Giannelli Imbula believes Serie A and Lecce “will be more suited to my characteristics” than Stoke City. “I want to make up for a couple of disappointing years.”
The midfielder had been Stoke’s record signing from FC Porto for €24m in 2016, but struggled to make an impact with the Premier League side.
After spells with FC Toulouse and Rayo Vallecano, he arrived at Lecce on loan with €4m option to buy.
Giannelli Imbula believes Serie A and Lecce “will be more suited to my characteristics” than Stoke City. “I want to make up for a couple of disappointing years.”
The midfielder had been Stoke’s record signing from FC Porto for €24m in 2016, but struggled to make an impact with the Premier League side.
After spells with FC Toulouse and Rayo Vallecano, he arrived at Lecce on loan with €4m option to buy.
“I’ve always followed Italian football and after meeting with director Meluso, I started to dig into the glorious history of Lecce,” said Imbula in his Press conference.
“I saw the club already participated in Serie A many times and launched the careers of some great champions. I really want to make up for the last few years and that is why I am here. I ran into difficulty in England and think Italian football is more suited to my characteristics, especially as it went better for me in Spain last season.
“I had been close to Serie A before, as Inter and Torino were looking for me a few years ago, while this summer Bologna and Udinese were interested too.
“I have been working on my fitness at Stoke City and believe in around 10 days I’ll be at the same level as my teammates. I want to make up for a couple of disappointing years.”