Might as well start this up, rumors are starting to fly Transfers IN: OrderNameAgePositionFROM 1Ilija Nestorovski 26 FW Inter Zapresic Nestorovski was signed during the last window, but will only join the team now. He finished with 25 goals in 33 matches this season. He is also a Macedonian international, as is Trajkovski, who is sticking around Whole lot of people also returning from loan, including Manuel Arteaga and Matheus Cassini. Transfers OUT: OrderNameAgePositionTO 1 Emiliano Viviano 30 GK Sampdoria (Forced Buy) 2 Stefano Sorrentino 37 GK Chievo (Free) 3 Milan Milanovic 25 CB None (Out of Contract) 4 Bryan Cristante 21 CM Benfica (End of Loan) 5 Gaston Brugman 23 CM Pescara (End of Loan) Completely forgot Viviano was technically still on the team. He has been on loan pretty much continually since 2012. Cristante and Brugman totalled just 1060 minutes while here, with Cristante getting only 93. There may be a chance that Brugman returns though, we shall see Sounds like Ascoli, where Milanovic is on loan, probably wants to get him permanently, but is being a little quiet about it. One more possible outgoing, Ahmad Benali was loaned out to Pescara with a forced buy clause if they are promoted. Pescara are currently in the promotion playoffs. Loan Out Name Age Positon Club FULL SQUAD: OrderNameAgePosition 1Josip Posavec 20 GK 2Fabrizio Alastra 18 GK 3Andrea Fulignati 21 GK 4Giancarlo González 27 CB^ 5Edoardo Goldaniga 21 CB 6Roberto Vitiello 32 CB 7Thiago Cionek 30 CB 8Abdelhamid El Kaoutari 26 CB† 9Siniša Anđelković 30 CB 10Roberto Pirrello 20 CB 11Davide Monteleone 20 CB‡ 12Andrea Accardi 20 CB‡ 13Andrea Rispoli 27 RB 14Michel Morganella 27 RB 15Aljaz Struna 26 RB^ 16Achraf Lazaar 24 LB* 17Giuseppe Pezzella 18 LB‡ 18 Granddi N'Goyi 28 DM** 19Dario Giacomarro 21 DM‡ 20Luca Fiordilino 20 DM‡ 21Enzo Maresca 36 CM† 22Ivaylo Chochev 23 CM^ 23Mato Jajalo 28 CM 24Robin Quaison 21 CM* 25Ahmad Benali 24 CM 26Oscar Hiljemark 25 CM^ 27Franco Vázquez 27 CAM* 28Carlos Embalo 21 LW‡ 29Aleksander Trajkovski 24 LW 27Alberto Gilardino 34 FW 28Ilija Nestorovski 26 FW 29 Nobert Balogh 20 FW 30Manuel Arteaga 23 FW 31Matheus Cassini 20 FW 32 Antonio La Gumina 20 FW 33 Accursio Bentivegna 21 FW‡ 34 Simon Makienok 25 FW** 35Caphes Malele 22 FW‡ 36Gabriele Zerbo 22 FW‡ 37Uroš Đurđević 21 FW* *Basically certain to be sold, as stated by Zamparini ^Rumors that their Palermo future is in doubt. I hope at least Gonzalez can be held onto. †Players I wouldn't be surprised to see gotten rid of. El Kat because he never liked it, Maresca is a) out of contract, and b) not on the best of terms with Ballardini. I'd like it if both stayed. ‡Probably going to be loaned out or sold, most of these are aging out of the primavera. **Can't imagine these players having a role in the actual 28 man squad. Posavec is supposed to be the starting keeper next year, we shall see.
And just like that, Maresca announces that he will not be returning. Its not immediately clear to me whether he intends to play somewhere else. What is clear, is that he isn't exactly leaving on a high note 737248857906647040 is not a valid tweet id The first paragraph essentially says that he's learned holding grudges ("rancore") doesn't get anywhere, and so instead he's going to focus on the positives. Then later on he thanks several of the managers who came through Palermo this season: Iachini, Schelotto and Bosi, but notably, not Ballardini, who froze out Maresca in his first stint here and tried to force him out of the club. Maresca deserves a lot of praise for last season, he was far better than I would have ever expected, and probably up there with Sorrentino and Vazquez for player of the season. He saved the club from relegation in the last game. Grande Maresca.
Simon Makienok was loaned to Preston North End today with an option to buy next summer. He was on loan all last year in the Championship as well (at Charlton). His greatest moment at Palermo came not from him, but his wife, responding to Zamparini's claims about his injury and that their marriage was having issues. She tweeted a response to the effect of "As you can see there is no problem with his leg, or our love" It includes a hilarious possibly slightly nsfw x-ray Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler Dear Mr President. Aint Nothing wrong with Simons leg. Or our love. As you Can see - everything is okay. Forza.😘 pic.twitter.com/TVapPwL6dJ— Ibi Makienok (@Ibisplanet) December 3, 2014
Turns out I was wrong about Embalo, he just signed a new contract through 2020 and figures to be a big part of next year's team. 5 goals and 11 assists from the left wing with Brescia (40 appearances, 35 starts). Also, as a result of Pescara winning promotion, Benali's transfer is now forced, earning Palermo 1m euro, and Brugman, who Palermo were thinking about trying to hold on to for at least another year (if not permanently), is almost certainly going to return to Pescara as they fight to avoid being immediately relegated.
Pirrello sent out on loan, along with Petermann and Ferchichi (two players I'm not sure I even know) http://palermocalcio.it/it/1516/news/scheda.php?id=32977 Pirello made the senior bench 4 times last season (3 in A, once in the Coppa). He was also a pretty consistent captain for the Primavera squad, playing either CB or RB. He is only 20, and could potentially become a meaningful player in a couple of years
Arteaga about to be sent on loan. Gilardino being forced out. Time to look for some more strikers. Honestly, I'm sure others dislike the Gilardino move more, and to be fair, he was the leading scorer, but he simply never convinced me that he was the right guy for the job
Players called up for preaseason: GK: Fulignati, Marson, Posavec DF: Andelkovic, Cionek, Goldaniga, Gonzalez, Giuliano, Lazaar, Morganella, Pezzella, Punzi, Rispoli, Struna, Vitiello MF: Chochev, Hiljemark, Jajalo, Quaison, Toscano ST: Balogh, Bentivegna, Embalo, Lo Faso, La Gumina, Nestorovski, Trajkovski, Vazquez Arteaga (who may actually be being sold, not loaned) and Gilardino unsurprisingly not on the list. Vazquez is, but there's basically no question he is leaving. Current rumor is to Sevilla The midfield is quite bare right now, and could use some new players GK Alastra is being sent out on loan after signing a new contract El Kaoutari not called up, he was a good player imo, but seemed to never adjust to life in Italy. I expect he'll be sold back to a French team. N'Goyi not called up in the MF. He hasn't been a part of the rosanero for some time, even when in need of midfielders, I doubt he will be this season. Djurdjevic being left off is perhaps the biggest 'surprise'. Mostly everyone was called up with the exception of youth players who can pretty easily be expected to be getting loaned out to lower leagues.
Vazquez has left Palermo's preseason and his move to Valencia is official pending a medical exam. Not surprising. Fee is supposedly 15m with the possibility of it going as high as 18m with various add-ons. Its been known for a year that Vazquez would be sold, still a big question about who will replace him though.
Palermo has announced two signings in the last week. Neither all that meaningful. First, 27 year old Serbian CB, Slobodan Rajkovic. He had 5 appearances on the national team this year. At very least he is a replacement for Milanovic who left. More likely, I expect at least one of El Kaoutari, Gonzalez, and Goldaniga will also leave. Second, 19 year old Hungarian CAM Roland Sallai has joined on loan with a forced buy at the end of the season. Hard to imagine he'll make an impact this season. More likely, he'll play with the Primavera, with the hope that he'll be ready for first team action next season.
Round up of some outgoing rumors: Lazaar to Roma http://www.tuttopalermo.net/calcio-mercato/palermo-anche-la-roma-su-lazaar-84991 Goldaniga to Lazio http://www.tuttopalermo.net/calcio-mercato/palermo-la-lazio-su-goldaniga-84997 Struna to Carpi (where he spent the 2014-15 season on loan) http://www.tuttopalermo.net/calcio-mercato/palermo-struna-verso-il-ritorno-al-carpi-84969 Lazaar would be a pretty big loss, but not an unexpected one. He had some offers last season, and Palermo held on to him. Palermo is still in the business of buying low and selling high though, so I didn't expect him to last much longer. Struna is whatever. This team desperately needs some real RBs, he isn't a real solution at that position, and he's about 4th choice CB. Except that Goldaniga is the 2nd choice, and also apparently being sought. Again, not surprising, he is a very good player. But it would be nice to hang on to him at least one more season. Rajkovic seems like he'll be a good third CB alongside Gonzalez and Vitiello, but it'd be nice to have that fourth guy in the rotation. The article says that Palermo is refusing to consider the offer for Goldaniga, but at some point for Zampa, money will always talk. He still has 3 years left on his contract though, and is only 22, so his value will almost certainly still go up. Would be worth holding on to him.
Also this story about the former Sporting Director who officially resigned due to 'health issues'. Zampa's criticism here shows what a farce that is. http://www.football-italia.net/88239/zamparini-atalanta-cast-offs The most interesting note is he says he's looking for 7 players. So far he's got one attacking mid and one CB. If Zampa is telling the truth, they are still on the market for a defender, a striker, a winger, and two midfielders. He also notes that Quaison is for sale to anyone who wants him. Somewhat an odd choice, I didn't think Quaison had a particularly good season, but he's not a bad player.
Latest signing hinted at by the DS, 33 yr old d-mid Alessandro Gazzi from Torino. I guess we need a replacement for Maresca. I would have rather the club/Ballardini simply wouldn't have so badly treated Maresca that he felt he needed to leave. Also, a round up of some Palermo loans I haven't noted, Luca Fiordilino (19 yr old DM) loaned to Lecce in Lega Pro Manuel Arteaga (the supposedly next big thing in Palermo) loaned to a club named 'The Strongest' in Bolivia Antonino La Gumina (20, who I hope might be a next big thing in Palermo) loaned to Ternana in Serie B Davide Petermann (21, CM) also loaned to Ternana Fabrizio Alastra (18 GK) loaned to Matera in Lega Pro Andrea Accardi (20 CB) loaned to Modena in Lega Pro Simon Makienok (25, ST) loaned to Preston North End in Championship, with an option to buy Julian Velazquez (25 CB) loaned to Cruz Azul in Liga MX Roberto Pirrello (20 RB) loaned to Livorno in Serie B My assumption is that most of those are all loan only, with the exceptions maybe of Arteaga and Velazquez. Palermo isn't in the habit of loaning players back overseas to develop.
Official incoming: 25 yr old Norwegian Haitam Aleesami signed from Goteborg. He's a LWB. A necessity for this team, especially if Lazaar ends up getting sold. Honestly, even if he isn't because there is absolutely no cover at LB. Based on Zampa's earlier statement, thats now 2/5 signings done he said he's looking to do. We can (if Zampa is being honest) still expect a striker and two of: a winger, a midfielder, and a defender. Depends on which one of those you want to classify a wing-back as. Rumored outgoing: El Kaoutari is supposedly close to being loaned with an option to buy to French side Bastia. Have been expecting him to find a home in France all summer, so I'd expect this to actually happen.
Rumor roundup Both Struna and Lazaar are supposedly edging closer to leaving the club. Sounds like Lazaar has stated his desire to go to OM, who are still haggling with Palermo over the price. Meanwhile, Struna looks to be on his way to Carpi still, the team he spent last season on loan with. I've seen less stories about El Kaoutari over the last few days, but there's at least one report today claiming that he is already in the city of Bastia waiting for the clubs to work out the transfer. He was supposedly spotted watching a friendly there the other day. in addition, Cassini has supposedly expressed his frustration about not being included in Palermo's preseason plans (though I can't find his twitter, where he supposedly said this things). There are a couple of stories out there that he is about to be sent to Germany, not sure whether it would be only a loan or a permanent deal. He's only 20 still. I'm also still expecting at least Gonzalez, and maybe Goldaniga to go before the market closes. There have been a long slew of clubs named for both of them. Meanwhile, there are some rumors starting that Palermo are looking to acquire Torino's 30 yr old GK, Daniele Padelli. Not sure if he would be a starter or a back up, but either way, I would feel a lot better with a veteran goalkeeper on the roster. Also a couple of midfielder names being tossed around, but nothing overly exciting.
I almost mentioned N'Goyi in my round up as somebody basically sure to leave the club, but I left him out because a) he hasn't been in the team's plans for years, and b) I hadn't seen any rumors about him. Now 20 minutes after my post, the club puts out a statement saying that they rescinded his contract by mutual consent. I actually thought he was pretty decent when he was a part of the team, but I guess the team thinks otherwise now. http://palermocalcio.it/it/1617/news/risoluzione-consensuale-per-ngoyi-33135
Official Roster Update I'm starting to lose track of everything that has happened so here's an updated roster. Transfers IN: OrderNameAgePositionFROM 1Ilija Nestorovski 26 FW Inter Zapresic 2Slobodan Rajkovic 27 CB SV Darmstadt 3Alessandro Gazzi 33 DM Torino 4Haitam Aleesami 25 LB Göteborg Loan IN: OrderNameAgePositionFROM 1Roland Sallai 19 AM Puskas AFC (Hungary) (Option to Buy) Transfers OUT: OrderNameAgePositionTO 1Emiliano Viviano 30 GK Sampdoria (Forced Buy) 2Stefano Sorrentino 37 GK Chievo (Free) 3Milan Milanovic 25 CB None (Out of Contract) 4Bryan Cristante 21 CM Benfica (End of Loan) 5Gaston Brugman 23 CM Pescara (End of Loan) 6Enzo Maresca 36 CM Out of Contract 7Alberto Gilardino 34 ST Empoli (Free) 8Ahmad Benali 24 CM Pescara (Forced Buy) 9Gabriele Zerbo 22 CF Out of Contract 10Franco Fazquez 27 ST Sevilla 11Granddi N'Goyi 28 DM Mutual Termination Loan Out Order Name Age Positon Club 1Julian Velazquez 25 CB Cruz Azul 2Simon Makienok 25 CF Preston North End (Option to Buy) 3Andrea Accardi 20 CB Modena 4Fabrizio Alastra 18 GK Matera 5Davide Petermann 21 CM Teramo 6Antonio La Gumina 20 CF Ternana 7Manuel Arteaga 22 ST The Strongest (Bolivia) 8Luca Fiodilino 19 CM Lecce 9Roberto Pirrello 20 RB Livorno FULL SQUAD: OrderNameAgePosition 1Josip Posavec 20 GK 2Leonardo Marson 18 GK^ 3Andrea Fulignati 21 GK 4Giancarlo González 27 CB* 5Slabodan Rajkovic 27 CB 6Edoardo Goldaniga 21 CB 7Roberto Vitiello 32 CB 8Siniša Anđelković 30 CB 9Thiago Cionek 30 CB* 10Abdelhamid El Kaoutari 26 CB* 11Achraf Lazaar 24 LB* 12Haitam Aleesami 25 LB 13Giuseppe Pezzella 18 LB^ 14Andrea Rispoli 27 RB 15Michel Morganella 27 RB 16Aljaz Struna 26 RB* 17Alessandro Gazzi 33 CM 18Ivaylo Chochev 23 DM/CM 19Mato Jajalo 28 DM/CM 20Oscar Hiljemark 25 AM/CM 21Roland Sallai 19AM/CM 22Robin Quaison 21 AM/CM* 23Carlos Embalo 21 LW 24Aleksander Trajkovski 24 LW 25Ilija Nestorovski 26 FW 26 Norbert Balogh 20 FW 27Matheus Cassini 20 FW* 28 Accursio Bentivegna 21 FW 29 Simone Lo Faso 18 FW^ 30Caphes Malele 22 FW^ 31Uroš Đurđević 21 FW^ *Expecting them to be sold or loaned out ^Can't imagine these players having a role in the usual 28 man squad. Some of them still qualify for the Primavera, others, I dunno. I've included some of the youth players who have featured during preseason, but there's no rhyme or reason to why some youth players are or aren't on the list. †Didn't expect him to leave, but he wasn't called up to preseason, so... Given the number of players on that list that are either about to be sold, or youth players who aren't really ready yet, thats a really short squad list right now. 5 new players and 20 outgoings is not a great ratio, even taking into consideration that a number of the outgoings are youth developmental loans.
El Kaoutari was officially loaned out today. Lazaar spoke about the rumos of OM being after him, confirming their interest but saying he doesn't see any point in leaving Palermo for them (which he insinuates would be a lateral move), he'll only leave if a top level club comes around. Bit of an odd statement, considering (last season's 13th place finish aside) OM is a pretty regular top 5 finisher in Ligue 1. Not sure what to make of it really, I still feel like he'll go, but maybe he's serious. Meanwhile the club took a somewhat unusual step of putting out an official press release stating that they do not want to sign another goalkeeper, and they are satisfied with their three young players. I don't share their faith, but we will see, I suppose. http://palermocalcio.it/it/1617/news/nota-del-direttore-faggiano-33138 Lastly, in a radio interview, Zampa said they won't be making a move for Balotelli. This a rumor that has cropped up every season. Balotelli was born in Palermo (though moved away when he was 2), thus the treason for the constant rumors. Zampa's point is: why would Balotelli come to a team Palermo and be motivated? I agree, on the other hand, if there were a realistic chance of the deal being done, having Balotelli on the squad is the sort of gamble that a team looking at relegation and lacking a goal scorer should probably take.
So in the aftermath of last night's win, Ballardini praised Posavec, but said he believes that it would be good to add a veteran presence to help him develop. This in the wake of the club putting out an official statement saying they weren't going to sign another goalkeeper. I'm sure Zamp and him will have a perfectly reasonable conversation and both parties will leave on good terms... Meanwhile, Palermo are slowly becoming the walking wounded already. Embalo, Hiljemark, Jajalo, and Trajkovski, Sallai are all starting to rejoin training following injuries, Morganella is being sent for an MRI on his knee, the same one which he tore a ligament in a year ago. Balogh has bruising on his thigh from the game last night and finally, Vitiello recieved three stitches in his forehead after a challenge during the game.
News Roundup Morganella is out for a month with a knee injury. Quaison has returned from the World Cup, and so will be available again. Apparently his contract runs out next year, which is why Zampa has been saying he's for sale. If they can renew, he might stay. Palermo is so light on midfielders right now, it'd be crazy to sell him. Gonzalez is supposedly very close to being sold to Bologna, which seems like a completely sideways move. He apparently wants to stay in Italy, and has turned down some offers from elsewhere in Europe. Lazaar now supposedly has offers from just about every country (West Ham, OM, Monaco, Sporting CP...). I'll be somewhat surprised if he doesn't leave. Palermo are (unsurprisingly) supposedly in the market for a regista and an attacker. Bruno Henrique's name is getting mentioned a lot for the first spot.
Unfortunately, it already looks like a relegation battle, before the season even begins. At least, I hope would be a battle- this feels like the kind of roster that could be in the drop zone from start to finish... Didn't realize Balotelli was from Palermo- would be sweat to see him wearing the pink and black, but obviously doesn't make too much sense for that to happen.
Out of the blue, Palermo have received the 23 midfielder Ouasim Bouy on loan from Inter, where he has made just 1 appearance since signing in 2012. He has spent basically every year on loan at a different club, most recently Zwole of the Eredivise. He appears to be a defensive minded midfielder. Not sure what the clubs plans are for him, I can't imagine they are huge. The signings of Bruno Henrique and Alessandro Diamanti, another signing which came out of nowhere, another aged Italian coming back from ChinA, are both all but officially done. Meanwhile, Zampa supposedly has called Balotelli to convince him to play for Palermo. Please God let it happen. Supposedly Monday is the day, though the market is officially open through Wednesday.
Lazaar is off to Newcastle for a medical it seems, he should be gone any day. In astounding news, Zampa gave an interview today (https://twitter.com/UltraPalermo for the transcript), in which it sounds like Balotelli coming is a real option. Supposedly Diamanti is in on it, calling him and trying to convince him. Hold up will almost certainly be wages. Liverpool are going to want to hold out for someone who offers to cover more of the cost than Palermo will. I hope he comes. It would be amazing.
Damnit, now I have legitimate(?) hope for Balotelli coming (seeing stuff on Twitter the past couple of days, too), which means I'll be for real disappointed if it doesn't happen.
Balotelli is supposedly sold on the idea of coming to Palermo, but Liverpool is holding out for a team with more money, last I saw Palermo was offering to cover 700k for the year, Liverpool is looking for someone to pay 50% of his 6m contract. Palermo supposedly upped the offer, but the Palermo cap structure pretty much means that nobody ever gets paid more than a million for wages. Hopefully Liverpool will decide something is better than nothing and let him come here. Nice is the other team being mentioned, but Balotelli has no reason to go to France...