking up well with the cogs around him, he isn’t perhaps the most eloquent passer that you’ll see. Gabbiadini managed a pass completion rate of just 70% this season and only has a rate of 76% from the matches he has played in the ongoing campaign.
Whilst the archetypal striker in Southampton’s previous systems, and even current ones, doesn’t necessarily require the most astute of technical players in the build-up phases, Sarri’s system does, hence the reason for his difficulty in adapting since the managerial change.
A key part to Gabbiadini’s game his spatial awareness. An aspect of the modern day forward’s game that is often so frustratingly overlooked is movement and intelligence in the final third. However, this is something that the Italian does possess.
Often, Gabbiadini pulls into an attacking midfield role in order to drag a centre-back, or even two depending on the opposition’s defensive styles, with his back to goal in order to play a one-two with the midfielders. Now, whilst this would require an added push from Puel at Saints if Gabbiadini was to join, due to the deep positions of the current midfielders at the club, it would still allow for a greater chance creation.
Time and time again for Napoli, you can see Gabbiadini make sharp movements towards the play in order to leave space in behind the opposition defence in which the wingers can exploit. Whilst it is a goal scorer that Saints are after and chance creation isn’t quite what they are lacking, this kind of intelligence and movement could be beneficial if a move is to go through.
Gabbiadini flourished in the orthodox 4-3-3 system that was deployed at Sampdoria, operating in almost a free role in the attack whilst remaining the focal point for both creativity and cutting edge. This can only be a positive thought for Saints, given their recent toothless displays whilst operating with the same formation and failing to really impose themselves on games whilst doing so.
With this in mind, if Gabbiadini is genuinely on Puel’s radar, the Frenchman could look to revisit his midfield diamond formation. This is because, although the ex-Juventus striker has shown his quality in the 4-3-3 system, his creative qualities and ability to bring others into the game could work to great effect if he is deployed as a false nine, with two wingers remaining on either side of him.
Not only would this allow Gabbiadini the freedom to roam, move into pockets of space between the defence and find scoring positions, but it would also allow him to channel one of his most underrated qualities – shooting from distance.
Given the delicacy in which Gabbiadini runs and uses the ball when in possession, it’d be hard to envisage the Italian having such a powerful shot. However, he has time and time again proven that he can be a massive threat when shooting from distance. His quality from long range was a large reason for his reputation at Sampdoria for being dangerous from free-kicks, with him earning plenty of plaudits from his ability at set-pieces. Wherever he has gone, he has also been profoundly trusted with penalty-taking duties when playing and he more often than not delivers the goods from the spot.
Of course, it’s easy to turn your nose up at the reported valuation of Gabbiadini. It’s a steep price for someone who hasn’t exactly been in the greatest form this season, but he has undoubted quality.
At just 25-years-old, the ability to play all across the forward line and being contracted at Napoli until 2019, he was never going to come cheap. As a club, we’re at a difficult stage. We badly need a striker but in the January market, prices are always inflated. It could be a case of biting our nose to spite our face and coughing up the £19 million to salvage something from our season.
Gabbiadini may not be the prolific striker that we are hunting around for, but he’d certainly be an improvement on what we have. He does have game-changing ability and he would score goals, even if it would only be six or seven in the second half of the season.
The Verdict
So, to conclude, I’d say Saints could do a hell of a lot worse than bring Gabbiadini in. Of course the price will raise eyebrows and of course there would be an immense amount of pressure on the Italy international, given that our goal scoring hopes would rest upon his shoulders, as well as his carrying the burden of being our club-record signing if a move was to go through.
However, we have to progress at some stage and start competing with those around us for big signings. We really do need a marquee signing up top and Gabbiadini could prove to be that man, potentially as both a short-term fix and a long-term success.
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