The Sunday Times July 16, 2006 Liverpool set for raid on Juve Jonathan Northcroft LIVERPOOL will try to become the first English club to capitalise on the Italian match-fixing scandal, with manager Rafael Benitez indicating he will move for several Juventus players, notably French forward David Trezeguet, early this week. Benitez wants another striker despite signing Craig Bellamy for £6m from Blackburn. He sees Trezeguet as a cheap alternative to long-term targets Jermain Defoe and Dirk Kuyt. Benitez is also interested in full-back Gianluca Zambrotta, although he appears destined to join Fabio Capello, his former manager, at Real Madrid. A more realistic target is Mauro Camoranesi, the wide midfielder in Italy’s World Cup-winning team. Camoranesi, born in Argentina, could be the right-flank player Benitez needs after his move for Sevilla’s Daniel Alves stalled over the £12m price tag. The entire Juventus squad is effectively available after the Turin club were relegated to Serie B on Friday, barred from next season’s Champions League and docked a further 30 points after being found guilty of attempted match-rigging by an Italian FA tribunal. Fiorentina and Lazio were also relegated and deducted 12 and seven points respectively. AC Milan stay in Serie A but are barred from the Champions League and ordered to begin next season on minus-15 points. The verdicts mean every player from the three relegated teams is, in effect, available. Milan may also struggle to keep their stars. All four clubs are likely to appeal and Benitez said: “We need to wait for two or three days but there are a lot of good players in these teams and they interest us. They will be a better price now than they would have been three months ago.” Trezeguet, 28, a world and European champion, is in demand despite his World Cup penalty shootout miss that was decisive in France losing the final to Italy. He would cost upwards of £10m, but Juve are keen to strike loan deals which would enable them to hold on to their top stars while they battle back to Serie A. Such a deal could suit Benitez, who has limited funds. Chelsea have been linked with Fabio Cannavaro, Italy’s World Cup-winning captain, after the publication of pictures apparently showing the Juventus centre-half boarding Roman Abramovich’s luxury yacht. Arsenal are interested in Juve’s goalkeeper Gigi Buffon and Manchester United in Milan’s impressive midfielders Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso. United’s manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, said: “We are not clear who is available. Would we be looking at a loan for a year while clubs hope they get back into Serie A? Are players for sale or are they free transfers?” Last night there were repeated reports that Ferguson is trying to lure Patrick Vieira back to the Premiership from Juventus. The former Arsenal midfielder is certain to leave Turin after only one season, although Roma and Internazionale are keen to keep him in Italy.
There's only one player on the Juve team I would be willing to fork over millons for -- Zlatan. Camoranesi, Trezeguet, Zambrotta and the like are all good players, but hardly unique. Zlatan on the other hand has the talent to perhaps be the best player in the world. He also has the ego the size of Mourinho's, but if anyone is worth a gamble, it's him.
And, unfortunately, Chelsea has their eyes on (IMHO) the best player available in Fabio Cannavarro. This guy was absolutely solid throughout the World Cup. We still something on the right side, so the winger would be nice.
I would take Trezeguet as a loan-signing in a heartbeat. He could play the role for us that Anelka played a few years ago (minus the backroom squabbling) and would provide us with great experience during champion's league. I imagine he would be highly motivated, seeing as his stock has declined a bit and he has to figure he will be moving away from Juventus eventually as they are out of Europe for 3 years as a best case scenario - not a sensible club to stay at for a 28 year-old. He will also want to do his best to measure up to Thierry Henry in the same league. With Xabi Alonso, Steven Gerrard and company feeding him, his type of running will be excellent. I cannot imagine him being any less effective than Cisse, even in his first year in the league. Considering that Bellamy figured in only 22 games for a Europe football-less Blackburn last season - 4 starting caliber strikers is not a luxury at 'Pool. It is a requirement. And I am still not sure Robbie is a 90 minute man for a long season, so that puts even more of a premium of finding a valuable striker. I am afraid that Ibrahamovic would be only a tad better than Morientes in the EPL. He likes to take too many touches on the ball and he does not play or move quickly enough to be totally comfortable in our scheme. He would also need to start too often to justify signing him. Trez would be able to be effective with fewer minutes. If we could get him for a year plus option to sign for the cost of his salary, I would do it tomorrow. He would really fill out our striker stable well. Then again, I am among those who just don't fancy the likes of Dirk Kuyt when we already have the best footballing big striker (despite his attacking headers with less vengeance than Michael Owen or Thierry Henry) in the world.
Zambrotta is hardly unique? He proved to be the best RB in the world during the WC, and his natural position is LB. IMHO, he was the best player at the WC along with Cannavaro. If we could sign Zambrotta I would be unbelievably happy and surprised. I'm guessing he goes to Madrid though.
The best RB in the world? Thank you very much, but I'll take our Finnan over him any day, especially when you consider that he cost 'Pool less than 4 million quid. Italian players have always been unbelievably overrated, and now that they've bumbled their way to an undeserved WC title, getting Zambrotta for anywhere under 20 million quid is impossible. Nevermind that if you take Zambrotta as a player, they are quite a few players close to or at his level that are very similar in style to him. I can't say the same for Zlatan.
not that significant. cannavaro has already stated he wants to follow capello and ulimately will. best guess is that most players will move among 3 mail clubs: real, inter and milan. there will be some staying within italy - ex. buffon has stated his intention is to stay in italy - as well. for all of this, i don't see this as a huge market. not to say there won't be a lot of movement, but most of it will be in italy. are there any players on Lazio or fiorentina teams are lining up for? Juve will be back in serie A asap and will want to be able to have some way to bring back players. there will probably be some loan deals which is why the possible trezeguet loan deal would be a very good move imho.
My suspicion is that the Italian players will stay in Italy or move to Spain (Barcelona are being very quiet!). They are notoriously poor travellers. I also doubt any of the Milan players will come to England, at any rate. However, some of the foreign players from the relegated teams may be willing to move (and England is a possible destination) but how many of them are there? Most of the Juve players are on such ruinously high wages that only Chelsea may be able to afford them. And we also need to consider their age. On a related matter, I think it's a good thing Kuyt, who still is a good player, had a cack tournament. The asking fee will correspondingly be much lower and he still want a move. So expect the Maggies to move in with £15 million plus bid.
Latest reports are that Zambrotta is likeliest to move to Milan. He is a good player but Rafa is still after Daniel Alves for right back. If we get him then we don't need Zambrotta as he would not play. We have also added Fabio Aurelio at left back, remember. I think the likeliest arrivals at Anfield from Italy are Trezeguet, Ibrahimovic or Camoranesi.
Who knows if Italian players travel well. When have the top Italian players ever had a reason to move away from Italy? Now they don't have many options if they want to leave one of the relegated teams. A couple of years ago people said that Spanish players don't travel well, but that was only because all the best Spanish players had played in La Liga. Now you have players like Alonso, Garcia, Fabregas, and Reyes excelling in the Premiership. Sure some of them will want to stay in Italy, but Inter can't buy everyone. In Spain, Barcelona and Madrid are the only teams that spend big money on players. Its inevitable that the big four English clubs will be involved. I think the reason we hadn't heard much about a striker so far this summer is because Rafa was waiting for the fallout of the Italian scandal. Why would we take a 10 million pound risk on Dirk Kuyt when a proven 20 goal a year striker like Trejeguet can be had on loan or for a reduced price.
Only player i'd like to see come is either Zlatan or Trezuguet. But i doubt Liverpool will get either of them. Camoranessi would be a nice addition though
Not sure Benitez is really that interested in any of the players that will move on as a result of the Italian situation. He will however manipulate the situation for all it's worth in order to lower the asking price for the players he really wants to sign this summer.
Not this again. I really want some news on Trez or Kuyt so we can end the silly season. My question is this: would Trez really be interested in a loan? I realize it would probably come with a view to a permanent move, but he's 28, seems to have stagnated at Juve, and will not be back in top-flight football in Turin for at least two seasons. All those reasons would lead me to believe that a purchase of the player is more likely, though I do understand we'd be saving money with a loan deal. Still, if he could be bought for 10M pounds or so, I think it would be great business. He's still got 3 or 4 good years left in him and how many other strikers of his class would come that cheap?