Former Juventus and Sunderland winger Emanuele Giaccherini admits that he owes his career to current Chelsea manager Antonio Conte, with whom he worked before joining the Black Cats.
Currently Chievo Verona, the 32-year-old wide-man has been a bit part player this season at the Serie A outfit, but his experience in Italian football is greatly cherished.
A former Juventus player, Giaccherini worked briefly under Conte in Turin, before leaving for Sunderland, and earned a nickname from the fiery Italian coach following one of his performances in the Italian Cup.
The winger has recalled the incident and conceded that he remains grateful for the support he received from the current Chelsea boss and insisted that he owes his career to the Italian.
Speaking about the ‘Giaccherinho’ nickname he earned from Conte, the Italian told Calciomercato.com: “I scored a nice goal against Bologna in the Coppa Italia and he came up with that name.
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“He wanted to make it clear that often in Italy some good players are overlooked for more exotic foreign names.
“To Conte, I owe my career.”
Giaccherini had a brief but unsuccessful spell at Sunderland where he scored five goals in 43 appearances for the club; it was however considered a coup when the Black Cats tempted him from Italian champions Juventus to the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland loaned Giaccherini back to Italy with Bologna in 2015 before he then completed a permanent return to his homeland with Napoli the following year.
