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Roberto De Zerbi's Sassuolo strolled to a 5-0 win against Genoa on Wednesday, in large part thanks to winger Domenico Berardi.
Berardi, who joined Sassuolo as a 16-year old in 2010, has been one of Serie A's standout players in 2019-20. After his man-of-the-match performance Wednesday, he has 14 goals and 10 assists this season. After providing the assist for the opener, Berardi scored Sassuolo's second with a beautiful curling effort from outside the box.
Sassuolo's Domenico Berardi couldn't have hit this any sweeter pic.twitter.com/Q7emZ6xyg0
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) July 29, 2020
Under De Zerbi, Berardi is enjoying his most productive season in years. This campaign marks the first time the Italy international has reached double figures in league goals since 2014-15.
It was on the back of that campaign, in which he scored 15 goals and assisted 11, that he was constantly linked with a move to several of Italy's biggest clubs. He had scored 31 Serie A goals between 2013 and 2015 and looked bound to end up at Juventus. I Bianconeri had purchased Berardi in a co-ownership deal in September 2013 before loaning him back to Sassuolo for the following two seasons.
It came as somewhat of a surprise, then, when Sassuolo purchased Berardi outright for just $11.7 million in summer of 2015. Since that transfer was confirmed, things have not exactly gone according to plan for Berardi. Having once been the most feared young player in the division, his productivity dropped off drastically over the next few seasons. Prior to the 2019-20 campaign, he had scored just 24 league goals since the start of 2015-16.
Having been out of the headlines for some time, Berardi has re-emerged into the spotlight this campaign to help Sassuolo to eighth place in the table. He is the team's second-leading scorer in Serie A and ranks first in assists. Berardi now finds himself again being linked to clubs like AC Milan, and it would be no surprise to see Serie A's other giants line up to fight for his signature.
Berardi looks likely to accept a new challenge, having told Gazzetta dello Sport after the end of last season: "If an offer arrives, be it from Milan or another club, I will evaluate it with my club. ... Changing remains difficult for me, but it no longer frightens me, I would do it. The next goal is to play in Europe, but at a club where I can be used a lot, if not always. That is my priority."
In that interview, Berardi mentioned it was his dream to play for Liverpool. While he would certainly add quality to Jurgen Klopp's side, it remains to be seen how much spending money the Premier League's newly crowned Manager of the Year will be given by owners FSG. The impact of coronavirus on transfer funds is yet to be fully understood, but the club has already missed out on long-time target Timo Werner after deciding against paying the full release clause asked by RB Leipzig.
After an association with Sassuolo that has gone on longer than most would have expected, nobody at the club would begrudge him a well-deserved move to a new club. At long last, Berardi looks set to get his big-money move.
