Manolo Gabbiadini has completed a permanent move from Southampton back to former side Sampdoria.
The Italian signed for Southampton in January 2017 from Napoli and began his career at St Mary’s by scoring six times in his first four matches.
He also netted twice in their 3-2 League Cup final defeat to Manchester United at Wembley in 2017.
However, this season he has fallen out of favour on the south coast, first under former manager Mark Hughes and then Ralph Hasenhuttl; he featured as a substitute in Hasenhuttl’s first match against Cardiff, but has not featured since.
“He is a good player, fantastic technique, but I think with this intensive pressing system we try to play, it is not his way, so it was better to find a solution which is better for both sides,” Hasenhuttl said.
“It is a good step for him to go back to Italy, I wish him all the best. I am sure he can score goals at every club in the world, but we try to go another way and for that we need other players.”
The club put together a video montage on Twitter to thank the striker, who departs after scoring 12 times in 55 appearances.
During his first spell in Serie A with Sampdoria, the 27-year-old scored 19 times in 50 matches before leaving for Napoli in 2015.
