Emanuele Giaccherini completes medical, officially signs with Napoli

After a long medical on Friday, Emanuele Giaccherini has officially completed his transfer to Napoli, with Sunderland receiving a €1.4 million transfer fee and Giaccherini signing a three-year, €1.5 million contract.

Ufficiale: Emanuele Giaccherini è un nuovo calciatore azzurro!#ForzaNapoliSempre https://t.co/jGnohx7r1N pic.twitter.com/MhOxJzNVin

— Official SSC Napoli (@sscnapoli) July 16, 2016

Giaccherini was interviewed before signing his contract, and had nothing but good things to say about his new team:

I am happy to become a Napoli player. It’s wonderful to wear that jersey in such an important place. I always dreamed of playing for Napoli.

Juventus are certainly the team to beat this season, but we have the chance to close the gap.

-Translated quote source: Football Italia

The ex-Juventus player would certainly know about closing the gap, as he was a big part of the team that went from climbing back up the league to winning Serie A, signing for the bianconeri the summer before they won their first title after the calciopoli scandal. Now Giaccherini is going to try to help Napoli close the gap on his former team, and partenopei fans desperately hope that he'll be successful.

Giaccherini struggled in two seasons at Sunderland after leaving Juventus in 2013, thanks to injuries and just not being well-suited to the tactics Sunderland used during his time there, especially after multiple coaching changes. A loan to Bologna last season saw him revitalize himself, though, and Giaccherini earned himself a place on the Italy squad for Euro 2016 and impressed in four starts in the tournament.

Now he's Napoli's player, and while the 31 year old isn't the most exciting signing, he brings a lot of positive traits to the partenopei and will be an important player, especially with the Champions League coming this season.

Welcome to Napoli, Emanuele Giaccherini. We hope you enjoy your stay.