Other teams will be “jealous” of Brighton signing Diego Coppola early and he will “compliment” other Seagulls defenders well, says football analyst Ben Mattinson.
The club confirmed the signing of the 21-year-old centre-back from Hellas Verona on Tuesday for a undisclosed fee believed to be around 11m euros (£9.4m).
Coppola made his debut for Verona in 2021, having emerged from the club’s academy and has gone on to make 81 appearances for the Serie A side since.
The defender has already been capped twice for Italy and is representing the under-21s in the European Championships.
“What intrigued me the most is he is not the type of defender you would associate with the recent type of defenders Brighton have signed,” Mattinson told BBC Radio Sussex’s Albion Unlimited podcast.
“When you think of other ones, there is a lot who are very skilled on the ball and not as physical defensively. Whereas this is not the polar opposite, but he is really good defensively, a good in the box defender, and has the physical presence that at times Brighton have needed more of.
“Also, he is not really slow, but he is not electric quick, however, he reads the game really well which helps when defending bigger spaces. Anticipating when to come up and press the ball or when to drop back and sweep and defend the space – he is really good at reading danger like that.”
Read the full article here
