Fourth of July Rumors + Natali Arrival + Dancin' Vargas
•Sky Sports in Italy reported today that Melo (whose agent says he'd be happy to go to Turin) and Juve had reached an agreement, with a meeting between Fiorentina and Juve scheduled for Tuesday (Juve were ready to offer €18-21 million + Marchionni), something both Juve and Corvino almost instantly denied. In his denial, though, Corvino confirmed talks with Arsenal about Melo, and said he's requested Eboue as part of the transfer fee. (We've only got to survive these rumors for 10 more days; as soon as Fiorentina go into camp, the recession clause turns off.) ETA: Just to make it a complete set of denials, Melo's agency has denied negotiating with Juve.
•It was reported last Wednesday that Fiorentina were close to an agreement with Torino to buy central defender Cesare Natali for about €2 million, but it's still not been announced yet. The assumption is that once Torino and Roma sort out the Loria loan, Toro will make Natali (rumored to be making about €700,000 for each of two years in Florence) official, but since this is exactly how sure everyone was Crespo would arrive, we probably shouldn't count our defensive chickens just yet. ETA: It's official!
•This isn't actually news, but Pazzo and Dainelli were spotted having lunch together today, after which they apparently went to visit Seb, who probably did nothing but moan about the "hell" training camp is going to be. &hearts
•If anyone's interested, one of the fan sites did a little breakdown of the current team, including the system, who will play where, and who the back-ups at each position will be.
•Despite attention from both Real and Barca, Babcar signed his contract with Fiorentina. Woo hoo!
•The expected arrival of Natali is leading to speculation that Dainelli could leave. The main rumor has been that he'd go to Genoa for cash + Mesto, but their fans really don't want Dainelli (aw), and Genoa's DS claims the stories are entirely made up. Also in the picture -- allegedly -- are Sampdoria and Lazio.
•As everyone's no doubt noticed, Drenthe (who Corvino has been chasing for two years) still hasn't arrived. Real and Fiorentina are still reportedly about €2 million apart on purchase price, and to complicate things further, there are allegedly two clubs -- one of which is said to be Spurs -- willing to buy Drenthe outright now, rather than take him on loan. Corvino is going to Spain on Wednesday to try to get it sorted out.
•Marchionni hasn't arrive yet, either, but at least his agent is finally not only admitting there are talks taking place, but also talking all kinds of optimistically about the move being made official coon. The latest news is the same as the old news: About €3 million (apparently for half), and it's (again) expected to be finalized early next week.
•Julio Cruz's destination is due to be announced any second, according to his agent. The latest is that he wants to stay in Italy, so it's between Fiorentina, Napoli, and dark horse Lazio, who just got into the game today. He's been demanding a ridiculous salary, but Fiorentina supposedly won't go above €1.5 million for each of two years, so if Napoli (who are pretending they don't want him) or Lazio offer more, the rumors about La Viola leading the pack are probably all for naught.
•With Storari gone, Fiorentina need a vice-Seb still. Avramov's agent says his client will stay if he's second-choice, but at the moment that seems unlikely; there's interest in him from Piacenza and Real Zaragoza. The most consistent name in the Arriving Goalkeeper rumors has been Napoli's Gennaro Iezzi, whose agent has already met with Corvino, but there are issues over the duration of the contract -- Iezzi wants two years, and Corvino only wants to give one.
•After a few weeks of being negative, Pasqual's agent has started sounding really positive about the possibility of a renewal. They've got a meeting scheduled with Corvino for Tuesday, and he's very sanguine about it, saying he's optimistic, but if they don't come out of the agreement with a meeting, it doesn't mean his client is leaving or anything. Though the rumors about interest from Napoli and Inter continue, it's being reported that Corvino has decided he doesn't want to sell.
•Just so everyone knows, Vargas says he knows nothing about the Fener rumors, and that he wants to stay in Florence and win the Scudetto there.
•Though it's been happening under the radar, there have been a lot of babies arriving and departing, so many that the official site needed a chart to make all their movements clear.
•Other odds and ends: Hertha Berlin are allegedly interested in Da Costa, Fiorentina are chasing Felipe again (Udine value him at €10 million, so one assumes a sale would have to happen before it got serious), Bari still want Gobbi, and Zauri has joined the crowd of guys who leave a loan spell at Fiorentina talking about how welcoming and friendly the boys in purple are. &hearts
I don't claim to know what's going on here, or why we never get to see the actual dance he's rehearsing, but I still love it a lot. Both of these seem to have aired last night on Peruvian TV; hopefully the show itself will turn up eventually, so we can share his pain at the epic dancing fail.
[learning the choreography for the dance we never see]
[repeatedly fucking up his attempts to record a promo]
•It was reported last Wednesday that Fiorentina were close to an agreement with Torino to buy central defender Cesare Natali for about €2 million, but it's still not been announced yet. The assumption is that once Torino and Roma sort out the Loria loan, Toro will make Natali (rumored to be making about €700,000 for each of two years in Florence) official, but since this is exactly how sure everyone was Crespo would arrive, we probably shouldn't count our defensive chickens just yet. ETA: It's official!
•This isn't actually news, but Pazzo and Dainelli were spotted having lunch together today, after which they apparently went to visit Seb, who probably did nothing but moan about the "hell" training camp is going to be. &hearts
•If anyone's interested, one of the fan sites did a little breakdown of the current team, including the system, who will play where, and who the back-ups at each position will be.
•Despite attention from both Real and Barca, Babcar signed his contract with Fiorentina. Woo hoo!
•The expected arrival of Natali is leading to speculation that Dainelli could leave. The main rumor has been that he'd go to Genoa for cash + Mesto, but their fans really don't want Dainelli (aw), and Genoa's DS claims the stories are entirely made up. Also in the picture -- allegedly -- are Sampdoria and Lazio.
•As everyone's no doubt noticed, Drenthe (who Corvino has been chasing for two years) still hasn't arrived. Real and Fiorentina are still reportedly about €2 million apart on purchase price, and to complicate things further, there are allegedly two clubs -- one of which is said to be Spurs -- willing to buy Drenthe outright now, rather than take him on loan. Corvino is going to Spain on Wednesday to try to get it sorted out.
•Marchionni hasn't arrive yet, either, but at least his agent is finally not only admitting there are talks taking place, but also talking all kinds of optimistically about the move being made official coon. The latest news is the same as the old news: About €3 million (apparently for half), and it's (again) expected to be finalized early next week.
•Julio Cruz's destination is due to be announced any second, according to his agent. The latest is that he wants to stay in Italy, so it's between Fiorentina, Napoli, and dark horse Lazio, who just got into the game today. He's been demanding a ridiculous salary, but Fiorentina supposedly won't go above €1.5 million for each of two years, so if Napoli (who are pretending they don't want him) or Lazio offer more, the rumors about La Viola leading the pack are probably all for naught.
•With Storari gone, Fiorentina need a vice-Seb still. Avramov's agent says his client will stay if he's second-choice, but at the moment that seems unlikely; there's interest in him from Piacenza and Real Zaragoza. The most consistent name in the Arriving Goalkeeper rumors has been Napoli's Gennaro Iezzi, whose agent has already met with Corvino, but there are issues over the duration of the contract -- Iezzi wants two years, and Corvino only wants to give one.
•After a few weeks of being negative, Pasqual's agent has started sounding really positive about the possibility of a renewal. They've got a meeting scheduled with Corvino for Tuesday, and he's very sanguine about it, saying he's optimistic, but if they don't come out of the agreement with a meeting, it doesn't mean his client is leaving or anything. Though the rumors about interest from Napoli and Inter continue, it's being reported that Corvino has decided he doesn't want to sell.
•Just so everyone knows, Vargas says he knows nothing about the Fener rumors, and that he wants to stay in Florence and win the Scudetto there.
•Though it's been happening under the radar, there have been a lot of babies arriving and departing, so many that the official site needed a chart to make all their movements clear.
•Other odds and ends: Hertha Berlin are allegedly interested in Da Costa, Fiorentina are chasing Felipe again (Udine value him at €10 million, so one assumes a sale would have to happen before it got serious), Bari still want Gobbi, and Zauri has joined the crowd of guys who leave a loan spell at Fiorentina talking about how welcoming and friendly the boys in purple are. &hearts
I don't claim to know what's going on here, or why we never get to see the actual dance he's rehearsing, but I still love it a lot. Both of these seem to have aired last night on Peruvian TV; hopefully the show itself will turn up eventually, so we can share his pain at the epic dancing fail.
[learning the choreography for the dance we never see]
Click to view[repeatedly fucking up his attempts to record a promo]