In a bid to strengthen the team ahead of the upcoming campaign, Bologna have signed forward Simone Verdi from AC Milan, the club announced the move on the team’s official website.
The 23-year-old will provide manager Roberto Donadoni with yet another attacking option as the Rossoblu look to improve upon last season’s 14th place finish.
Verdi joins from Milan, where he graduated from the youth system.
Despite moving through the ranks with the Rossoneri, the forward has spent most of his career elsewhere. He joined Torino on a permanent basis in 2011 and stayed with the Turin-based club through 2015. That span also included loan stints at Juve Stabia and Empoli.
Prior to last season, the player returned to the San Siro, only to be loaned out again. Verdi went out on loan to La Liga club SD Eibar before returning to the peninsula, joining Carpi in a loan deal.
Bologna will be Verdi’s seventh different club and sixth different team in Italy.
In eight appearances for Carpi last campaign, the forward netted three goals, including a brace against Udinese that sealed a 2-1 win for the team.
Giaccherini replacement?
It is possible that Verdi’s goal scoring will help replace the outgoing Emanuele Giaccherini. The Italian international spent last season on loan at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, bagging seven goals during his temporary spell.
The Sunderland player seems unlikely to return to the Emilia-Romagna club, and Verdi could step in as a ready-made replacement where goal scoring is concerned.
Donadoni will likely be hoping that the combination of Verdi and incumbent forward Mattia Destro will provide the team with more goals.
Bologna scored just 33 goals as a team last year and Destro and Giaccherini were the only players with more than four strikes. The 33 team goals proved to be the lowest total in the league, including all three relegated clubs.