Giovinco: The ‘New Messi’ Set to Stay Despite West Ham & Arsenal Interest

West Ham are reportedly attempting to sign one if not the most highly-rated youngster in Italian football, the Juventus midfield man Sebastian Giovinco on loan. The diminutive star is a firm favourite of Hammers manager Gianfranco Zola after the pair worked together for the Italian U21 side. However, despite the interest, the player’s agent Claudio Pasqualini has suggested a move is unlikely.

“A move in January? I don’t think anything points to this as we only renewed with Juve a short time ago,” the agent told Radio Kiss Kiss.

“Any move would have to be decided by Juve but I can only see it if some attitudes at the club change.”

“There is interest abroad, he has many admirers.

Concerning the Hammers interest he said, “Gianfranco Zola has always admired him and has said he would like him.”

Arsenal had strongly been linked with a move for the highly-talented Giovinco throughout the summer as speculation rose concerning his happiness at Juventus due to limited first team opportunities and contract disputes.

Arsenal were rumoured to have bid £5.8m for the Juventus wonderkid which was subsequently rejected but Arsene Wenger remains a keen admirer of the player. However, the player himself seems keen to stay at the club as his agent insists, “It should be underlined that he loves Juventus and would have no doubts in naming them as his dream team for the present and the future.

“I always remind him how grateful he should be that destiny saw him grow up in the Juve youth system. The club should keep a tight grip on him.”

Giovinco is one of Europe’s finest young talents and was recently strutting his stuff at the Beijing Olympics as part of the Italian representative side.

The 21-year-old is a Juventus player but spent last season on loan at fellow Serie A club Empoli where he certainly caught the eye. At 5 ft 4, the attacking midfielder is nicknamed the ‘Atomic Ant’ and for what he lacks in size, he more than makes up for in ability.

Despite the youngster having played just 13 senior matches (4 starts) for the Juventus first team, he’s held in extremely high regard by the club and particularly the fans. The recent contract dispute with the club led to a fans protest as it was suggested that Arsenal were to set to move for the player with Robin Van Persie perhaps heading to Turin. A poll launched on the Juve fans vecchiasignora.com website ended with a staggering 89.5% voting in favour of snubbing a potential Van Persie player-exchange offer for Giovinco from the Gunners. This shouldn’t be too much of a surprise as the wonderkid has been hailed as the future of the club and heir to club legend Alessandro Del Piero.

Giovinco has started just 2 League games this season and may struggle to get a game with the plethora of attacking talent on show at the club such as Del Piero, Trezeguet, Iaquinta and now the Brazilian Amauri. However, the wonderkid has dismissed those fears, he said, “It will be a pleasure to play alongside so many champions.”

He added, “I am sure I’ll be able to earn my space throughout the campaign. I’m not scared of competition.” Confident words indeed but the youngster has been praised from a number of sources and is rated the current best prospect in Italian football so who can blame him?

Last season he was compared to arguably the best player in the world Lionel Messi by former Calgilari Coach Davide Ballardini who said, “Juventus are the kings of the transfer market as Sebastian Giovinco drives me crazy.”

“He has amazing qualities, he is unpredictable and he works well in the team.

“He has to be patient at the start and I believe Giovinco is Juve’s answer to Milan’s Ronaldinho.

“I saw Giovinco last year at Empoli and I may be crazy, but he is just as good as Lionel Messi.

“There is not much of a difference between the two.”

The local-born youngster joined Juventus in 2001 aged 14. Giovinco has since worked his way through the youth system into the first team squad. The Italian made his first team debut in May 2007 in a Serie B encounter with Bologna. Despite coming on as a substitute, the youngster illustrating his potential by setting up a David Trezeguet goal with an excellent pass.

A season-long loan at Empoli last season brought Giovinco to the public’s attention. Despite impressing he did not do enough to keep the club in Serie A though he did make 35 League appearances (20 starts) and scored 6 goals. This included strikes against League runners-up Roma both home and away.

The Juventus star has represented Italy from U16 level upwards and was voted Player of the competition this year at the U21 Toulon Tournament. Italy managed to win the trophy for the first time in their history with Giovinco playing an integral role. This prompted a call-up to the Olympic squad for the trip to Beijing.

The youngster is arguably the most exciting youngster in Italian football at the moment and despite his lack of games with Juventus, the player and his agent suggest he will remain at the club. However, if he continues to get first team opportunities then expect some of the biggest clubs in the world including the likes of Arsenal to come calling for the diminutive, skilful Sebastian ‘Atomic Ant’ Giovinco. Whether Zola can pull off a short-term loan deal for the player this season is the big question?

Would Arsenal or West Ham fans like to sign the gifted youngster or would you prefer to sign established stars? Let’s hear your views.

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Tags: Arsenal, Giovinco, Italy, Juventus, West Ham

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 27th, 2008 at 16:43 and is filed under Blog, Home Blogs, Transfer News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.