Player Focus: Why Giaccherini Would Be A Real Coup for Sunderland

Paolo Di Canio is frantically looking to strengthen a Sunderland squad that was stumbling into oblivion, and his hard work and effectiveness in the transfer market thus far is not dissimilar to the playing style of one of his latest targets.

It's fair to say that Italians are few and far between in England's top-flight but those that do plump for such a switch tend to have a little something about them. Di Canio was of course one of those players, with Gianfranco Zola perhaps the only man from the peninsula more memorable in the Premier League era.

The latest major installment from Serie A was the unforgettable Mario Balotelli, whose controversy eclipsed that of even Di Canio. However, the former West Ham player is looking to bring in a much different type of player, and one of Italian origin that the English league is perhaps not used to.

With the Premier League often labelled as the most physically demanding in Europe, the playing style should suit Juventus and Italy midfielder Emanuele Giaccherini down to the ground. From the outside looking in a player who is no more than a squad player for the Old Lady regularly featuring for the Azzurri may seem bizarre, but it's an indication of the esteem in which he is held in his homeland.

There are few players available to international head coach Cesare Prandelli quite like Giaccherini, and despite receiving limited playing time, he's valued just as highly by club coach Antonio Conte. The Juve boss was quick to stress his regret that a bid had been accepted from Sunderland for the 28-year old, admitting an understanding the 'need to balance the books' rather than any desire to offload one of the most hard-working midfielders in Serie A.

His quality was evident at the recent Confederations Cup, and it came as no surprise to see Giaccherini selected for a crucial semi-final against Spain - a game in which he shone from the outset. A tireless and willing runner, which is a trait that Di Canio insists upon his players, the Juve man put in a real shift from the left flank - hitting the post with one of three efforts on goal - and his versatility is another factor that will have attracted his aforementioned compatriot.

Indeed, over the Serie A, Champions League and Confederations Cup combined, Giaccherini played in 5 different positions last season, though he was usually stationed in central midfield for Juventus. It's therefore no surprise that he struggled to impact on Conte's selection, with the likes of Pirlo, Vidal, Marchisio and Pogba ahead of him in the pecking order.

Nevertheless, when he was selected the former Cesena man was as effective as ever. To pick up a WhoScored rating of 7.01 having made 7 of just 17 league appearances from the bench last season is quite something. When you exclude said substitute appearances, his average rating jumped to an excellent 7.40.

Indeed, when analysing his statistics, due to the number of cameo appearances he made, it's key to look at the minutes he played in turn. Despite this, even when looking at Giaccherini's figure of 2.2 shots per game, only Juve's three most used strikers mustered a higher average. The story is similar when judging him on his creativity, with an average of 1.9 key passes per appearance only bettered by Pirlo and Vidal.

When you look closer into the 'minutes per' figures for those stats his attacking verve and threat becomes clear. In terms of shots his average (one every 24.8 minutes) remains behind Quagliarella, Vucinic and Giovinco. However, of all players that don't predominantly play in a front three in Serie A only four (Boateng, Guarin, Diamanti, Quintero) have a better minutes per shot rate than Giaccherini, who plays far deeper in comparison.

Meanwhile his ranking is better still when it comes to minutes per key pass, landing 5th of all players to have made at least 10 appearances in Serie A last season. Again, the players ahead of him all play in far more advanced positions, with Cassano, Totti, Ninis and Bojan edging out Giaccherini's average of 29.4, which just gets the better of teammate Andrea Pirlo.

Such stats prove his willingness to get forward in support of attacks and his confidence in the final third. Regardless of that, he is quick to recover his position, proven by the fact that his minutes per tackle rate of 34.9 is only marginally below Pirlo (also 34.9) and Marchisio (31.3), both of whom factor less in and around the penalty area.

With a pass accuracy of 87.9% in the league last season, his figure eclipses any Sunderland player to have started more than 6 matches and it's clear that, with all this in mind, he could be a star turn for the Black Cats were he trade Turin for Wearside.