The reinforcement in defense comes when Catanzaro also seemed to be addressing other objectives: last night sporting director Ciro Polito defined Marco Imperiale’s return to the Giallorossi. 27-year-old left-handed, central or winger, Imperiale was taken permanently from Carrarese, for which he was a footballer, point of reference and also captain for six seasons, the best of a professional career that began in Catanzaro. With the Eagles, the Sicilian from Alcamo made his debut in Serie C in the last season of the Cosentino era (2016-17) and then continued to play there in the first season of Noto as president (2017-18), the springboard of his transfer to Empoli. From there Siena, Piacenza and precisely the Carrarese, from 2020 until yesterday. The winger Esteves should go to Tuscany, one of the releases in the pipeline for the Giallorossi.
The soap opera is almost over. Filippo Pittarello said goodbye to everyone, packed up the last things in his luggage and left for Pisa. In the next few days (perhaps already today) the center forward will undergo medical visits with the Tuscans, who have evidently come close to Catanzaro’s financial request.
Having paid one million and 200 thousand euros including bonuses two summers ago, the Venetian striker is about to bring another capital gain into the coffers of the Eagles, who had no plans to sell him, but were essentially forced to give it up due to the player’s will. At that point, they capitalized to the maximum on the investment and also on the performance of the thirty-year-old, who made his mark last season by scoring 12 of his 14 goals for the Giallorossi. Aquilani and his staff improved him a lot in the final phase, the Pisa Bianco coach strongly wanted him, after that in the last playoff final, at the helm of Monza, he appreciated, above all, his ability to act alone: from this perspective Pittarello has few comparisons, but he will probably begin to show them to his new fans after the direct clash between Pisa and Catanzaro scheduled for Sunday evening in the shadow of the Leaning Tower.
The Giallorossi had already signed a replacement, Emanuele Pecorino, who is certainly not a second choice and who is currently working to recover his condition after a summer spent at Juventus. Maybe he won’t be a starter in Pisa, but at least he will become an extra asset for Gorgone to use up front: «I like scoring goals, but helping my teammates is also one of my characteristics», says the Catania striker smiling in his first official statements as a Catanzaro player.
The twenty-five year old has signed for four seasons with the option for a fifth: «The call from Catanzaro was very important and I would like to first of all thank sporting director Polito, president Noto and mister Gorgone for the trust they had in me. I hope to reciprocate it towards them and also towards all the fans, who I ask to stay close to us in the ups and downs we will have.
And obviously I hope the highs are more”, underlines the former Juventus player, who last year enjoyed a nine-goal tournament on loan at Sudtirol: “For me it was very important, I had continuity and confidence, I needed it and I demonstrated my value, even if I still have a lot to improve”.
