News Roundup As We All Drink to Adriano

By: Martha | January 18th, 2008

UEFA.com teammates •Four of the players on UEFA.com’s fan-chosen Team of the Year squad ply their trade in Italy, including three Rossoneri. Kaka, Alessandro Nesta and Clarence Seedorf are joined in the team by their totally awesome mortal enemy Zlatan Ibrahimovic. (No Pirlo. I know.)

•Genoa and Fiorentina have finally sorted out their exchange deal for Papa Waigo and Anthony Vanden Borre and, rather than the expected mutual loan, it’s now a partial sale, with the teams now sharing ownership of both players as they switch teams. Vanden Borre, still only 20, arrived on the back of a ton of fanfare but has hardly play at all for the Viola, even during their defensive injury crisis — it’d be just their luck for him to blow up at Genoa.

•David Suazo 2.0 is Brazilian starlet Tullio De Melo, and the two teams for which he has reportedly signed are Parma and Palermo. Excellent — this should make for some awesome Crazy Zampa action, particularly since the deal (whoever lands him) isn’t supposed to go through til June, leaving months to be spent arguing in the press.

•Looking ahead to the inevitable departure of Sebastian Giovinco for Juve next season, Empoli have bought back the full ownership of Francesco Lodi, who grew up in their youth system before having half his rights sold to Frosinone, which he joined on loan in 2006. Lodi will stay with the Serie B side until June, at which point he’ll go home to Empoli. As part of the deal, Frosinone will also get striker Eder on loan with the option to buy after the season ends.

•Those two goals on Sunday have Flamengo even more hung up on Ronaldo, and they’re seemingly operating with a blithe lack of interested in reality, still insisting that they’re going to buy him. In other Milan striker news, Silvio Berlusconi says there’s “no way!” Alberto Gilardino is being sold. They’re going to to take Inter’s Adriano approach, apparently, and keep him just to make sure he doesn’t catch fire for someone else.

•Assuming Tuttosport aren’t making up Juve quotes (a leap of faith, I realize), Tiago has said once and for all that he has to leave the club, and the latests rumors have him either heading for another try in the EPL, this time with Spurs, or going out on loan to Atletico Madrid, theoretically to replace Maniche (notwithstanding the fact that his countryman had mostly been on the bench there).

•Lazio just cannot catch a freaking break: Just as they finally get Valon Behrami back after about 100 years out, they lose captain Luciano Zauri for two months to a broken bone. Fantastic.

•In other news, their crosstown rivals Roma seem to have so few healthy central defenders than the ghost of Marco Andreolli actually might play against Catania on Sunday. Get that Tivo ready to go!