Sassuolo coach Alessio Dionisi admits they could never replace Giacomo Raspadori after his move to Napoli, while Domenico Berardi is ‘as important to us as Kylian Mbappé is for France.’
The Neroverdi are sitting in the bottom half of the table after a troubled campaign so far, having been forced to change so many figures in their attack.
Raspadori was sold to Napoli, while Berardi and Hamed Junior Traore missed most of the games through injury this season.
“There was no point going to look for a player like Raspadori, because he covers so many different roles,” Dionisi told the Terzo Uomo podcast.
“We didn’t have all our forwards available this season and that makes a big difference, because the inertia of a game changes if you take the lead.”
Captain Berardi signed a new contract to practically see out his career with Sassuolo, but managed only eight games between Serie A and the Coppa Italia, scoring two goals.
“We really missed him. Berardi is as important to us as Mbappé is for France. If you look over the last 9-10 years at Sassuolo, Berardi has been absolutely decisive and he raises the level for everyone else in the squad too, some players feel greater responsibility in his absence.
“There are levels when it comes to players and we have in Berardi a true talent who makes our performances far more fluid when he plays.”
Dionisi discussed the performances of Traore and confirmed the issues are not purely physical.
“We did try to force his comeback a bit too quickly, but the biggest problem for Junior is that he lacks consistency in terms of his mentality. I hope we can see the Traore that impressed in the second half of last season.”
Sassuolo have picked up just four wins and four draws so far in Serie A this season, already falling to seven defeats.
The break for the 2022 World Cup came at the right time, interrupting a run of just one point from four games, in which they scored only one goal and conceded nine.