Sassuolo CEO, Giovanni Carnevalli, has reduced speculation linking Giacomo Raspadori with a move away from the club this summer.
Raspadori came through the club’s youth academy and enjoyed a great season 2020/21 and impressed and hit six goals and three assists when they finished eighth in Serie A.
His performances gave him an invitation to Roberto Mancini’s Italian squad for the European Championship 2020 and have also aroused interest from some of Europe’s best clubs. However, Carnevalli has told Italian broadcaster TRC, quoted by sempreinter.com, that there is no chance he will leave.
“As for Raspadori, I can say that he cannot be sold to us,” he said. “We do not want to deprive ourselves of one of our most important young players.”
The Italian champions Inter are a club interested in picking up Raspadori this summer, where the Milan club want to reshape their squad that has won Serie A but is still suffering from the financial consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. The Italian is considered the in-depth alternative – and potential replacement – for Lautaro Martinez if he resigns this summer.
The Argentine shipping company has impressed Nerazzurri but has long been the subject of speculation about a move from the club and recently suspended contract talks with its employers.
Lautaro Martinez may leave Inter / Nicolò Campo / Getty Images
Raspadori – which is part of the 90min Our 21 series – has impressed with its low center of gravity, placed from inside the 18-yard box and predatory strikers. He had not made an older Italian squad before the 2020 European Championships, but his performances in the U21 tournament made Mancini start him.
The 21-year-old made his debut in a friendly match against the Czech Republic before the tournament began and provides Azzurri’s attack with a youthful change of pace away from Ciro Immobile’s ability and the tireless work speed and physique of Torino’s Andrea Belotti.
Hungary recently revealed in a video interview with the Italian national team’s official Twitter page that he was an Inter fan who grew up and idolized striker Samuel Eto’o – an admission that will probably only catch the flames of speculation.
Should he manage to impress even further before Italy’s race on the euro ends, Sassuolo could make a tough deal for anyone interested who potentially sniffs around him all summer.
