THE old adage that “timing is everything” is most often connected to comedy, delivering lines at the right moment essential to making a joke work effectively. Yet the same could also be said of top flight football, a player’s movement between clubs needing to provide him with the correct blend of coach, team-mates and environment in order for the transfer to be seen as successful.
With that in mind, it difficult to see an Italy international who has made switches at more inopportune moments than Antonio Candreva. Having joined Ternana as a youngster, his first move took him to Udinese in 2007, shortly before they began to thrive under intelligent boss Francesco Guidolin.
The coach would be responsible for developing talents such as Alexis Sanchez, Medhi Benatia and Samir Handanovič, but before he could help Candreva, the midfielder was off on loan to Juventus. Arriving in Turin in January 2010, this was not the Bianconeri we see dominating Serie A today but a club in one of their worst-ever spells, cycling through five different coaches in two years until Antonio Conte revived them.
By then Candreva was off again however, joining a Parma side who had narrowly missed out on a Europa League place in the previous campaign. The 2010/11 season would prove to be a disappointing one, and so too would the following 12 months with a Cesena team who had impressed the year before but finished rock bottom after winning just four games that season.
Next the Rome native would return to his hometown after signing for Lazio. This would prove to be the one bright spot in his career thus far, blossoming under Vladimir Petković as he helped the Biancocelesti to win the Coppa Italia. That they did so by beating neighbours AS Roma in the 2013 final ensured that team was beloved by their supporters, with Candreva providing the assist for Senad Lulic’s winning goal.
He became captain and was slowly emerging as a regular in the Italian national team, routinely Lazio’s standout player but unable to help them rise above mid table mediocrity. Approaching his 30th birthday and desperate for tangible success, he pushed to leave the club in the summer of 2016.
"I joined Inter to win, that’s what they are used to doing," Candreva told reporters shortly after joining the Milanese giants in a €22 million switch. “They were chasing me and I’m proud to have joined this club. Negotiations were long and hard and at some point I feared the deal would collapse.”
It did not, but his exit did help Lazio to afford former Torino star Ciro Immobile. He would grab 23 goals for a side who were transformed under new boss Simone Inzaghi, the former striker also bringing the best from midfielder Sergej Milinković-Savić.
They would finish two places and eight points above Inter, also advancing to the Coppa Italia final while Candreva enjoyed a campaign which – thanks to six goals and 10 assists – looked good on paper. In reality however, he was a frustrating presence on the right flank, possessing neither the speed nor quality on the ball needed to help the Nerazzurri achieve their lofty pre-season ambitions.
Luciano Spalletti would arrive and hope to revive the club’s ailing fortunes, but his style of play exposed the limitations of many members of his squad. Candreva made more crosses than any other Serie A player during 2017/18, but his tally of eight inaccurate attempts per 90 minutes infuriated supporters, particularly those in the Curva Nord, who were more likely to be on the end of one of those wayward balls than Mauro Icardi.
“The problem with Candreva is his fragile mentality,” says Nima Tavallaey, founder of the SempreInter website. “When things go well – as they did when he was at Lazio – he becomes the icing on the cake, getting out the full maximum of his potential. But when he is expected to be a leader he simply doesn’t cut it mentally and over thinks so much that he can barely string two simple passes together.”
Eventually, orthodox wingers Matteo Politano and Keita Balde arrived and instantly relegated Candreva to a reserve role. As a result, the 31-year-old has been restricted to just six starts this term, with the situation even more pronounced under closer scrutiny as Spalletti has not named him in the first XI since September. Furthermore, the last 12 league games have seen him manage just two brief substitute appearances, a pair of cameos that combined for a total of just 15 minutes actual playing time.
Despite the struggles of Radja Nainggolan, Candreva has still failed to find space in the side, and it seems he will move on once again in search of more regular action. Yet his performances over the last 18 months have seriously narrowed down his options and, once a target for Conte’s Chelsea, now it seems West Ham are one of the few contenders for his signature, with Fenerbahce the only other club linked to a move
Perhaps London will help in the same way the Italian capital did, but after having any number of options back in the summer, insisting he would remain in Milan and fight for his place has unquestionably backfired.
It seems that when it comes to transfer decisions or delivering crosses, Antonio Candreva’s timing is always just a little bit off.
