After much talk, thousands of articles and god knows how many ridiculous rumors, the mercato madness is finally over. Well, until the summer at least. It was a relatively busy mercato for Livorno as three new players arrived and four players left the club.
All in all it was a pretty solid transfer market for the Amaranto but many (including myself), are still skeptical as to whether the new signings will be able to keep the Tuscan club in Serie A.
They did manage to bring in a striker during the transfer window, which they were in desperate need of. The Amaranto managed to sign Ishak Belfodil on loan from Inter during the final day of the mercato to bolster their attacking options, and most importantly take some of the weight off the shoulders of Paulinho, whom they have relied on so heavily to score the majority of their goals.
The Algerian international has struggled since making the move to the Nerazzurri in the summer, making mostly substitute appearances, but there is no doubt that the he has ability, as he showed in brief glimpses at Inter and more so with Parma, where he spent a year before moving to Inter.
At six feet and three inches he is not your typical target man and is good with the ball at his feet. He is willing to collect the ball and run at defenders, something which not many players in this current squad can do.
However, he will face stiff competition for a starting place as Innocent Emeghara has scored two goals in the last two games and has looked good since Domenico Di Carlo has took over. Although as always with the former Siena man it will depend if he can keep his form fine up, as he is an extremely inconsistent performer, as evident by the amount of substitute appearances he has made this season.
The Amaranto have also strengthened in the wing-back positions, adding Djamel Mesbah and Paolo Castellini from Parma and Sampdoria respectively. A wing-back was in need after the departure of Pasquale Schiattarella to Spezia, with the former Ancona man a first team player before his departure.
This could signal a slight change in the line-up as both players like to play on the left, where Ibrahima Mbaye has been playing for most of the season. The man on loan from Inter could possibly be moved to the right wing-back position where he is more than capable of playing, with either Mesbah or Castellini slotting into the left wing-back position.
Apart from the aforementioned Schiattarella, there was no major departures and most importantly they managed to keep a hold of Paulinho after much speculation and even offers from the likes of Fulham. The Brazilian could possibly be the difference between relegation and survival come the end of the season.
On the pitch things are starting to look up with a win against Sassuolo two weeks ago and a draw away to Catania last week, in a crazy game which finished 3-3.
Di Carlo will be hoping that the Amaranto will go into this weeks clash at home to Genoa with the same attitude they have in the previous two games, as they look to pick up three vital points in a very winnable game.
