Exeter sign Italy centre Michele Campagnaro

Italy’s rising star Michele Campagnaro has signed a two-year deal with Exeter Chiefs.

The centre, 21, will join them in the summer after finishing the season with his current club Benetton Treviso.

Campagnaro, capped 13 teams for his country, joins lock Geoff Parling (Leicester) and wing Olly Woodburn (Bath) who have already put pen to paper for the 2015-2016 season.

"I'm very excited and proud to be of the Chiefs," Campagnaro, who missed Italy’s defeat to England last weekend through injury, said.

"At the moment, I'm trying to do my best and perform well with my current club, but at the same time I'm very impatient to start this new experience.

"Without doubt the Premiership is one of the most competitive leagues in Europe, so I'm really interested in challenging myself and trying to do my best", Campagnaro said.

Exeter head coach Rob Baxter believes his new recruit will offer a bit of 'X-Factor' to his back division next season.

Like a lot of other clubs, we tend to watch an awful lot of rugby and see a lot of players,” explained Baxter.

 “Over two years or so, maybe even a little bit longer, Campagnaro is somebody who we identified as potentially a player who would fit in our system well in terms of what we want to do.

“He is the correct age to drop into our squad and stay there for quite a long time as he develops and matures with us. He is somebody we have been tracking for quite a long time, and as you track them you make sure you have expressed an interest when they do become available.

“We expressed an interest when we heard there was a possibility of him leaving and it all progressed pretty smoothly.”