Transfer Numero Uno: Zampagna to … Vicenza?!

By: Martha | January 3rd, 2008

If you’ve not gathered it from how I talk about him whenever he’s mentioned here, I have an irrational affection for Riccardo Zampagna. He’s an uncompromising, grumpy bastard who looks like a longshoreman/mob enforcer and usually plays like one, with a lot of strength and power, and yet is capable (even now, as an old man) of moments of completely absurd near-grace on the pitch. I think it’s the contrast between how he looks and the things he can do that gets me; I’ll watch hideously grinding, boring matches just in the hope that he’ll do something magical. (Or, alternately, if Inter are playing, but that’s another conversation.)

So, when Zampagna fell out with Atalanta and disappeared entirely from the team, it was a serious bummer, particularly after his spectacular start. (As, I have to admit, was their failure to stutter even slightly after he was dumped. Talk about making a man feel unloved.) Now, though, we’ll get to see him play again, albeit on a much smaller stage: He’s set to join Vicenza, currently at the bottom of Serie B. (So, when I say “see him play,” I mean see goals during that one Serie B match RAI shows on Saturday morning.) Wha?

I’m sure Vincenza need him — they’ve score 17 goals in 19 matches, fewer than almost everyone in Serie B — but I can’t figure out why Zampagna would go there. Given the number of teams looking for target strikers right now, I can’t imagine that he didn’t get any offers from Serie A clubs, if only from the teams in the drop zone — and what happened to Palermo? Outside of Serie A, according to C4 he was in the sights of Bologna and Brescia (My god, Zampagna and Serse Cosmi at the same club? The universe would implode with the power of concentrated cool.), both of whom are chasing promotion. So … why Vincenza? Anyone got a guess? He’s not from there, so I’m out of ideas.

Category: Atalanta, Serie A

Tags: Atalanta, Serie A, Vincenza, Zampagna

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• chris |  January 3rd, 2008 at 8:47 am

  
  
  

  He’s being linked with Roma as well. They’re looking for a massive, fugly 3rd striker to sit in the stands unless Frank or Mirko go down.

  Posted from United States

  

• chris |  January 3rd, 2008 at 8:49 am

  
  
  

  And can I guess you wrote his wikipedia entry?

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riccardo_Zampagna

  Posted from United States

  

• Martha |  January 3rd, 2008 at 8:53 am

  
  
  

  Damn, I wish I had. That and the part in Rui Costa’s about his eating habits. Clearly I need to be proactive with my fascinations.

  (Were there seriously Roma stories, or is only Lucarelli and Rigano who will fill that chair?)

  Posted from United States

  

• chris |  January 3rd, 2008 at 9:20 am

  
  
  

  Z, Lucarelli and Rigano are part of the three-headed 3rd striker pool Roma is after - pretty serious I believe. All three make a good amount of sense, at least for the rest of the season.

  Posted from United States

  

• Martha |  January 3rd, 2008 at 9:31 am

  
  
  

  Well I guess they can give up on Zampagna, assuming Vicenza aren’t lying — he’s there training, and they’ve got his presentation scheduled and everything.

  Posted from United States

  

• Vin |  January 3rd, 2008 at 2:49 pm

  
  
  

  At 33, he doesn’t have too many years left in his boots. If a top side isn’t going to pick him for some CL/UEFA/Coppa/Scudetto hunt, the next best challenge for someone… especially for someone not keen on riding a bench… would be to save a squad from relegation, and perhaps even get them promoted after that. If he’s as gritty as you say, Martha, he probably wants to go somwehere where he’d still be useful.

  Posted from United States

  

• ursus arctos |  January 6th, 2008 at 10:19 am

  
  
  

  He’s signed with Vicenza, and there is a picture of him in their red and white stripes on the front page of their website.

  I think you are selling Vicenza a bit short, Martha. In terms of history and general place in the Italian football landscape, they are second only to Bologna in terms of the teams currently in Serie B (and not only because they were the club where both Paolo Rossi and Roby Baggio first made their names in Italian football). They are also absolutely desperate not to follow their near neighbours (and fierce derby rivals) Hellas Verona into the quagmire that is Serie C1. All of that leads me to believe that they are paying Zampagna handsomely, and the combination of that kind of wage packet and a guaranteed first team place is pretty much all he was looking for at this point.

  Posted from Italy

  

• Martha |  January 6th, 2008 at 12:47 pm

  
  
  

  Thanks for that, Ursus, I was not aware of the wages they’d be able to pay; if it’s true he’s being well paid, that certainly helps explain the move.

  Posted from United States

  

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