Graziano Pellè “really hopes to be in Brazil next year” for the World Cup with Italy after scoring 27 goals for Feyenoord this season.
Graziano Pellè “really hopes to be in Brazil next year” for the World Cup with Italy after scoring 27 goals for Feyenoord this season.
“Transfers are strange, as they also depend on the moment. The Feyenoord directors told me it wouldn’t have been easy for them to sell me,” he said in La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“On the final day of the season I was substituted and the crowd gave me a standing ovation. The fans would not be happy if I was sold.”
Despite this scoring record, Pellè has no senior Italy caps, last playing for the Under-21 side in 2007.
“There is a lot of competition for places in the Nazionale. Just look at Antonio Di Natale, who wasn’t called for the Confederations Cup even though he has scored dozens of goals for years.
“I will admit I really hope to be in Brazil next year, though.”
The striker turns 28 next month and has found success in the Dutch Eredivisie after spells in Italy with Lecce, Crotone, Cesena, Catania and Parma.
He had already impressed at AZ Alkmaar, but made a huge impact when Parma loaned him to Feyenoord last summer.
Pellè scored 27 goals in 29 Eredivisie matches, plus another two in four KNVB Beker Cup games, so the club activated a clause to make his move permanent for £2.6m.