Manolo Gabbiadini

Gabbiadini makes a great start to life with Saints!

Southampton recovered from their Wembley heartbreak against Manchester Utd to score four times in a fantastic 4-3 away win at Watford. The Saints' new Italian striker, Manolo Gabbiadini, scored again and has now scored six goals in only four matches since joining the club. Gabbiadini arrived at Southampton on transfer deadline day, just hours before the transfer window closed until the summer. Southampton paid a reported transfer fee of £15 million. The fee is already looking like a wise investment. Gabbiadini scored on his debut against West Ham, then scored twice as Southampton beat Sunderland. His third game in Southampton colours was against Manchester Utd at Wembley. Gabbiadini scored twice and had another goal wrongly disallowed as Southampton's trip to Wembley ended in disappointment. His goal against Watford means he is the first-ever player to score in each of his first four matches for Southampton.

Gabbiadini played against three centre-backs today. Next week, it will be four! Claude Puel, Southampton manager.

What do we know about Manolo Gabbiadini?

Manolo Gabbiadini was born on 26 November 1991 in Calcinate, a small town in northern Italy. Gabbiadini has played for four different Serie A (Italy's top division) clubs. He grew up near Bergamo so it was no surprise when he joined Atalanta as a youth player in 2003. In 2010, he made his Serie A debut for the club but he soon moved on loan to Citadella to play in Serie B. After one season, Gabbiadini returned to Atalanta but moved at the end of the 2011/12 season. He moved to Juventus but was immediately loaned out to Bologna and then signed for Sampdoria without ever playing a match for the Italian giants. After two seasons with Sampdoria, Gabbiadini moved to Napoli where he helped the team to runners-up spot in Serie A and Champions League qualification. 

Football is an open sea. In good times, the storm can arrive at any time. I cannot relax. Five goals in three games is a good start, but it won’t always be like this. Manolo Gabbiadini talking about his good start at Southampton.

What does Gabbiadini need to learn?

Gabbiadini's current scoring run is actually longer because he scored in his last three matches for Napoli. Many people didn't want him to leave Naples and there were lots of other teams looking at the striker, too. Everton failed with a bid last summer and Milan and Marseille also wanted him before Gabbiadini chose the south coast of England. Gabbiadini was encouraged to sign for Southampton by Graziano Pelle, the Italian striker who played for the Saints between 2014 and 2016. One challenge for Gabbiadini is the language - he didn't speak any English when he arrived. Gabbiadini's teammate, Nathan Redmond, has said that Gabbiadini; 'has found the language barrier difficult but he has picked up a few English phrases already and we have an Italian physio who does a lot of the translating.' And Gabbiadini has said that he is forming a positive relationship with the Southampton manager, Claude Puel, he's said; 'we speak English, French and Italian'. At the moment, Gabbiadini does his talking on the pitch!

Next year, if he plays like this, he'll be at Real Madrid. Stefano Okako, who was Gabbiadini's teammate at Sampdoria and now plays for Watford.

Which Italian players have been most successful in the Premier League?

Manolo Gabbiadini and Graziano Pelle are two Italian strikers who decided to make the move from Italy to the Premier League, but you may find it surprising that so few Italians have made that move. Only 68 Italians have played in the Premier League since it began in 1992/93 compared to 114 Spanish players, 119 Dutch players or 197 French players. However, some of the Italians that have played in the Premier League had a big impact. Have a look at our top five Premier League Italians (in no specific order!). Do you agree with our choices?

Top Five Premier League Italians

Name	Club
Roberto Di Matteo	Chelsea
Paulo Di Canio	Sheffield Wednesday, West Ham and Charlton
Gianfranco Zola	Chelsea
Mario Balotelli	Manchester City and Liverpool
Gianluca Vialli	Chelsea

Quiz - How much did you understand?