Weekend News + Monty the Machine
•There's been a reassuring lack of panic (outside of the Romanian press, I mean) about the Mutu decision. Adi had an informal meeting with ADV and Cesare the day he found out, but has been training mostly as usual, and is also called up and expected to start in the tournament today. His lawyers sound like they're planning an appeal in civil court and, if that result isn't what they want, could take the case to the European Court of Human Rights. There's a lot of support from the club -- ADV is being really human and sweet, while the team are taking up a collection for him -- and the Della Valles may or may not be in the process of trying to set up a meeting with Ambramovich. Unlike last season, no one (right now) seems to think it will result in Mutu leaving Fiorentina, if only because it'd be hard to find a club willing to pay €15 million for a 30-year-old, and then pay him €4 million/season once he shows up -- we'll se what happens.
•Speaking of today's tournament, the team sheet is here, and the starters for the first match are here -- Monty is back among the starters, and Babacar is fit enough to be included in the squad. Woo hoo!
•Dainelli was in the press room on Friday [video] and was generally awesome, above and beyond the collection for Adi. He said he's never asked to leave and has a good relationship with the team, but that he's used to spending every summer reading transfer rumors about himself. Aw.
•Donadel had his turn before the press yesterday [video],and he was annoyed that the press were trying to question the 4-2-3-1 system on the back of the PSG match, which he thought was actually great (?!), apart from the errors that led to the goals. Additionally, he said he's feeling better physically than he has in a while, and that he's eager to take Melo's place in the midfield.
•Corvino gave a long interview to Gazzetta earlier this week in which he discussed in detail Fiorentina's transfer season and his current targets. Nothing really new there, but it's worth a read, with a grain of salt or twelve nearby.
•Just so everyone knows, the team had a very loud dance party in the locker room after training on Friday. &hearts
•Luisao remains the first option for the center of the defense; it's been confirmed that Fiorentina have agreed wages with him (€1.5 million/season, a 50% increase over his current salary), but Corvino is doing some hardcore wrangling over cost. The latest is that the player can be had for €7 million (down from the original, outrageous €20 milion), but that Corvino still won't offer more than €5 million. Even though Corvino said last week that he's made his last offer, there's supposedly another meeting schedule for today, so this one could theoretically be resolved one way or the other pretty soon.
•If Luisao doesn't work out, the new names on the backup list are a couple other South Americans: a highly rated 20-year-old from Velez named Nicolás Otamendi (the Argie press are suggesting he's already agreed to join Fiorentina for €5 million in January, but that's not been confirmed) and our old friend Miranda from the last winter transfer window, for whom Sao Paolo confirm there's been contact but no offers.
•On the right, it's still all about Eboué, for whom Corvino's supposedly got a meeting schedule on Wednesday. As with Luisao, Fiorentina have reportedly reached an agreement with the player, but Corvino's offering much less than the stated price, so it's a question of whether or not Arsenal will blink.
•The main alternative to Eboué is LDS, particularly since he's not going to Beijing with the rest of the team for the Supercoppa. The problem, however, is that Lotito is a huge pain the ass, and Corvino doesn't seem real interested in dealing with him or paying the inflated price he's asking. There's also been mention of Cassetti again, and Beck is back in the conversation as well, but his agent strongly denies he's going anywhere, so that may just be Corvino trying to make it sound like he's got more irons in the fire than he really does.
•In the midfield, in addition to Edinho, whose ownership situation is complicated because he's still part-owned by his old Brazilian club, there's also Ledesma again because he, like LDS, has been left out of the Super Coppa squad, and a kid named Sandro from Porto Alegre, who's the captain of the Brazilian U20s, is supposedly just like Melo, and costs about €10 million.
•The last keeper rumors are that Avramov could be headed to Lokomotiv Moscow in a swap that would bring Ivan Pelizzoli back to Italy.
•Things are looking better for Papa Waigo and Da Costa finding somewhere to play. The former is reportedly close to Piacenza, who want him on loan but need Fiorentina to help with salary, while things are progressing between Nancy and the latter.
•In broken record news, Samp still want Dainelli, particularly if they're unable to land Domizzi for the center of their defense. And if Samp don't get him, there's always Parma, who are reportedly still sniffing around.
Monty: "Pizza? WHERE?"
Monty in Darth Vadar voice: "This isn't pizza! Hey, wait a minute ... "
Monty: "Oh, I get it. Trick me with the promise of food -- very clever. Jerks."
•Speaking of today's tournament, the team sheet is here, and the starters for the first match are here -- Monty is back among the starters, and Babacar is fit enough to be included in the squad. Woo hoo!
•Dainelli was in the press room on Friday [video] and was generally awesome, above and beyond the collection for Adi. He said he's never asked to leave and has a good relationship with the team, but that he's used to spending every summer reading transfer rumors about himself. Aw.
•Donadel had his turn before the press yesterday [video],and he was annoyed that the press were trying to question the 4-2-3-1 system on the back of the PSG match, which he thought was actually great (?!), apart from the errors that led to the goals. Additionally, he said he's feeling better physically than he has in a while, and that he's eager to take Melo's place in the midfield.
•Corvino gave a long interview to Gazzetta earlier this week in which he discussed in detail Fiorentina's transfer season and his current targets. Nothing really new there, but it's worth a read, with a grain of salt or twelve nearby.
•Just so everyone knows, the team had a very loud dance party in the locker room after training on Friday. &hearts
•Luisao remains the first option for the center of the defense; it's been confirmed that Fiorentina have agreed wages with him (€1.5 million/season, a 50% increase over his current salary), but Corvino is doing some hardcore wrangling over cost. The latest is that the player can be had for €7 million (down from the original, outrageous €20 milion), but that Corvino still won't offer more than €5 million. Even though Corvino said last week that he's made his last offer, there's supposedly another meeting schedule for today, so this one could theoretically be resolved one way or the other pretty soon.
•If Luisao doesn't work out, the new names on the backup list are a couple other South Americans: a highly rated 20-year-old from Velez named Nicolás Otamendi (the Argie press are suggesting he's already agreed to join Fiorentina for €5 million in January, but that's not been confirmed) and our old friend Miranda from the last winter transfer window, for whom Sao Paolo confirm there's been contact but no offers.
•On the right, it's still all about Eboué, for whom Corvino's supposedly got a meeting schedule on Wednesday. As with Luisao, Fiorentina have reportedly reached an agreement with the player, but Corvino's offering much less than the stated price, so it's a question of whether or not Arsenal will blink.
•The main alternative to Eboué is LDS, particularly since he's not going to Beijing with the rest of the team for the Supercoppa. The problem, however, is that Lotito is a huge pain the ass, and Corvino doesn't seem real interested in dealing with him or paying the inflated price he's asking. There's also been mention of Cassetti again, and Beck is back in the conversation as well, but his agent strongly denies he's going anywhere, so that may just be Corvino trying to make it sound like he's got more irons in the fire than he really does.
•In the midfield, in addition to Edinho, whose ownership situation is complicated because he's still part-owned by his old Brazilian club, there's also Ledesma again because he, like LDS, has been left out of the Super Coppa squad, and a kid named Sandro from Porto Alegre, who's the captain of the Brazilian U20s, is supposedly just like Melo, and costs about €10 million.
•The last keeper rumors are that Avramov could be headed to Lokomotiv Moscow in a swap that would bring Ivan Pelizzoli back to Italy.
•Things are looking better for Papa Waigo and Da Costa finding somewhere to play. The former is reportedly close to Piacenza, who want him on loan but need Fiorentina to help with salary, while things are progressing between Nancy and the latter.
•In broken record news, Samp still want Dainelli, particularly if they're unable to land Domizzi for the center of their defense. And if Samp don't get him, there's always Parma, who are reportedly still sniffing around.
Monty: "Pizza? WHERE?"
Monty in Darth Vadar voice: "This isn't pizza! Hey, wait a minute ... "
Monty: "Oh, I get it. Trick me with the promise of food -- very clever. Jerks."