Football
Ben Gladwell, Italy correspondent 9y

Graziano Pelle indebted to 'guru' Louis van Gaal, says Italy striker's father

The father of Southampton and Italy striker Graziano Pelle says that had it not been for Louis van Gaal, his son would probably be with him, selling coffee, rather than playing in the Premier League and representing his country.

It was the Manchester United manager who signed Pelle for AZ Alkmaar in 2007, when his career in Italy was showing no sign of taking off. In spells with Lecce, Catania, Crotone and Cesena, Pelle scored just 16 goals in four seasons before a move to the Netherlands launched his career.

He returned briefly to play for Parma and Sampdoria in Italy before blossoming again in the Dutch Eredivisie at Feyenoord.

"If he'd never met the Dutch guru [Van Gaal], as well as [Ronald] Koeman, maybe my son would now be a carpenter or he'd be sitting with me in my van, selling coffee," said his father Roberto Pelle in La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"He's now realised his dream, after overcoming the disappointment of not being considered for the World Cup in Brazil. Finally somebody has noticed that there was an Italian who scored 64 goals in Holland."

That person was Italy coach Antonio Conte, who awarded Pelle his first senior call-up this month after his impressive club form at Southampton.

Pelle duly repaid Conte's faith by responding with a goal on his debut, sealing a 1-0 win over Malta on Monday.

"It's going to be good fun with Conte," added Roberto Pelle. "Graziano has confided in me that he sees a lot of Van Gaal in [Conte]."

Pelle's Italy debut will not go to the 29-year-old's head, though, according to his father.

"Even if he can afford to buy himself a Ferrari now, I've asked my son to think of the future," he said. "So much so that I've convinced him to invest in a house in the centre of Lecce."

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