A Look At Southampton's New Big-Money Signing

Southampton splashed out over £12 million on Pablo Osvaldo (who somewhat bizarrely claimed in his first press conference at the club that he wished to be known by his middle name ‘Daniel’), but just what can Saints expect the Argentine-Italian striker to bring to their ever-improving squad?

Starting off at Huracan in the country of his birth, the forward found the net 11 times in 33 games, giving him an impressive scoring record of one in three.  In 2006 Osvaldo would move to Europe, joining Atalanta in Serie B.  He was soon sent out to league rivals Lecce, but would ultimately play in the Italian topflight the following season with Fiorentina.  Bologna were the fourth and final club the striker would represent during his first spell in Italy, leaving to join Espanyol in 2010.

It was in Spain that Saints’ record signing first met his new boss Mauricio Pochettino, with the Argentine coach having brought some stability to the Barcelona-based club.  After scoring 20 goals in 44 La Liga games, the striker was sold to Roma for a fee similar to that recently paid by Southampton.  His return to Italy proved much more successful than his initial four-year stint, enjoying his time in the capital and finding the net 27 times in 55 Serie A appearances for the Giallorossi.

Now that he has made it to English shores and the promised land of the Premier League, can Osvaldo continue his form of the last few years on the South Coast?

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