Domenico Berardi has not abandoned the Sassuolo ship following their relegation to Serie B, although an injury has helped him remain with the only club he has played for in his career so far. As he works to regain his form with the green and black side, the Italian international will get a new opportunity to shine on a big stage like San Siro this Tuesday.
It feels strange to see a European champion like Domenico Berardi, still at the age of 30, in the Italian Serie B. Sassuolo lost their top-flight status in the 2023-24 season and is now leading the second division, where the forward is rediscovering his footing more than a decade later.
The Cropani Marina-born attacker remains a ‘One Club Man’ for Sassuolo, a team he has been linked with leaving on numerous occasions, yet none of those moves have materialized. The relegation could have been the perfect moment for Berardi, still holding significant value, to seek a transfer to a bigger club. However, a serious injury that kept him sidelined for half of the previous season has worked against him.
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Berardi reached the peak of his career in the 2021-22 season, scoring 15 goals and providing 15 assists for the green and black club. Since then, his numbers dropped to 13 goals and 7 assists in a 2022-23 season affected by injury problems. These issues worsened during the 2023-24 season, where he managed to play only 18 matches for Sassuolo. His performance had remained solid until then, with 9 goals and 3 assists, but he could not support his team in their fight to stay in the top tier.
With no options for a summer transfer due to his significant physical setback, Berardi took time to return to action this season, featuring in just 7 of Sassuolo’s 15 league matches. Despite still not being in peak physical condition after such a long layoff, his performance is several notches above that of players typically shining in Serie B. He has scored 1 goal and provided 7 assists in those outings and only failed to contribute during the match that ended 2-0 against Modena.
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Berardi returned to action with a few minutes played in a 6-1 victory over Cittadella, where he provided an assist. He delivered 2 assists in the 2-5 win against Brescia, scored from the penalty spot to make it 1-0 against Mantova, and assisted both in the 0-1 win versus Südtirol and in the 4-0 victory against Salernitana (with 2 assists), as well as during the 0-2 defeat to Reggiana.
If he maintains this performance well above the level of the division, the upcoming winter transfer window could present the Calabrian with a renewed opportunity to cease being one of the most recognized ‘One Club Men’ in European football. Certainly, a change of scenery would bolster his chances of returning to an Italian national team with which he last played on November 17, 2023, against Macedonia (a 5-2 victory with one of his assists).
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The green and black forward, who has a contract with Sassuolo until 2027, will have an excellent opportunity to shine again on a big stage this Tuesday against AC Milan in the Coppa Italia. The ‘rossonero’ side is the most frequent opponent in his career and the one he has performed best against, netting 11 goals and providing 7 assists in 20 matches. In the Lombard capital, where he suffered his first major injury last season, his record stands at 3 goals and 6 assists, with one standout performance: on January 29, 2023, when Berardi scored 1 goal and assisted 3 times in the 2-5 victory secured by Sassuolo.
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