Bafana Bafana target Joel Untersee has finally found a new home for this campaign after signing a season-long loan with Italian Serie B side Empoli.
Untersee had seen his first team prospects at giants Juventus diminished and will be out on loan again for the fifth season in a row after previous stints at Swiss league side Vaduz and Brescia in Serie B last season.
Bafana coach Stuart Baxter has confirmed he has opened the door for Untersee‚ born in Roodeport but raised in Switzerland‚ to represent Bafana Bafana with an eye on the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia next year.
Untersee is mostly a right-back‚ but can also feature on the right-wing and made a huge impression at Brescia last season‚ where he made 39 appearances.
Empoli‚ based in Florence‚ were relegated from Serie A last season after finishing 18th and are coached by Vincenzo Vivarini.
Going into the final day of last season‚ Empoli were outside the relegation zone‚ but failed to beat Palermo and were overtaken by Crotone‚ who secured an unlikely victory over Lazio.
They will be among the favourites to win promotion this year though.
Former players include Luca Toni‚ Vincenzo Montella and Antonio Di Natale.
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