Southampton striker Manolo Gabbiadini has compared his team-mate Sofiane Boufal to the iconic Maradona.
Speaking to Italian publication Corriere dello Sport about his move to the Saints, Gabbiadini said (via Sport Witness):
I was already ready. The negotiations took around a month. In the meantime, I read up on the city.
I also got in touch with Graziano Pellè, who was at Southampton before me. He told me it was a beautiful city and the Saints were team filled with good people
Gabbiadini moved to Southampton from Serie A side Napoli in January this year for a fee of £15 million, after scoring 25 goals in 79 appearances for the Naples-based side.
He found the back of the net nine times in 22 appearances last season, including twice in the EFL Cup final at Wembley, where Southampton lost 3-2 to Manchester United.
He did admit in the Corriere interview, though, that there are things he misses about life back in Italy:
The food. Especially tortellini in broth. With the cold we have here, it would be really nice
The 25-year-old Italian striker is hoping to make strides in the Premier League this season in order to be named in his country’s squad for the upcoming 2018 World Cup.
He was asked in the interview which of his Southampton team mates has impressed him most since his arrival at the club, which is when he compared Boufal to World Cup legend Maradona:
Technically, Boufal. With the ball in his feet, he’s impressive. If he’d played five a side football, he’d be the Maradona of futsal.
Boufal has not enjoyed the most electric of starts to his Southampton career but showed what he is capable of a couple of weeks ago when he took on half the West Bromwich Albion team and curled a precision strike into the bottom corner of the Baggies goal to give his side a 1-0 win.
