Salernitana, Manolas arriving after Boateng. Now it’s super defense

Never take anything for granted with Walter Sabatini, twists and turns are always lurking. The nine purchases were not enough for him, to complete the market revolution he had been thinking for days about another experienced and reliable defender and in a short time he solved the puzzle. To “chase his utopia” Sabatini convinced Konstantinos Manolas to return to Italy, after the seasons with Roma and Naples, to live a new experience with a different objective: no championships or cups to win, but salvation to be achieved.

beat the competition

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Yesterday morning the Greek centre-back seemed on the verge of joining Verona who continues to look for defenders, but in the afternoon Manolas accepted the proposal from president Danilo Iervolino’s club: a six-month agreement with a salary of around half a million euros with an option to renew for the following season, in addition to a bonus of two hundred thousand euros linked to appearances and survival. Salernitana had also looked for Shkodran Mustafi; last Tuesday, in great secrecy, he arrived in the city but the German’s doubts (with Boateng world champion with Germany in 2014) led Sabatini to bet everything on Manolas.

but no empoli

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Today the player is expected in Salerno and perhaps he will be at the stadium for the finishing session open to the fans, medical visits have been scheduled for tomorrow morning but he will not be available on Friday for the match against Empoli which he will watch from the stands. Last January, the 32-year-old Greek centre-back terminated the contract that bound him to Sharjah, a club from the United Arab Emirates that had signed him in September 2022. Manolas is in good physical condition having played until before Christmas. The expert defender returns to Italy after a long experience gained with Roma, making 156 appearances in Serie A between 2014 and 2019, and with Napoli, 60 games played in two and a half championships. Now he will have to fight to avoid relegation starting from the last place in the standings, but he will do it with the motivations that general manager Walter Sabatini gave him and with the awareness that to attempt the comeback he will not be alone but will be part of a defensive department with so much quality in which Jèrome Boateng and Federico Fazio (his teammate in the Giallorossi) stand out, players with an illustrious and winning past who aim to rewrite this Salernitana championship