Quick Weeekend Roundup
•In Wednesday's internationals, all three Viola boys started. Gila played a half, Jorgy went about an hour, and Jojo played the whole match, scoring from a PK, hitting the post, and reportedly being generally spectacular. (Natali, btw, is currently Jojo's biggest fanboy.) Seculin, meanwhile, played the second half for the Auzzurrini and had a miserable time, giving up three goals to Russia, none of which were really his fault. In an interview after the match, he said he's happy to stay at Fiorentina, even though he understands he could well be third choice again. &hearts
•Zanetti was presented on Thursday [video], and said the usual positive things one says when changing clubs, about being there to win, and how the decisions of who plays when and where being up to the Mister.
•La Viola played their last friendly of the season on Friday, a 1-0 win over Figline [highlights]. It sounds like Monty and Zanetti played great together, which is encouraging in light of earlier assumptions that they'd be competing for the same spot, rather than playing next to one another. Gila scored the only goal, Vargas was good as usual, Da Costa sucked and was apparently heckled by fans, and Mutu was utterly useless, but Cesare is cool with it, claiming all that matters for Adi right now is being on the pitch.
•Mutu gave a long interview to Corriere dello Sport earlier this week, talking about feeling a "great sense of injustice" about the TAS decision, as well as about the support he's receiving from teammates and fans, and how he's "channeling [his] rage through football." And then, before he led the army onto the field at Agincourt, he said "I want to give them what they gave me - respect, warmth, affection. I will battle because they deserve it." Take that, evildoers! (There are also rumors this week that Zenit are planning a bid for him which would include a €5+ million/season contract, but since those have never been confirmed and seem to be emanating from a questionable Russia sports paper and the deeply unreliable Romanian paper Prosport, it's hard to know if they're even remotely legit.)
•Fiorentina have filed a complained with UEFA over Manchester United's signing of Viola youth product Michele Fornasier, who they nabbed using the same trick -- English clubs can sign younger players to professional contracts than Italian clubs can -- by which they acquired Macheda. I'm a little unclear on the basis of the complaint, but my understanding is that Fiorentina aren't complaining that the signing happened, but rather suggesting that United went about it improperly.
•It's somehow not surprising to hear that, despite Munoz giving an interview in which he talked about the move to Fiorentina as if it was already done, the deal has only gotten more expensive, and more complex. Weirdly, the disagreement over price seems minor -- €1.25 million loan fee vs €1 million -- and there's agreement that Fiorentina would have the option to buy half of him for €6 million, but Boca's technical director really wants to hold onto Munoz, and is try to hard to convince the club to reconsider the loan.
•The same thing (albeit without the interview in which he talks like he's purple already) is going on with the Salvio deal: Even though Friday he was described as "in fact a player of Fiorentina," the original €10 million-ish price has reportedly been raised now, possibly as high as €17 million, which Corvino seems awfully unlikely to pay.
•Speaking of Corvino, a Florence sports show a few weeks ago promised him a truffle for every new player he bought and so, on Friday, they brought him on the show and gave him his Zanetti!truffle (it turns up about 15 minutes into the video).
•Things have gone really badly south for Santana and his extension over the last few days -- he made the mistake of saying, in a generally pro-Viola interview, that he'd gone to the US alone for treatment on his knee and had felt all abandoned, and that he wants to play for a club that wants him as much as he wants to be there. Corvino was PISSED, and it's now being speculated that Santana could be offered to Samp in place of Semioli, whose asking price they've never seemed likely to meet.
The first CL qualifier against Sporting is on Tuesday in Lisbon. !!!!!!
•Zanetti was presented on Thursday [video], and said the usual positive things one says when changing clubs, about being there to win, and how the decisions of who plays when and where being up to the Mister.
•La Viola played their last friendly of the season on Friday, a 1-0 win over Figline [highlights]. It sounds like Monty and Zanetti played great together, which is encouraging in light of earlier assumptions that they'd be competing for the same spot, rather than playing next to one another. Gila scored the only goal, Vargas was good as usual, Da Costa sucked and was apparently heckled by fans, and Mutu was utterly useless, but Cesare is cool with it, claiming all that matters for Adi right now is being on the pitch.
•Mutu gave a long interview to Corriere dello Sport earlier this week, talking about feeling a "great sense of injustice" about the TAS decision, as well as about the support he's receiving from teammates and fans, and how he's "channeling [his] rage through football." And then, before he led the army onto the field at Agincourt, he said "I want to give them what they gave me - respect, warmth, affection. I will battle because they deserve it." Take that, evildoers! (There are also rumors this week that Zenit are planning a bid for him which would include a €5+ million/season contract, but since those have never been confirmed and seem to be emanating from a questionable Russia sports paper and the deeply unreliable Romanian paper Prosport, it's hard to know if they're even remotely legit.)
•Fiorentina have filed a complained with UEFA over Manchester United's signing of Viola youth product Michele Fornasier, who they nabbed using the same trick -- English clubs can sign younger players to professional contracts than Italian clubs can -- by which they acquired Macheda. I'm a little unclear on the basis of the complaint, but my understanding is that Fiorentina aren't complaining that the signing happened, but rather suggesting that United went about it improperly.
•It's somehow not surprising to hear that, despite Munoz giving an interview in which he talked about the move to Fiorentina as if it was already done, the deal has only gotten more expensive, and more complex. Weirdly, the disagreement over price seems minor -- €1.25 million loan fee vs €1 million -- and there's agreement that Fiorentina would have the option to buy half of him for €6 million, but Boca's technical director really wants to hold onto Munoz, and is try to hard to convince the club to reconsider the loan.
•The same thing (albeit without the interview in which he talks like he's purple already) is going on with the Salvio deal: Even though Friday he was described as "in fact a player of Fiorentina," the original €10 million-ish price has reportedly been raised now, possibly as high as €17 million, which Corvino seems awfully unlikely to pay.
•Speaking of Corvino, a Florence sports show a few weeks ago promised him a truffle for every new player he bought and so, on Friday, they brought him on the show and gave him his Zanetti!truffle (it turns up about 15 minutes into the video).
•Things have gone really badly south for Santana and his extension over the last few days -- he made the mistake of saying, in a generally pro-Viola interview, that he'd gone to the US alone for treatment on his knee and had felt all abandoned, and that he wants to play for a club that wants him as much as he wants to be there. Corvino was PISSED, and it's now being speculated that Santana could be offered to Samp in place of Semioli, whose asking price they've never seemed likely to meet.
The first CL qualifier against Sporting is on Tuesday in Lisbon. !!!!!!