Davide Somma’s Leeds career to date is a tale of contrasting highs and lows but the latest blow, being that he will miss all of pre-season and the start of the championship campaign, can only be described as a hammer blow for him. In my opinion Leeds badly missed him at times last season, his nack to come on and get a goal was a great asset and his finishing was as clinical as anyone at this level; a natural with both feet if he was ever presented with a chance in or around the penalty area, the odds were in favour of him scoring. He came in for a bit of undeserved criticism for his work rate, the man is no Becchio when it comes to harrying defenders, but that’s not his game and I in fact saw games in which he worked extremely hard for the team. It probably didn’t help that he doesn’t poses the greatest pace or natural fitness we have ever seen (and it’s not likely to have got any better over the past year).
How Somma made it to Leeds is no secret. Him buying a one way ticket from America to eventually win a contract at Leeds is a great story and shows how hard the guy must have worked and how good he actually is to have persuaded Simon Grayson to sign him permanently. However, a question mark will now surround him when he eventually returns; will he be the player he was? And will Warnock pick him? Warnock has admitted to not seeing much of Somma and may have been tempted to possibly list him but his assistant Mick Jones is apparently a big fan and that probably influenced Warnock’s decision to keep him.
It has probably been around a year since Somma last kicked a ball now and the tear of his anterior cruciate ligament in his knee now seems to be seriously threatening his career. It’s a sad time for Somma who had also been capped for his country during his breakthrough season at Leeds. The truth is I can’t see him kicking a ball for Leeds this season even if he does recover before Christmas. He will be devoid of all match sharpness required for such a physical league like the Championship and I think Warnock will know this; by Christmas he will have (hopefully) a settled line up and an idea of positions that he may want to strengthen in January, meaning Somma could be right at the bottom of the pecking order. More realistically will be a loan move down the leagues for Somma, giving him a better chance of returning to full fitness.
This is all talk of the future though and the truth is it has been a long recovery road for Somma and unfortunately the end isn’t anywhere near yet; let’s not forget Somma is not a kid, he is now 27 and should be entering the peak of his career. First I hope Somma makes a full recovery and then can carry on his career at Leeds that before his injury looked so promising.
Article by Daniel Howard
