Italian striker Immobile signs for Dortmund
- adamhigginsuk
- Jun 2, 2014
- 2 min read
Pastures new: Immobile, who ended 2013-14 as Serie A’s top scorer, will join Borussia Dortmund after embarking on a World Cup adventure with Italy (Picture from Sky Sports)
BORUSSIA Dortmund have completed the capture of Torino striker Ciro Immobile for an undisclosed fee.
The Italy international, who was the Serie A’s top scorer with 22 goals from 33 appearances last season, has signed a five-year contract with the eight-time German champions.
The fee is reported to be £15.5 million and Immobile, who is going to the World Cup with the Azzuri, will officially join on 1 July.
The 24-year-old moves to the Westfalenstadion to fill the void left by Robert Lewandowski, who has agreed to join Bayern Munich this summer.
Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc said: "With Ciro Immobile we are getting a versatile and dynamic striker who has established himself in a top European league in an impressive manner.
"His outstanding qualities fit perfectly with the profile required by Borussia Dortmund."
Campania-born Immobile joined Juventus in 2009 but was loaned out to Genoa and then Pescara, where he netted 28 league goals to help them gain promotion in 2012 and was named Serie B player of the year.
He played for Torino last term under a co-ownership deal with Juve, helping the Stadio Olimpico club finish seventh in the Italian top-flight and qualify for the Europa League after sixth-placed Parma were excluded from the competition for failing to pay a tax bill.
Immobile has been rewarded for his imperious form with a place in Cesare Prandelli’s squad for the World Cup finals in Brazil.
He started their last warm-up game against the Republic of Ireland at Craven Cottage on Saturday, a goalless draw which was marred by midfielder Riccardo Montolivo breaking his leg.
The forward left their training camp on Monday to travel to Germany in order to complete his transfer to the Bundesliga giants.
Before Immobile underwent a successful medical, Torino president Urbano Cairo told Gazzetta dello Sport said: "We listened to Immobile’s wishes.
"It was a difficult situation as half of the player’s sporting rights are owned by Juventus. He has received a very important offer.
"At Torino he earns 800,000 euros (per year) while Borussia have offered him three times that amount, plus a bonus. For us it was an untenable figure."
Dortmund have already signed two forwards for next season, Adrian Ramos from Hertha Berlin and Ji Dong Won from Sunderland.
Coach Jurgen Klopp has had to replace several players in recent seasons as a result of their domestic and European success including Nuri Sahin, Mario Gotze and Shinji Kagawa.
CIRO IMMOBILE: FACTFILE
Appearances: 33 (5)
Goals: 24
Assists: 3
Yellow cards: 12
Red cards: 1
Last updated: 2 June 2014 15:19pm
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