Graziano Pellè, hero or villain for Feyenoord? | OneFootball

Graziano Pellè’s season has swung between ruthless finishing and reckless flashpoints. As Football Oranje reports, the Italian has 20 goals in 24 league games yet repeated lapses divide opinion at Feyenoord.

After 27 in 29 last term, he opened with six in five, including hat-tricks against NAC Breda and ADO Den Haag. Then, against Heracles Almelo, he tried to headbutt Mike te Wierik with Feyenoord 1-2 down, was sent off and banned for two games.

On return he hit two in a 3-1 win over PSV at De Kuip and kept scoring, tracking league top scorer Alfreð Finnbogason.

Soon after, a 95th-minute equaliser prompted a tunnel tantrum at De Grolsch Veste, where he kicked objects in anger. He received a €5,000 fine and a one-match ban that did not cover the Ajax game.

Against Ajax he again drew focus, swinging an elbow at Joel Veltman in a 2-1 defeat, an incident missed during play. He later told TV journalist Jan Joost van Gangelen he looked like an Ajax supporter. Feyenoord stripped him of the armband and banned him for three matches.

Feyenoord face a summer dilemma. Selling him would leave a void, with 22-year-old Mitchell te Vrede the likely option despite only six appearances in two seasons, or they keep him and work on his behaviour. Hero or villain remains open, and without his league form Feyenoord might never have even glimpsed a Champions League place.

Source: Football Oranje