Sporting Director Stefano Melissano on Spezia’s transfer window

On the eve of the team’s departure for training camp in Santa Cristina Valgardena, Sporting Director Stefano Melissano introduced new signings Gabriele Artistico and Vanja Vlahovic to the media, before giving an update on Spezia’s transfer activity: “We’ve been following Vanja and Gabriele since last season and found common ground right away, it really wasn’t difficult to bring them in. I want to thank both players, as well as Lazio and Atalanta for their cooperation, starting with Presidents Lotito and Percassi and the directors Fabiani, D’Amico, and Fabio Gatti.

As for Cittadini, we’re at the stage of exchanging paperwork, so he’ll do his medicals and then join us in camp. Onofri’s deal is also almost done, he’s coming off a strong season and will head to the training camp with us. He was a great opportunity, and like Chiabotto, a 2007-born player who’ll stay at Bra, he’s part of our early investment strategy to build long-term value for the club.

I want to be very clear: neither Esposito nor Wisniewski has ever asked to leave or pushed for a move. They’re calm, fully committed to Spezia, and focused on working with the coach. Of course, if offers come in, and none have so far, we’ll evaluate them, as you’d expect. If an opportunity comes along that’s right for a player’s career, you can’t stand in their way. But as of now, the market’s very quiet overall, apart from a few of the bigger clubs. Either way, I want to stress again that both players are calm and have never asked to leave.

As of today, we’ve got a squad that’s basically built on last year’s core group. Apart from Pio, Bertola, Reca, and Kouda, we’ve added Vanja and Gabriele, and Cittadini will be here soon, so we’re pretty close to being complete.

Moutinho moved to Poland and Chichizola went to Modena, two quick deals, which isn’t easy in such a slow market.”

I also want to highlight how attached the players are to Spezia. If big offers come in, we’ll be proud to have helped those players grow, like with Pio. I think everyone felt that his goal against River Plate belonged a little bit to all of us.

“Last year was tough for everyone, but now we’re starting from a solid foundation. We’ll go game by game, goal by goal. That’s always been our approach, and it’ll continue to be. We’ll leave the big promises to others, we know who we are and the mentality we bring.”

“As for players moving out, we’re working on finding solutions for guys who spent last season out on loan, so we can keep building the tactical and technical project we started in July 2024. Regarding Zurkowski, he’s coming to camp. He made a smart move by restructuring his contract, showing both intelligence and gratitude toward the club. If he stays, he’ll definitely be an important player for Serie B, and we’re happy to have him with us.

As for Onofri, Giorgeschi, and Benvenuto, at least one of them will need to go out and play regularly, and we’ll evaluate that as things go.

Candelari? After more than 40 games in the professional ranks, he’s a mature player now. We all believe in him and are confident he can show his value.

Elia’s calm and fully committed to staying at Spezia, he’s ready to keep contributing, just like he has over the last two seasons. As for our forwards, the idea right now is to go with four strikers, but we’ll see how things develop during the first part of training camp.”

“Beyond positions, what we’re looking for in the group are people with the right mindset guys like Gabriele and Vanja. We’re not interested in bringing in anyone who might disrupt the balance of the locker room or our team mentality.

Opportunities will come, and when they do, we’re ready to move fast, as we showed with Vanja, Gabriele, Aurelio, and Cittadini. In midfield, we’re basically the same as last year, just missing one piece. But the transfer window’s long, and we shouldn’t overlook Candelari either, we hope he can become what Kouda was for us last year.

As for defense, Bertola’s departure and Cittadini’s arrival keep us pretty much where we were. On the flanks, we’ve got Vignali returning in September, Elia, Aurelio, and we’ll evaluate a few young players to see who fits best.

Up front, right now we’ve got Soleri, Di Serio, Lapadula, Vlahovic, Colak, and Artistico. Over the next few days, we’ll assess and make decisions.

As for goalkeepers, we’re pretty well covered with Mascardi, Sarr, Crespi, and Leonardo. It’s possible that either Leonardo or Crespi might ask to go out and play, and if that happens, we’re ready to find a solution.

As for camp, everyone’s coming except for Bandinelli, who’s still recovering, Colak, who’s been down with the flu, and Lapadula, who’s been given an extra week after national team duty. Corradini’s also finishing up treatment and will join us once he’s ready.