Torino market, Ignazio Abate one step away: with the new coach also a targeted reinforcement

Only the officialdom is missing, but a resounding about-face will be needed for Ignazio Abate not to become the next coach of Torino. The former AC Milan footballer, coach in the season just ended of the surprising Juve Stabia in Serie B, is in fact one step away from signing a two-year contract with the Granata club, as reported by Sky Sport.

Abate’s name had long been on the notebook of Torino’s sporting director Gianluca Petrachi, along with those of Alberto Aquilani (who then chose Sassuolo) and Alberto Gilardino, a solution that was, however, put aside in preference to the former full-back. Archiving the coach issue will allow Torino to focus now on the player market, with several names of interest for next season precisely for the right flank, the one that Abate occupied as a player.

First of all, the track leading to Jackson Tchatchoua is still open: the former Hellas Verona player has just been relegated with Wolverhampton and would not disdain the possibility of returning to Serie A to avoid going down in category. First contacts had been initiated in recent weeks but the hypothesis has strengthened in the last few hours.

Interests also include Tommaso Barbieri, passed by Juventus Next Gen between 2020 and 2023 (for him also four total appearances in the first team, one of them in the Champions League): in the last two years the class of 2003 played in Cremonese, achieving as a protagonist the promotion to A before the descent, practically on the wire, in the second series the following year.

Finally, the hypothesis linked to Matteo Darmian is not yet to be ruled out: the 35-year-old from Rescaldina will officially end his long relationship with Inter at the end of the month, which lasted six seasons, and is considering a possible return to the Granata jersey, having already been part of Toro in the four-year period 2011-2015 with a total of 151 appearances and six goals.