Sampdoria: Quagliarella renews and joins the forty-year-old club

Maybe already today. Or tomorrow, who knows. Details: the announcement of the renewal of the contract with Sampdoria of Fabio Quagliarella, who is preparing to pass the mark of forty (he will turn it on January 31st) as a forward in Serie A – a privilege reserved for a very select few: in addition to he, today, only Ibrahimovic and Pegolo – it’s done. A thoughtful choice, that of the club, which is not – nor could it be, especially at this moment – a recognition of the career of a great Italian footballer. A contributing cause, yes, but there is much more. Fabio will thus be able to become the longest-lived player in Serie A in Sampdoria history, breaking the record that since 2007 belongs to former goalkeeper Gianluca Berti, who took the field in Sampdoria at 39 years and 10 months. This renewal, indicatively with a salary halved compared to the last championship (about half a million euros), if anything, considers the high specific weight of Quagliarella in his Genoese path (seven and a half years in total so far) during the last, complicated season. , in which he was a precious ally first of all for Giampaolo, on and off the pitch. Then discovering (with a little surprise even on a personal level) a key element of the locker room not only by example, as had always happened to him in his career, but through dialogue and comparison with his teammates. Because his words had a weight in overcoming critical moments.

Logical choice

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A widely expected decision, considering that already at the beginning of May, when Sampdoria had yet to win the arithmetic stay in Serie A, the president Lanna and the deputy Romei proposed to talk about the future. “Not now”, Fabio replied, who in those days was struggling to sleep at night, oppressed by torments for a ranking that did not leave him calm. He wants to be the protagonist for another year because this is what his physique tells him. He returned to Genoa in February 2016. From there it was one record after another, including Batistuta’s equal record (which dates back to 1994) with eleven consecutive Serie A matches (2018-19 season) and the title final top scorer. Or the candidacy for the Fifa Puskas Award, in that same year, for the heel goal at … Mancio against Napoli in Marassi (2 September 2018). But that’s not all: in order to remain competitive, in the last season Fabio worked very hard in the gym to strengthen the upper part of the trunk (gaining about three kilograms of muscle) and thus hold up the comparison in the opponent’s area against opponents with half his age. . “Otherwise they’ll fly over you,” he told the Gazzetta.

Top ten

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But to become a bionic bomber it was necessary a career of sacrifices, a rigorous life regime, which have brought him this far. As he himself told us, “it is not enough at a certain point to say to yourself:” In the next two years I am paying attention here and there “. Now, he only needs five goals to match Flachi with 110 goals on the podium of the best scorers of Sampdoria of all time, behind Vialli (141 centers) and the unrivaled Mancini (171). Then aiming for the top ten Serie A strikers of all time, which is only seven goals away. Today he is 14th, Gilardino, Del Piero and Signori are at 188. The run-up has begun.