How Mark Rudan’s backroom reconnaissance sealed Alessandro Diamanti’s Western United move
His English may be lacking but Western United manager Mark Rudan knows marquee recruit Alessandro Diamanti’s actions will speak louder than words.
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Former Italy attacker Alessandro Diamanti revealed that he has been inundated with offers of ‘pizza and pasta on the house’ since signing for Western United.
Coach Mark Rudan quipped that pizza off the menu after declaring that the former West Ham and Bologna star had arrived in superb nick.
Capped 17 times by his country, Diamanti is the highest profile Italian signing since Alessandro Del Piero and slotted straight into full-scale training on Wednesday in his first session.
Opening in Italian before answering in English, Diamanti said he was not here for sightseeing or restaurant hopping.
“My social network when I signed, I have many invites to Italian restaurants – large dinner, if you want pizza, pasta,’’ Diamanti said.
“I am not here for ‘Australia is a good country’, no. I am a professional man, a serious man.
“I want to play football because I feel good. For me it’s not holiday, it’s work. After beautiful Melbourne, beautiful Australia.
“I want to win, I want to train hard, I want to play football with passion and explain to my younger players many things.
“I’ve had other offers in Italy, but at 36 it’s a chance to experience a new league in a new country
“My English I need to improve. But in one month (it will be better).”
Rudan, who had a seven-figure bounty to chase a visa attacker, was thrilled with his newest acquisition.
“He does what he wants when we have possession of the ball. I’ll be a fan watching on the sideline,’’ Rudan said.
“We’ve been on the search for a proper out and out number 10 (attacking midfielder), they are the hardest players to find in the world. He fits the bill.
“We’ve waited a long time for Diamanti. You can have the best striker in the world, but if someone’s not providing service, there’s no point. We’ve got Diamanti now that can provide those kind of balls, (Panagiotis) Kone that can pulls strings in the middle of the park.
“Two key components were attitude and motivation. We did a lot of research speaking to backroom staff at Watford and West Ham.
“I believe how you treat the backroom staff – kitchen hand, gear stewards, people that clean your boots – tells you a lot about a person.
“He’s come in very good shape.”
Diamanti, 36, denied that he had received a formal offer from Victory, who were believed to have requested an FFA subsidy as a guest marquee three years ago.
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