Salernitana director Morgan De Sanctis admits it was an error not to send Boulaye Dia to Wolverhampton Wanderers on the last day of the summer transfer window although the offer for the Granata was ‘offensive.’
Dia was last season’s top scorer at the Stadio Arechi with 16 goals in 33 Serie A appearances. The 27-year-old’s performances in his first-ever season in Italy’s top flight convinced Salernitana to make his loan move from Villarreal permanent for €12m, but Wolves made an offer to sign the striker on the deadline day last summer.
De Sanctis revealed Wolves’ offer during a press conference in September when he didn’t hide his frustration, saying he would ‘not forget’ what Wolverhampton had done.
The Premier League side wanted to sign Dia on loan and had spoken to the striker without Salernitana’s consent, infuriating De Sanctis.
Dia was initially left out of the squad for a few games as he had pushed to move to England and when he was reintroduced, he scored four goals in 10 Serie A games.
Nevertheless, De Sanctis regrets not selling the Senegal international last summer.
“For now, yes, but he was our best striker with 16 goals, only fewer than Victor Osimhen and Lautaro Martinez,” he said in an interview with Il Corriere dello Sport on Friday, on page 21.
“We had received an offer from England on the last day of the transfer window, we could have done nothing to replace him. It was an offensive offer, to have him on loan. What would people have said about us and me if we had completed the operation?”
De Sanctis added that it was an error to “underestimate somebody’s desire to leave,” also mentioning former coach Paulo Sousa.
The Portuguese tactician had met Napoli over the summer, but failed to reach an agreement with the Partenopei and eventually remained in Salerno.
“It was legitimate, but as President Iervolino has said, from that moment the love produced disorders,” admitted De Sanctis, a former Roma and Napoli goalkeeper.
“I thought we could still be the team that, with Sousa in charge, only conceded 1,25 goals per game, scored 1,43 [goals per game] and earned 21 points in 16 games. But that mechanism no longer worked. The confirmation came with three points in eight games which were quite feasible.”
Sousa was sacked after eight games this season and replaced by Filippo Inzaghi.
“Pippo has brought his experience to face a surreal phase,” said De Sanctis.
“His work starts taking shape, but he must be helped by the lads and the fans, who are amazing and don’t want to give up, just like us.”
Salernitana have only won one game this season and sit rock bottom of the Serie A table with eight points in 14 matches.