The rumour mill just never ceases churning out transfer talk, does it? Today we have another nugget from Italy in the shape of TuttoMercatoWeb’s claim that both Arsenal and Liverpool are interested in Genoa striker Leonardo Pavoletti.
It’s claimed that both clubs have been tracking Sassuolo’s Gregoire Defrel, and that, as well as the in form French winger, Pavoletti is wanted.
A centre-forward, the logic behind the link seems to come from both clubs’ lack of options up top, with Arsenal using Alexis Sanchez as a false nine, which is being mirrored at Liverpool by Roberto Firmino’s presence as the focal point of their attack.
Even though both clubs are doing well – they’re tied on 16 points after seven games and sit just two shy of leaders, Manchester City – it seems that adding goals is on their agenda.
But who is Pavoletti? Unless you pay a passing interest to the goings on in Italy you may not know about him, so we’ve gathered five things you need to learn…
Electric form at Genoa
Since signing for Genoa in the summer of 2015, Pavoletti has scored 16 Serie A goals in 29 appearances – three as a substitute.
As an average, that’s 0.5-per-game, which is no mean feat in a side that finished slap bang in the middle of the division last season and are again in midtable this term.
Prior to his Genoa spell, Pavoletti netted 24 in 33 outings for Varese, showing that his goalscoring edge is not a flash in the pan.
Old fashioned centre-forward
Standing at 6ft. 2”, Pavoletti is a physically imposing striker, whose main strengths lay in winning aerial challenges and finishing chances off. Indeed, all 14 of his goals in Serie A last season were scored from within the 18-yard box, while four were headed (almost 30%).
He also made just 0.1 assists-per-game from 0.8 chances created-per-game, revealing that his speciality is being on the end of passes rather than being the supply line.
He’s no youngster
At 27-years-old, Pavoletti is no newbie. Indeed, he’s somewhat of a late bloomer, with last season at Genoa and his previous campaign in Serie B with Varese (on loan) having been the standout seasons of his career to date.
His ‘arriving late on the scene’ credentials are further boosted by the fact he has never represented Italy at any level of international football.
Well travelled in Italian football
Pavoletti can count nine teams on his CV. The bulk of his career has been spent in the lower reaches of Italian football, with his Serie A debut not coming until August 2013, at which point he was around two months shy of his 25th birthday.
We won’t bore you with the details of his rise through the ladder, but his real break came at Sassuolo, whom he helped to promotion from Serie B in 2012/13 with 11 goals in 33 games.
He made two top tier appearances before being loaned back to Serie B with Varese, for whom he scored 24 goals (including his relegation play off haul). After returning to Sassuolo a deal was struck, initially on loan, between the Neroverdi and Genoa, which was made permanent in summer 2015.
He has been in the Italy set-up
Pavoletti’s fine start to the current season – and overall good 2015/16 – was rewarded with a call-up for Italy’s recent friendly against France and a World Cup qualifier vs. Israel.
However, the 27-year-old was unused by manager Giampiero Ventura in both matches at the start of September, and has been overlooked for their current round of matches against Spain and Macedonia.
