On Monday afternoon Torino had discovered that their next opponents in the UEFA Europa League were Spanish side Athletic Club during the round of 32 draw in Nyon, Switzerland. The Granata will be facing the Basques who eliminated Napoli from the UEFA Champions League qualifiers and were then eliminated from Group H in the Champions League itself.
Although Torino sealed their qualification to the round of 32 after demolishing a nine-man FC Copenhagen 5-1 in their Group B match, Giampiero Ventura’s side need reinforcements in attack if they are to eliminate Athletic Club and continue their journey in Europe.
Indeed since Ciro Immobile and Alessio Cerci were sold in the summer, Torino have struggled to score goals. The Granata have the second-worst attack in Serie A with 10 goals, with four of them scored by Fabio Quagliarella and none by Amauri. In the Europa League, they scored nine goals including the five that came in their victory in Copenhagen.
Ventura’s strikers have not been prolific in the Europa League either. Discounting the qualifiers with Swedish side Brommapojkarna, none of his strikers have scored more than two goals in the competition.
This lack of finishing touch in front of goal has prompted Torino president Urbano Cairo to reveal that he will look for two strikers in January.
“We need five attackers, we are already moving here,” Cairo told La Gazzetta dello Sport on Wednesday.
“We believed in [Josef] Martinez, we have invested and he is repaying us here, and then there are Amauri and Quagliarella.
“I won’t reveal the names of the two strikers that are missing; [it’s] better to keep the cards down.”
It is likely that these two potential acquisitions will jump ahead of Marcelo Larrondo and Paulo Barreto in the pecking order as well as provide more competition for Amauri, Quagliarella and Martinez. Larrondo has been battling with injuries and form, while Barreto is struggling to break into the squad.
Former Sampdoria duo Antonio Cassano and Giampaolo Pazzini have been linked with Torino but Cairo has said that they don’t suit Ventura’s tactics. Sebastian Giovinco has also been linked with Torino but Cairo believes that it would be hard to buy him from Juventus in January.
Other rumoured targets include Duvan Zapata from Napoli, Mauricio Pinilla from Genoa, Goran Pandev from Galatasaray, Mauro Zarate from West Ham United and Alessandro Diamanti from Guangzhou Evergrande.
Zapata and Pinilla are both aerial threats who could put Amauri under some pressure, while Pandev and Zarate are forwards who can dribble as well as already having Serie A experience. Diamanti can provide an X-factor like Quagliarella, and like Pinilla and Zarate, he is not cup-tied.
Torino will play Athletic Club in about two months’ time and the Basques aren’t in fantastic form either. They are 10th in La Liga and they have only scored 13 goals in 15 league games.
Athletic Club only recruit Basque players whereas Torino don’t confine themselves to recruiting from the Piemonte region. The January transfer window should give the Granata a chance to find the right reinforcements in attack before their Europa League match with Athletic on February 19.
Needless to say, Torino need more potency in attack if they want the goals to fly in like they did in Copenhagen.
Follow Vito Doria on Twitter: @VitoCDoria
There is one striker I think was left off that wish list in January – Alberto Gilardino. He is also in China and some media reports have said he is being targeted by the Granata. This could have been one of the cards he is seeking to hold face down at this moment as I imagine Gilardino, at 32 years old only still and surprisingly not in Serie A this year, is probably one of the better choices for a club like Torino.
Gilardino has been linked with them and he would be a good option but Atalanta look like the favourites to get him.