Stefano Sensi revealed that Italy coach Roberto Mancini suggested that he join Sampdoria in order to relaunch his career.
The 26-year-old Italian midfielder has joined the Ligurian side on a six-month dry loan deal, where he’ll be hoping for regular playing time as he looks to regain his form and find some consistency again. He has only made one Serie A start this season under coach Simone Inzaghi in the Lombardy capital.
Speaking to Sampdoria’s media department, Sensi first discussed his arrival at Sampdoria and desire to consistent minutes.
“I’m very happy to be here, in this great club with a great history, I can’t wait to start. Scoring in the Coppa Italia was very important for me, the goal decided the game, but my idea has always remained the same, I strongly wanted to come here to make myself available to the team and the coach and give consistency to my performances.”
He revealed that Mancini had a hand in his decision to join the Ligurian side on loan.
“I spoke with Mancini before the meeting in these three days at Coverciano, and he spoke very well of Samp, he gave me advice and encouraged me to come here, according to him it was the right solution.
“And for me Sampdoria is a great way to relaunch myself, I came from two difficult years, but now I’m here. I scored my last goal in Serie A at the Marassi, and now I hope to score more goals in this shirt.”
The Italian midfielder gave his thoughts on former Milan coach Marco Giampaolo.
“I’m happy to find Giampaolo here, the esteem of a coach is very important, and I like how he plays and makes his teams play, my characteristics are close to his way of playing, and this pleases me.
“I’m available for what he wants, he’ll give me his indications and his ideas, I’m here to work and try to get satisfaction.”
Finally, Sensi revealed which shirt number he’ll wear and why.
“The number 5 was free, it was my number and I decided to start the adventure with this number.”
The 26-year-old Sensi has only made 12 appearances across all competitions so far this season, for a total of 195 minutes. He missed seven matches earlier this campaign due to a medial collateral ligament injury.
💬 | INTERVIEW #Sensi: «#Sampdoria, ti ho voluto fortemente. Ora la continuità».
— U.C. Sampdoria (@sampdoria) January 29, 2022
Sensi had (has?) a lot of potential… At one point I was certain he’d be a mainstay on the Italian midfield.. I put him ahead of Barella, to be honest…
@bob agree with you. Sensi was very excellent in his first 8 or 10 games when he joined Inter. I mean really excellent and much better than Barella. I was wondering at that time why Mancini started Barella and benched him. In the second half of the season, Barella developed and became much better while Sensi never really recover his fitness after his injury in the game against Juve. Until now.
I agree with both. Fell off the map quickly and was much more effective than Barella before his injuries.
He really could emerge again as a force… hopefully he remains healthy/fit.. Smart player.