but he's been scoring 14+ goals every season for Udinese in what is allegedly the hardest league to score in.
Fred, Iaquinta has never been prolific scorer. I watched Iaquinta way back in 2000. I am actually surprised he made it this far, because I thought his career was destined for Serie B or bottom feeder of Serie A at best. Anyway, here is Iaquinta's scoring record last five years
2006-07 Udinese ITA A 30 14
2005-06 Udinese ITA A 24 9
2004-05 Udinese ITA A 31 13
2003-04 Udinese ITA A 29 11
2002-03 Udinese ITA A 26 7
I excluded his early days, since that isnt much indicative of Vicenzo's current ability. But, if I include that statistics then his strike ratio is something like 3.5 game to 1 goal, which is pretty poor for any standards. And he has never broken 2 to1 ratio, which IMO is the minimum bar for anyone who can considered as goal-getter.
For the record, I don't think Serie A is most difficult league to score. Because as sateeh correctly pointed out, Serie A has more goals than La Liga or EPL. Whilst I think upper part of Serie A teams are slightely better than either league, their minnows are far below in standards compared to England or Spain. In either case, Serie A's quality isnt sufficiently strong enough to say, any goal difference can be explained in terms of differences in quality like one can do to Liegue 1, which is hardest league to score statistically. So yes, Serie A isnt the hardest league to score, as EPL isnt most attacking league in the world. They are myths.
But I am not too disappointed on Iaquinta. He bring something different to the strikers we have. Sure, I think if we are in CL, we need player of stronger quality to be our third striker, but for a time being, he adds strength and pace to the team. More importantly, he can take up large workload from David and Ale, keeping both legs fresh, and complementing their game. Best bargain, I am not too sure, but I think he can offer something to the team. Of course, I wouldnt have bought him for the amount, but that is different story.