Wednesday, 23rd July, 2014
Andrea Dossena has reflected upon his spell at Sunderland last term, blaming an injury and manager Gus Poyet favouring Marcos Alonso for his departure.
The former Liverpool full-back landed at the Black Cats last summer on a free transfer after being deemed surplus to requirements at the Serie A side Napoli by coach Rafael Benitez.
The defender made his Sunderland debut against rivals Newcastle United, but quickly fell out of favour and was then consistently left out of the matchday squad following the arrival of Alonso on loan from Fiorentina.
"Initially I had an injury that affected me", Dossena explained to Tutto Mercato.
"Then, in January, Marcos Alonso arrived from Fiorentina and the coach chose him instead of me.
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"I think that what was in Alonso's favour was that he had a competitive spirit that was suited to English football."
However, despite leaving Sunderland and now being a free agent, Dossena is keen to return to the Premier League, even if he is open to any new experience outside Italy.
"I've given complete freedom of movement to my agent, with the hope of being able to have another experience abroad.
"The Premier League is the best league today, but I don't rule out other possibilities in other leagues."
The 32-year-old first moved to England in 2008 with Liverpool after the Reds splashed out around £7m to snap him up from Udinese, but returned to Italy within two years with Napoli after struggling to establish himself at Anfield.
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