Simone Verdi is eyeing a return to the Italy squad after being unveiled as a Torino player for the second time but admits ‘I need to get back into form.’
Verdi completed a €23m move back to Torino just minutes before the transfer window closed on Monday, and the former Napoli winger thanked them for their ‘huge effort’ to sign him.
“Negotiations were very long and at one point, I also thought they wouldn’t materialise,” he said at his official presentation on Friday.
Simone Verdi is eyeing a return to the Italy squad after being unveiled as a Torino player for the second time but admits ‘I need to get back into form.’
Verdi completed a €23m move back to Torino just minutes before the transfer window closed on Monday, and the former Napoli winger thanked them for their ‘huge effort’ to sign him.
“Negotiations were very long and at one point, I also thought they wouldn’t materialise,” he said at his official presentation on Friday.
“Mr. Ancelotti, for example, recently told me he no longer wanted to sell me. But despite that, President Cairo never gave up.
“He believed until the end and if I’m here now, it’s thanks to the President. I also really wanted Torino.
“Cairo made a huge effort for me, and now I want to repay him with hard work.
“I’ve joined a very good and close-knit squad, which has a very strong attack with Belotti, Zaza, Iago Falque, Millico and all the others.
“We’re only thinking about working well day-by-day. Yesterday I talked to Mazzarri, who started to show me what he wanted me to do in the field.
“What he wants from me is very simple: playing between the lines in a 3-4-3. The Coach has plenty of options: he can go with two strikers and a No 10 or two No 10s.
“We have a very strong attack. The Coach has a variety of options at his disposal.”
The 27-year-old’s Italy career slowed down after he left Bologna for the San Paolo last summer, but he has his sights firmly set on adding to his four caps.
“I don’t like talking about numbers or even personal objectives. The collective objective is most important of all.
“That also makes it easier to reach personal objectives. I obviously aim to return to the national team, but I have to put in certain types of performances.
“I need to get back into form and train in a certain way: if I can offer my services like I did at Bologna, it would be easier to play for Italy again.”
Image credit @TorinoFC_1906 via Twitter