TEMPO.CO, London - Southampton's lending Dani Osvaldo to Inter Milan yesterday has completed his season-long loan move after an unfortunate season at St Mary's.
Osvaldo joined Southampton for a club record fee of 15 million poundsterling, but the Italian striker endured difficult times both on and off the field.
Argentina-born Osvaldo has played 12 times for Italy, but he failed to show that pedigree at Southampton and scored just three goals in 13 appearances.
One of those goals was a brilliant strike against Manchester City, but he never settled and was fined 40,000 pounds and banned for three matches by the FA after a touchline row at Newcastle United in December.
The 28-year-old was then sent on loan to Italian champ Juventus in January after a training-ground fight with team-mate Jose Fonte.
He infuriated Southampton chiefs by failing to report back for pre-season training and was given leave of absence before finally moving back to Italy, where he had previously played for Roma, Fiorentina and Bologna.
His departure is set-back by the signing of Algerian midfielder Saphir Taider who is on loan from Inter to Southampton.
Dusan Tadic, Graziano Pelle and Ryan Bertrand have already joined Ronald Koeman's side during the close-season and Saints hope the arrival of Taider will be a further step toward fans frustrated by the sales of Rickie Lambert, Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana, Calum Chambers and Dejan Lovren since the end of last season.
"It's part of our philosophy to bring in talented young players who like to learn and develop themselves, and that's true of Saphir," Koeman said.
"He can play as a controlled midfielder, but he can also move up around the box and up front. That's a good thing for a coach or manager because it brings more possibilities to the players in the team. He brings competition to the squad."
"He can still learn some things, so we will train him and develop him this season."
Antara News | Tasrief Tarmizi