By Lance Jenkinson
Age is just a number for Western United star signing Alessandro Diamanti and his new club.
United director of football Steve Horvat has no qualms about whether 36-year-old Diamanti is up to the rigours of an A-League season.
“He’s coming off a great season in Serie B [with Italian club Livorno], where he scored 10 goals and seven assists,” Horvat said.
“He played every game last season and was one of their best players. That tells you enough to understand that he comes here in good shape.”
Diamanti is one of the key pieces in the puzzle for Western United as it prepares for its inaugural season.
A former Italian international and Italian Serie A and English Premier League star, Diamanti will immediately slot into an important attacking midfield role for the Mark Rudan-coached side.
Diamanti’s greatest strength is his ability to unlock defences with his precision left foot. He has served up through balls on a silver platter for strikers wherever he has played.
“Obviously, over the last few weeks, we’ve had the bulk of the squad signed up, but our focus was on finding that creative No.10-type player,” Horvat said.
“They’re rare in world football, so when Alessandro’s name came up and the coaches assessed it, we knew it was going to be a perfect fit. He’s definitely a very intelligent player.
“When you look at teams when they get to that final third, sometimes they miss that little bit of magic, whether it’s to find that pass through the back four or cross the ball from out wide – he can do it because he’s got an incredible left foot.”
Diamanti is not only a creator – the former West Ham United player has an incredible highlights reel of spectacular goals from both free kicks and open play.
At the height of his powers, Diamanti was averaging about a goal every four games from midfield in Serie A and Premier League.
Stepping back to Serie B last season, he was going at just under a goal every three games.
“There’s very few players that score that many goals from 20-plus metres,” Horvat said, alluding to the regularity of Diamanti’s long-range goals. He thrives on that sort of stuff.”
Diamanti is ready for a new challenge in his career. He is excited to be teaming up with another of Western United’s star recruits, Panagiotis Kone, who was his teammate at Bologna in Italy.
“I’m very happy to be here, very excited to start this new experience,” Diamanti said.
“Life is very strange, but I’m very happy to find Pana here. He’s a good man, he’s a top player. I want to start this new experience also with him … we share many match in Italy.”
Western United is on a nine-day training camp on the Gold Coast.
United will play its first pre-season friendly, against Caroline Springs George Cross, at City Vista Recreation Reserve on August 21 from 7pm.
