Whether the Italian NT had lifted the trophy or not, in the grand scheme of things it would have been a consolation victory for Italian fans only. The truth is that all the Euro's did was temporarily take attention away from a very serious problem and I'm not talking about the betting scandal (although that's part of it). More to the point I'm talking about a total economic collapse of Serie A football. It was reported earlier in the day that Verratti and his representatives have all but agreed to sign a permanent transfer to PSG. If this was any other halfway decent player we were talking about then I wouldn't give the story too much emphasis, but that is not the case. Marco, for all intensive prognostications, looks like a core piece for the future of Italian players. In other words, he is the type of quality player that you market the Serie A brand on. Evidently, Balotelli was just the beginning. We can all hope and pray that the Italians who go abroad eventually get home sick and demand to come home, but the truth is while Europe gets smaller and foreign clubs shell out more lucrative contracts, this will continue to happen. I think we all saw this coming and knew that one day that the owners over evaluation of their brand combined with poor economic planing for revenue growth would come back to haunt them. And before anyone says that Juventus is the only club getting it right, they still benefit from being Italy's most popular club and the exorbitant amounts of money they have spent would sink pretty much every other club in Serie A had they done the same.
You can't base the decline of Serie A, and it's in a decline, on the sale of Verratti. PSG is paying a ridiculous amount for a player that has not played ONE minute in a top level league. They've bought into the hype. Being a star at Pescara in Serie B does not equate to greatness in a top European league. As for PSG, they're rolling in petrodollars and love to waste money. They've spent ridiculous amounts on players that no other team are willing to do. Look what it bought them last season... oh yeah, nothing.
i think its good if the young ones go abroad....especially lower leagues, they actually get to play and get used to other styles of play. Which italian teams really let the youth play?? balotelli was an exception but everyone else rots on the bench...INCLUDING JUVE...or they get loaned to some crap team. Its better if they go abroad and come back to italy around 25 where they can play
Letting Giovinco rot on a bench does more to destroy Italian football than a 19 year old going to a top team...
It's all about the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Football in europe is turning into a playground for billionaires. There is no competing with these types. They will overpay a player by 10 million of their actual worth. Insane transfers and even more f'd up wages. Until UEFA do something SERIOUS about it (not ffp...what a joke) then this is the reality of soccer.
The real alarming part is that none of these super rich moguls are looking to purchase any Italian clubs. There are plenty of cities and small team with history ripe for a takeover.
Do you think it has anything to do with the mafia? I don't see why an oil sheik would pass on owning a team like AC Milan who have all kinds of money troubles...
It's also almost impossible to build a stadium in Italy. And with problems like calcioscomesse who in their right mind would want to invest in Italy?
It's not at all impossible to build a stadium. Reality is most of the people that have proposed building stadiums have only done so in hopes of turning land marked for agriculture into land designated for development. Make a proposal in an appropriate area with the correct designations and you can gt it done.
I'm a Sicilian American with a lot of family in Sicily still. I hate this mafia sympathizer geezer.... He's done everything to get rid of the good that people like Falcone have done in Sicily...
i think its more of the countries they're buying in...they have a strong arab/muslim base; england, spain and france....these sheikhs prob have been there many times and have strong ties there so they feel more comfortable, where as italy is kind of unknown. I think soon enough we'll see one take over a club
Too many old people in Italy living off the government and the country isnt reproducing. Read what Pat Buchanan had to say about Italy because he was dead on.
I think Canzano has a point. Serie A is suffering from multiple ills (corruption, crumbling stadiums, ultras, lack of investment, etc.) and is no longer a top league. It's become a selling league, if we're honest, with many of our young talents going to rich clubs in England, Spain, France, etc. Just a sampling of those players overseas: Balotelli, Santon, Sirigu, Verratti, Rossi, Astori, Bochetti, Criscito. Yet, as Simon Kuper wrote in the FT recently, Italian football is still excellent. Somehow we continue a proud tradition despite a league that is failing.
Italian youngsters leaving Italy was inevitable. It was bound to happen and I'm surprised it took this long. I think this is ridiculous : Capuano follows Verratti to France? By Football Italia staff Pescara could be close to selling two of their Italian youngsters to French football, as rumours suggest Marco Capuano could follow Marco Verratti out. As a €14m deal for midfielder Verratti’s transfer from the Delfini to Ligue 1 outfit Paris Saint-Germain appears close to completion on Friday, reports also indicate that the club will conduct another sale. Specifically, the Gazzetta dello Sport allege that sporting director Daniele Delli Carri will hold negotiations with Ligue 2 side Monaco over the prospect of selling them promising centre-back Capuano. The 20-year-old Italy Under-21 international was one of the group of players that impressed for the Biancazzurri during last season’s promotion campaign to Serie A and subsequently attract a lot of transfer speculation. Monaco, who are under the ownership of Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev and are now coached by Claudio Ranieri, hold ambitions to return to the top of French football and are looking to invest heavily in the market this summer. Capuano has been linked to the Stade Louis II outfit for a few weeks now, but it is the latest rumours that suggest a deal is closer than ever, with Monaco’s offer believed to fall only €500,000 short of Pescara’s €5m asking price. The player is understood to have already received a €800,000-a-season, four-year contract offer. ----------------------------------------------------- Good defenders are already hard to come by, but to let Capuano go to MONACO IN LIGUE 2 for 5 million is a joke.
they have a stadium they got players coming in and went undefeated which shows it doesn't take much to become a super team in serie a...
Not all foreign investment/ownership works out,so due diligence is important! Foreign Ownership and La Liga 1) Racing:Club has one BK and the owner went missing after he was put on Interpol's List forAllegation Of Fraud.http://www.goal.com/en-india/news/136/india/2012/05/02/3072025/and-you-blame-the-venkys-indian-owned-racing-santanders2) Getafe:Ownership was a scam.http://www.theballisflat.info/2012/07/getafe-dubai-club-scam.html3) Malaga:It is alleged that the President of Malaga after spending €150m+in the last 2 years has decided the TV rights distribution is unfair in Spain (duh!) and no longer wants to spendnew monies on his club.- At present the club owes approx €20m to the treasury and 2 clubs for transfer sales taxes.The rumor is Malaga could sell Cazorla, Rondon etc to pay for the debt, so they don't get kicked out of Primera or UEFA CL.- Also, there are complaints Malaga players are not getting paid on time and someare owed salaries.* Recently the President of Association of Spanish Footballers (AFE), Luis Rubialevisited Malaga players to check the situation.- In the meantime, Malaga boss recent tweets have blasted the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) on TV rights monies, corruption by clubs and accused Spanish media of being racist..