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So much for Emanuele Giaccherini's agent saying his client isn't going to be leaving Juventus, huh.
The sudden, somewhat expected departure of everybody's favorite little goblin has actually gone through. Giaccherini, who was one of Italy's best performers at the Confederations Cup last month, is a Juventus player no more, after Beppe Marotta agreed to sell the midfielder to English Premier League side Sunderland on Tuesday.
Sunderland have completed the signing of midfielder Emanuele Giaccherini from European giants Juventus.
The 28-year-old Italian international has signed a four-year deal at the Stadium of Light.
PIC: Emanuele Giaccherini in the new 2013-14 home kit! pic.twitter.com/HwSBS1l5zs
— Sunderland AFC (@SAFCofficial) July 16, 2013
Giaccherini, who was bought outright from Cesena last summer after spending the 2011-12 season on loan, had two years remaining on his contract with the reigning Italian champions. The move to Juventus also paved the way for Giaccherini to break into Cesare Prandelli's Italy squad despite the fact that he wasn't even close to getting the amount of playing time that other call-ups were getting.
But like I said when the rumors of Giaccherini-to-Sunderland originally surfaced, his stock may never again be higher — and Marotta may well have realized that. Getting €7.5 million for a player who only appeared in 20-something games last season isn't exactly the worst thing in the world. Better yet, it's a nice piece of business for a player who turned 28 years old two months ago and wasn't used by Antonio Conte as much as he probably should have been.