Lecce beyond salvation: from Strefezza to Baschirotto who are the players who can leave

At seven o’clock this morning Pantaleo Corvino, the true architect of the Lecce miracle, except a day early, was, as usual, already on the move. Not to enjoy what happened yesterday in Monza, when the team he built, coached by Marco Baroni and directed by Saverio Sticchi Damiani, in the eleventh minute of added time with the penalty converted by Lollo Colombo, chased away all the nightmares and negative thoughts , but because he hasn’t had a day off for three years. He won the bet with his Lecce, with his territory. In two years he brought it back to Serie A, he saved it with very few resources and today he has only the Primavera team in mind which from next Monday in Reggio Emilia will try to go as far as possible in the playoffs because the regular season, with Federico Coppitelli on the bench, he closed it in first place. “It was worth it, we did it again,” enthuses the director.

The team that is worth a treasure

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But what he built today is worth gold. Because in the Lecce squad there are guys who are now coveted by many. And many are owned. Given that the goalkeeper Falcone, the world champion defender Umtiti, the young striker from the Milan school Colombo, the midfielder Oudin are loans and we will soon think about what to do with them, the Giallorossi treasure is no small matter. Two highlights are displayed in the window: the Danish playmaker Morten Hjulmand and the central defender Federico Baschirotto, who exploded thanks to the Baroni cure. They are the two who have impressed the most and it is logical that they are appetites for many. In particular the Dane who had already been courted by the Premier in January.

Lecce is solid and salvation guarantees stability, after the considerable effort made by Sticchi Damiani and his partners. With just one sale, the club can be said to be virtuous. But, if you enter the boutique and go inside, you will discover two thirds of the 2000 French Valentin Gendrey, and Antonino Gallo, from Palermo who have played more than 30 games ensuring that defensive compactness which was the basis for obtaining the extraordinary salvation. If we go further, we will find the 2002 Spanish midfielder Joan Gonzalez whom Corvino ferried from his beloved Primavera to first-team ownership.

The Strefezza jewel

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Then there is another precious diamond: Gabriel Strefezza, a winger to whom Baroni has given the awareness of being able to believe even more in his offensive qualities. Double figures in Serie B, eight goals in Serie A. Strefezza, a Brazilian, feels he can take flight. He has just changed agent and will want to try to measure himself elsewhere by raising the bar. The Lecce workshop is not cheap. Because what he has done is there for all to see. And let’s add, on the offensive front, the center forward Ceesay, the wingers Banda (another discovery of Corvino the Zambian) and Di Francesco. It won’t be easy to keep them all, but Lecce is fine, we can still grow and this is a factor not to be overlooked.