Former Lazio and Italy striker Beppe Signori has revealed how he was signed by Inter as a child, as well as the reason why he was released by the Nerazzurri before breaking into the first team.
The 54-year-old grew up in Lombardy as a child and was on Inter’s books, but never represented the Nerazzurri and began his senior career with Leffe in 1984, who would later go on to become AlbinoLeffe.
In an interview with Italian radio station Radio Sei, and as reported by FCInterNews.it, Signori explained how he joined Inter and why he was not signed by local team Atalanta, admitting that the Biscione had perhaps taken pity on him after a short trial with the club.
“I didn’t go to Atalanta because I had two trials as a boy, I was 10 and they left me stranded at the station both times,” Signori revealed.
“When I was older, Inter arrived and took me after an eight-minute trial. The ball bounced off my face and I scored, they brought me in the dressing room and they took me on anyway, perhaps out of tenderness.
“Then a few years later there was a selection to be made and I was rejected, they focused on my physical appearance.”
Signori moved on from Leffe to Piacenza in 1986 and spent the 1987-88 season on loan at Trento, in a period that he described as pivotal to his career.
“The first turning point in my career came at Piacenza, when the director of Trento came to see me, who wanted me at all costs,” he continued.
Signori subsequently moved to Foggia in 1989 to play under notoriously attack-minded coach Zdenek Zeman, and was converted from a winger into a forward.
“Then with Zeman I changed the way of seeing football. When he arrived he said to me “Ciao striker”, I thought he had confused me with Mauro Meluso who was the striker.
“When he got injured, Zeman put me on as a forward and I really became a striker,” he concluded.
Signori enjoyed his most prolific spell with Lazio from 1992 until 1997, where he scored 126 goals in 195 appearances and finished as Serie A’s top scorer three times from 1993 until 1996.
