Time and a little patience for the most part provide optimal results.
The fermenting process to turn grapes into wine is a somewhat tedious process, but the end result is worth the effort if done right, producing a stellar vintage to connoisseurs and aficionados alike. A little patience goes a long way.
Most have only recently become aware of Southampton’s newest import Graziano Pelle, and for good reason. The 29 year-old’s football journey hasn’t come without plenty of challenges along the way. Over a decade has passed since he first played for Italy’s under-20 national team, having never garnered a call-up to the senior side. The small window of opportunity for an international career was slowly closing by each passing year. Never say never, though.
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Five goals in nine overall appearances with Southampton this season caught the eye of new Italy boss Antonio Conte and deservedly secured the Saints hit man his ride with the national team for their upcoming European qualifiers against Azerbaijan and Malta.
The timing might not be ideal given his age, but the dream of representing his country at the highest level is finally set to become a reality. Even if Pelle doesn’t get off the bench and on the pitch—Ciro Immobile and Simone Zaza were instrumental in the Azzurri’s 2-0 victory over Norway—the invite alone is enough of an accolade following a long road to the pinnacle level of elite football.
Pelle was an effortless acquisition for new Southampton manager Ronald Koeman, having managed the striker during his best years at Dutch club Feyenoord after snapping him up for a nominal fee (£8m) in a deal that went largely under the radar. Pelle scored 48 goals in 50 Eredivise appearances in Rotterdam in two seasons. Despite an eye-popping scoring record, Dutch top-flight strikers’ goal scoring numbers aren’t necessarily a proper measuring stick for would-be suitors.
Mateja Kezman scored 104 goals in 116 appearances for PSV before moving to Chelsea in 2004. The Serbian striker only netted four times in 25 for the Blues in his one and only season in London. Afonso Alves spent one and a half years at Heerenveen, topping the Eredivisie scoring charts in 2007 (34), and netting 45 goals in 39 league matches overall before Middlesbrough paid a club record £12.8m transfer fee for his services during the winter window in 2008. The Brazilian spent two seasons at the Riverside Stadium, scoring a paltry 10 goals in 42 league appearances, ending in 2009 with the club’s relegation.
The life of a professional footballer isn’t necessarily the fantasy dream sequence that most of us think it is. It’s a great life, no doubt, but more often than not it’s a life filled with plenty of rejection. Discipline, dedication and desire: These are the qualities necessary to push through all the heartache.
Born in Lecce, Pelle graduated from the Salenti youth academy in 2004, having spent three years developing his skills at his hometown club, winning two Campionato Primavera titles and the Coppa Italia Primavera in 2002. However, the feel-good story of a local boy rising up through the ranks to live out his dream didn’t quite play out to script. In three seasons Pelle made a total of 12 appearances for Lecce and he was sent out on loan three times to lower division sides—Catania, Crotone and Cesena. The decision to move abroad for the first time was made in 2007 when he went to Dutch club AZ Alkmaar in an effort to acquire top-level first-team minutes as Lecce planned to send him out on loan for a fourth successive time.
Four years in Alkmaar earned an Eredivisie winners medal in 2009, as well as European football experience in the UEFA Cup (2007-08) and Champions League (2009-10). However, his first spell in the Netherlands wasn’t exactly productive from an individual standpoint for a striker. Pelle only managed to find the back of the net 14 times in 78 league matches, with more than half of those appearances coming off the bench. The following season, Pelle signed with Parma—scoring once in 11 Serie A matches—before being loaned out to Sampdoria in Serie B and finishing with four goals in 15 appearances.
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A life line was provided by Feyenoord ahead of the 2012-13 campaign, and a season-long loan from Parma was agreed. With Koeman in the dugout, the Rotterdam club finished runners-up to champions Ajax—ending with 26 more points (70) and eight positions superior than the previous season under Mario Been. Pelle scored an impressive 14 goals in 12 league matches heading into the winter break, which triggered Feyenoord to make the loan deal permanent after four short months. He ended the campaign by netting 25 times in 22 appearances—most by an Italian outside Serie A—and followed up with 23 strikes in 28 matches last season.
Coincidentally, the person who Pelle was bought to replace at St. Mary’s—Merseyside-born Rickie Lambert—is his best comparison. Both strikers are late bloomers. The Scouser joined Liverpool as a 10 year-old and spent five years at the schoolboy level before being released. It took him 11 years to make his Premier League debut—with Southampton in 2009—clawing his way through the lower-tiers to earn a dream return to his boyhood club this off-season, having also been a member of Roy Hodgson’s 23-man World Cup roster in Brazil.
It’s hard to imagine Conte won’t give Pelle his Azzurri debut at some point this weekend. The former Juventus manager has made it very clear that selection is based on current form, which is why Mario Balotelli will be watching from the comforts of his new residence on Merseyside.
The bottle has been uncorked; the Graziano vintage is now in season.