Chelsea is looking for some goalkeeping depth following the injury to Thibaut Courtois earlier this month and, according to The Telegraph, the latest is hailing from Italy.
Marco Amelia made his name with Italy before dropping off the scene in 2014. He spent part of last season with Perugia, but didn’t play.
[ FIFA: Bans Warner for life | Swiss open criminal proceedings vs Blatter ]
Amelia, 33, won the 2006 World Cup with Italy and has Serie A titles with Roma and Milan. In an interesting aside, he left Milan in 2014 to join amateur side Rocco Priora in Italy’s fifth tier.
Amelia could slide into the No. 2 seat, behind Asmir Begovic and ahead of 21-year-old Jamal Blackman.
Why can Chelsea add a player? From the Telegraph:
It’s a unique move for a unique character, who eschewed higher profile jobs to be technical director and registered amateur for Rocco Priora. He’s also played at Lecce, Genoa, Palermo, Parma and Livorno.
“Maybe I expected a bit more, also because there was no transfer fee to be paid and I’ve never been obsessed with money,” Amelia said to Il Tirreno after the move. “I got plenty of offers from abroad and had a few chats with Italian clubs, but nothing came of anything, and not for economic reasons.