TMW exclusive
His is one of those stories worth telling. A story made of sacrifices and sleepless nights to fulfill the dream of a lifetime: playing football and sharing the great passion with his brothers. Behind him is a united family that has constantly followed him along his growth path, without forgetting the fundamental role of a prestigious club like Inter which immediately recognized his technical potential, often giving him the opportunity to train with international champions. The hope, in the future, is to wear the Nerazzurri shirt again and be a protagonist in a stadium like San Siro. In the meantime, Spezia is enjoying it, clinging to its goals to lull the dream of promotion after a couple of seasons that it would be euphemistic to define as troubled. Francesco Pio Espositoawarded as the best young player in Serie B a few days ago during the Gran Galà del calcio, gave an exclusive interview to Tuttomercatoweb declaring the following:
Let’s start from the Spezia championship. The first defeat of the season arrived in Palermo…
“We are certainly an important team, we are carving out our space in a difficult championship like that of Serie B. We must continue to work, sooner or later it had to happen and Spezia must absolutely not lose awareness of their means. We were coming off a long streak of consecutive useful results and these are things that don’t happen by chance. The season will be decided from February onwards.”
Who are the main candidates for the category jump?
“Sassuolo is the strongest team and has many superior category players. But Serie B is difficult and unpredictable, everything will be decided in the last few days. There are many who have a competitive team, including Spezia.”
From the C nightmare to the excellent first round this year. What’s the secret?
“We are doing well, we are a good group. We have regrouped after having risked relegation, Spezia had just returned from a couple of unfortunate seasons but we are fortunate to have an excellent coach on the bench. The coach has been able to strike the right chords , has made us responsible and we are getting great satisfaction.”
And then there’s the Peak factor…
“For us it is very important to have the public on our side, it is that push that we need in moments of difficulty. People have understood that we are giving our all for the shirt and always follow us with affection, we hope that as soon as possible we can also reopen our curve so the Peak will be a real bedlam.”
Is there any moment in your career that has particularly impressed you or any anecdote you would like to tell?
“There are two. First of all, the first goal I scored last year, resulting from an assist from my brother: this is one of the most exciting moments of my career. You know well what a special relationship binds me to my family, it was an incredible joy shared with the closest ones. The memory linked to the recent away match in Castellammare was also beautiful. We won, but a part of my heart was sorry for my favorite team. These are feelings that you struggle to explain in words. Seeing so many people in the stands with whom I grew up was beautiful and special. It’s my city and it will never be a match like all the others, especially there at Menti.”
Is there any striker you look up to?
“I had the chance to work with him during his time at Inter: I would say Edin Dzeko. In Serie B I follow Coda’s exploits a lot, he has an incredible sense of goal in this category. And I really like Shpendi from Cesena.”
What’s your secret dream?
“I hope to win the championship with Spezia and to score as many goals as possible. I don’t have a personal objective, the important thing is to make a contribution to the team’s successes. The future will be determined by my performance, it is certain that it would be nice to return to Inter”.
You recently received the award for best young person in the B…
“A beautiful and rewarding moment, being protagonists during the Grand Gala of football and finding yourself among so many champions is always exciting. I hope to repay the trust of those who have always believed in me on the pitch.”
It’s impossible not to end with a thought about your friend and colleague Edoardo Bove…
“We had just finished our match in Palermo, the news was really bad and we followed the evolution of the situation with a certain concern. I shared with him the experience with the Under21 national team, we have a group chat on WhatsApp and we we constantly inform. Luckily it seems that the worst is over, the hope is that he will be able to return to the pitch soon and that everything will turn into a bad memory.”