Your Regular Dose of Rumors + Victorious Babies
•The U-17s beat Inter 3-1 on Friday in the Campionato Allievi Nazionali final to win their age group Scudetto [pictures here and here]. Woo hoo! The official site seems to be ignoring them entirely, but they had a sort of mini-parade yesterday, and Corvino (for whom this is the first youth title in Florence) greeted them and gave them all championship shirts. &hearts
•At the Confederations Cup, Gambit and Gila watched Monty go on as a sub against Egypt, play great, and nearly score, and Melo scored Brazil's first goal against the US and played all 90 minutes; both Melo and Monty (!!!) are expect to start the big grudge match later today. Also, I can't find a video of it, but Jojo scored Montenegro's first goal in a 2-0 U21 win against Kazakhstan last weekend.
•There's nothing official yet, but it's being reported that PSG will be in Florence for a friendly on July 29th. (Giuly!)
•Corriere dello Sport guessed at the recession clauses for everyone in the first team, and came up with a total squad value of about €200 million. Their values and rationales are here.
•The one transfer rumor from the last week that actually sounds legit is the one about Drenthe coming on loan from Real. They've said he ought to listen to offers and Corvino confirmed in his press conference that he's a target, so the stories aren't made up. It's generally thought that Fiorentina have an agreement with Real, but still need to make one with Drenthe and his agent, something new interest from Ajax, Bayern and maybe Genoa might screw up. The deal, were it to happen, would be a loan with the option to buy for somewhere between €7 and €10 million; he'd make about €1.5 million, a slight cut from his salary at Real. It's thought there will be a final meeting with Real tomorrow.
•Also in defense, the OMR story has suddenly come back with a vengeance -- apparently things aren't going well in the Parma negotiations, and Fiorentina's offer of the option for a second year has increasing appeal to OMR and his agent. Plus, there's been conversation for a long time about Lecce's €7 million-valued Andrea Esposito, but his agent says he's not actually talked to Fiorentina at all.
•On the vice-Gila front, there remains Bianchi (but like everyone else, he doesn't seem to want to sit on the bench), and he's been joined by Julio Cruz (who isn't going to Greece after all) and Nicola Pozzi, about whom Corvino has allegedly met with Empoli's DS.
•Corvino continues to be busy, meeting with agents and whatnot. In the last week, he's talked to Andrea D'Amico, who represents Caracciolo and Zapata, Alessandro Lucci, who represents Esposito and Taddei, among others (the Taddei rumor was hot and heavy yesterday, but is now quiet), and Beppe Marotta, Samp's DS, with whom he allegedly had a long chat about Pubes, but they're still far apart on price.
•In terms of current players: Juve have apparently lost interest in Pasqual, so it seems more likely he'll extend now, Santana wants a raise, Sevilla still want Kuzi, and lots and lots of clubs are interested in Di Carmine, but it's hoped Frosinone's interest can be used as part of a deal to pry their young Brazilian Eder away (it's complicated because he's co-owned).
•And, in loony rumors for the day, the tragically in debt Valencia are supposedly joining the Melo queue, while Besiktas have decided Mutu will be theirs.
•At the Confederations Cup, Gambit and Gila watched Monty go on as a sub against Egypt, play great, and nearly score, and Melo scored Brazil's first goal against the US and played all 90 minutes; both Melo and Monty (!!!) are expect to start the big grudge match later today. Also, I can't find a video of it, but Jojo scored Montenegro's first goal in a 2-0 U21 win against Kazakhstan last weekend.
•There's nothing official yet, but it's being reported that PSG will be in Florence for a friendly on July 29th. (Giuly!)
•Corriere dello Sport guessed at the recession clauses for everyone in the first team, and came up with a total squad value of about €200 million. Their values and rationales are here.
•The one transfer rumor from the last week that actually sounds legit is the one about Drenthe coming on loan from Real. They've said he ought to listen to offers and Corvino confirmed in his press conference that he's a target, so the stories aren't made up. It's generally thought that Fiorentina have an agreement with Real, but still need to make one with Drenthe and his agent, something new interest from Ajax, Bayern and maybe Genoa might screw up. The deal, were it to happen, would be a loan with the option to buy for somewhere between €7 and €10 million; he'd make about €1.5 million, a slight cut from his salary at Real. It's thought there will be a final meeting with Real tomorrow.
•Also in defense, the OMR story has suddenly come back with a vengeance -- apparently things aren't going well in the Parma negotiations, and Fiorentina's offer of the option for a second year has increasing appeal to OMR and his agent. Plus, there's been conversation for a long time about Lecce's €7 million-valued Andrea Esposito, but his agent says he's not actually talked to Fiorentina at all.
•On the vice-Gila front, there remains Bianchi (but like everyone else, he doesn't seem to want to sit on the bench), and he's been joined by Julio Cruz (who isn't going to Greece after all) and Nicola Pozzi, about whom Corvino has allegedly met with Empoli's DS.
•Corvino continues to be busy, meeting with agents and whatnot. In the last week, he's talked to Andrea D'Amico, who represents Caracciolo and Zapata, Alessandro Lucci, who represents Esposito and Taddei, among others (the Taddei rumor was hot and heavy yesterday, but is now quiet), and Beppe Marotta, Samp's DS, with whom he allegedly had a long chat about Pubes, but they're still far apart on price.
•In terms of current players: Juve have apparently lost interest in Pasqual, so it seems more likely he'll extend now, Santana wants a raise, Sevilla still want Kuzi, and lots and lots of clubs are interested in Di Carmine, but it's hoped Frosinone's interest can be used as part of a deal to pry their young Brazilian Eder away (it's complicated because he's co-owned).
•And, in loony rumors for the day, the tragically in debt Valencia are supposedly joining the Melo queue, while Besiktas have decided Mutu will be theirs.