Odds n Ends On a Very Quiet Tuesday

By: Martha | December 18th, 2007

•As Steven reported bright and early this morning, Palermo may or many not be in the process of arranging the summertime transfer of 22-year-old Brazilian Tulio De Melo from Atletico Mineiro. The French press are claiming the striker, who has been on loan at Le Mans, wants a move to Italy, but Palermo sporting director Rino Foschi is denying the whole thing.

•With Dejan Stankovic possibly facing surgery and two months of recovery (For an injury he’s had since August — does anyone in Serie A have a medical team that’s not utter shit?), Roberto Mancini is getting nervous about the threadbare Inter midfield, and has started talking about the need for January buys. I don’t know why, really, since he seems to like to play defenders in there anyway, and there are plenty of them. (Oh, and Patrick Vieiri is due back soon. Yippee.)

•Corriere dello Sport think Lazio are going to solve their goalkeeping crisis with Bogdan Lobont. The Romanian had a short stint in Serie A with Fiorentina — where he performed well in Sebastian Frey’s stead early last year — and is now first-choice at Dynamo Bucharest, but Lazio hope they’ll be able to get him on loan.

•As Chris mentioned in his rumor roundup today, the story about Christian Riganò, currently bottom of La Liga with Levante, making a January move to Roma is gathering steam.

•The Azzurri are going to be based in Baden, Austria during the Euros. For proper stalking, please get your hotel reservations now.

•I apologize for the constant Francesco Coco updates, but I just can’t stop. The latest is that QPR have decided they don’t want him (or, alternately, Coco doesn’t want them), and that he now may take his chances with Red Bull Salzburg, where he’d hope for some love from former Azzurri coach Giovanni Trapattoni. It was Trap who gave Coco his first Azzurri cap, and he may have a soft enough stop for the wannabe film start to give him a shot. (Or, the club could buy him, then farm him out to RBNY. Just a thought.)

[Thanks to Marco for the Coco link.]

Category: Azzurri, Inter Milan, Lazio, Palermo, Roma, Rumors & News, Serie A

Tags: Azzurri, Bogdan Lobont, Christian Riganò, Francesco Coco, Inter Milan, Lazio, Palermo, Red Bull Salzburg, Roma, Rumors & News, Serie A, Tulio De Melo

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Comments  

• Corey |  December 18th, 2007 at 12:54 pm

  
  
  

  Tulio is coming from Le Mans, I am pretty sure he is owned by them, but who knows.

  Posted from United States

  

• Fetyani |  December 18th, 2007 at 1:02 pm

  
  
  

  this is the juiciest news of the week.

  -Fetyani (aka ME) accompanied Clearnace Seedorf from his trip from Zurich to Milan on Tuesday morning. more details in the AC Milan Section “Maldini Monday”.

  Posted from Italy

  

• Martha |  December 18th, 2007 at 1:06 pm

  
  
  

  That sounds very stalkery, Fetyani — did he know you were there?

  Corey, granted anything I read on the internet could be wrong, but the article said Tulio’s just been on loan there.

  Posted from United States

  

• Fetyani |  December 18th, 2007 at 1:09 pm

  
  
  

  we seriously talked the whole trip till the exit at Malpensa airport. such a nice guy. he promised me, that on Sunday a certain team *cough* Inter Merda will get their ass kicked by another certain team *cough* Grande Milan.

  Posted from Italy

  

• Marco |  December 18th, 2007 at 1:22 pm

  
  
  

  Martha, here’s more to feed your Coco craving: according to La Gazzetta it wasn’t that QPR didn’t want him, but rather Coco who “abruptly left the QPR trial” because he found the training structures “inadequate” (Quote: “there weren’t even any shirts or shoes. Flavio Briatore is surely world’s best in Formula 1, and a great businessman, but for now he’s far from being one in the soccer world”.

  In the past days, Briatore had tagged Coco as “extremely rude” for leaving the trial after 3 days (quote) “like a thief” and not saying goodbye to him.

  And your daily report from the Coco-QPR soap opera by your foreign correspondent, Marco Pantanella, is now concluded.

  Posted from Italy

  

• Marco |  December 18th, 2007 at 1:23 pm

  
  
  

  Here’s that Coco story by the way:
  http://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/Estero/Primo_Piano/2007/12_Dicembre/18/coco.shtml

  Posted from Italy

  

• Martha |  December 18th, 2007 at 1:27 pm

  
  
  

  Thanks, Marco! I wonder if he’s punishing all of English football for the Man City “HE WAS SMOKING BEFORE TRAINING!” debacle by slagging off QPR. (I don’t know what life like in the Championship, but I’m sure it’s a far cry from Inter — what was he expecting, exactly?)

  Posted from United States

  

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