Bump
QPR Official Site -August 10, 2008
EXCLUSIVE: ITALIAN MIDFIELDER SIGNSQueens Park Rangers Football Club is pleased to announce the signing of former Italian international midfielder Damiano Tommasi.
The 34 year-old has put pen to paper on a deal until the end of the 2008/09 campaign, after his release from Spanish side Levante at the end of last season.
Speaking to
www.qpr.co.uk, R's boss Iain Dowie revealed his delight at the arrival of the experienced midfield general.
"The signing of Damiano adds great experience to the squad," he said.
"He'll compliment what Gavin Mahon and Martin Rowlands provide in that area.
"He has played at the highest level for Club and country and to have a player of that calibre available can only be good for QPR.
"We've got some fantastic young talent in the squad, such as (Emmanuel) Ledesma, (Angelo) Balanta, (Daniel) Parejo and (Hogan) Ephraim, and training with someone of Damiano's stature will be of huge benefit to them I'm sure.
"In the short term, he could prove to be very useful to us."
A player with outstanding experience, Tommasi began his career at Serie B side Hellas Verona, before moving to AS Roma, for whom he won the Scudetto Championship in 2001.
He made over 250 appearances for the Italian giants, but his ten-year spell at the Stadio Olimpico came to an end in 2006, when he joined Levante.
Prior to his release from the then La Liga outfit, he made just shy of 50 appearances, scoring one goal.
On the international stage, Tommasi was part of the Italian Under-21 side that triumphed in the 1996 European Championships.
The combative central midfielder has made 25 starts for the Azzurri national side and played in all four of Italy's matches in the 2002 World Cup.
Tommasi will wear the number 18 shirt.
Dave McIntyre assessing the Tommasi Signing
September 10, 2008
Dave McIntyre, BBC 606 - Exits likely as Tomassi arrivesIt won’t come as a surprise to anyone that QPR’s signing of Damiano Tommasi – yet another midfielder – is likely to be followed by an exit from Loftus Road, with Adam Bolder expected to leave.
Bolder, who is now further down the pecking order, is being made available for a loan move.
Lee Camp could be too – a move that would annoy many of those who feel he was unfairly dropped in favour of Radek Cerny.
Rangers are open to the idea of Camp going out on loan now that Cerny is becoming established as the club’s number one keeper.
A long-term loan or a deal without a recall option look non-starters as either could leave Rangers without adequate cover should Cerny be unavailable, but the chances of Camp going elsewhere to play first-team football are growing.
And there shouldn’t be a shortage of clubs interested in Bolder given his experience and professionalism.
Youngster Romone Rose, who spent time with AFC Wimbledon last season, will almost certainly be loaned out again in the near
future in order to give him more experience.
Perhaps this time a League club might be tempted to take him. Rose has made good progress in recent months and hasn’t looked out of place at reserve level or during pre-season, when he was involved with the first-team squad.
One player seemingly out of the running for a first-team place is summer signing Matteo Alberti, who hasn’t impressed at all since arriving at the club and whose prospects look bleak following the return of Akos Buzsaky and Hogan Ephraim. Expect him to be moved on pretty swiftly if the chance arises.
Tommasi’s arrival means Flavio Briatore has finally – after several attempts - managed to bring a well-known former Italy international to the club.
Tommasi, now 34, is far from match-fit having been released by Spanish side Levante during the summer.
He won’t feature for the first team immediately and has been pencilled in for a reserve match against Reading on Monday.
It is hoped Tomassi’s influence and experience will benefit Rangers' other players as well as offer another defensive midfield option later in the season.
He does speak some English, which means he should be able to quickly fit in with the bulk of the squad as well as the Italian contingent.
It will certainly be interesting to see how he fares - starting on Monday afternoon.
Left in Jan after 7 Games
Wikipedia
On 10 September 2008, Tommasi agreed a one-year deal with English Football League Championship team Queens Park Rangers.[8] On 9 January 2009, his contract was terminated by mutual consent and, after advanced talks with Chinese League's Tianjin Teda, he signed for the club early in the following month, citing an interest in a third experience abroad as the main reason for it.[9]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damiano_Tommasi
(Didn't actually play for us, but has a certain link)
