Daily Calcio News and Notes: 4/30/2008

By: Francesco | April 30th, 2008

Here’s the news that passed the filter test for today:

- Let’s start with the man pictured to the left, Sebastian Giovinco. He has for the 187,786th time this season reiterated that he wants to return to Juventus at the end of the season. Talking about his similarity to Gianfranco Zola, he also said it would be fantastic if he could have the career that Gianfranco Zola had (but I bet he hopes to have more luck with the Nazionale than Zola did.)

- Roma and Inter are duking it out at the top of the table (although the duking looks pretty much done), but they are also duking it out on the transfer market according to the French media. The player in question is Chelsea’s left winger and French international Florent Malouda. The 27 year old hasn’t fit in the EPL at all and is looking for a move away from London. Roma would use him as a substitute for Mancini, who looks all but gone. Inter would just add him to their 45 man roster.

- It seems like every month the press asks Lippi about his coaching situation. Last month his answer was “If they call me to take over the national team again I could not refuse”. This month’s edition has the Paul Newman look-alike saying “I want to move to La Liga, England is out of the question because of the language.” I wonder if this has something to do with Barcelona’s elimination from the Champions League…

- Genoa president Enrico Preziosi said the main goal for the Grifone this summer is to keep hold of Marco Borriello. He then confirmed that Genoa were interested of obtaining the services of 21 year old striker/winger Davide Lanzafame, who is owned by Juventus but is working wonders on loan at Bari this season in Serie B. Preziosi said that Genoa’s excellent relations with Juventus (the Criscito and Paro deals, Gasperini being an ex-Juve youth team coach) means that the Rossoblu’ have an advantage over Siena and Palermo to secure his services.

- Speaking of Bari, it seems that ex-president of Real Madrid Lorenzo Sanz is interested in buying the club. Sanz was interested in buying Parma last year, but his deal fell through and the Lord of Prosciutto Tommaso Ghirardi bought the club. Bari also attracted interest from Roman Abramovich a few months ago. Why you ask? Because Bari is one of the biggest and most important cities in the south, they have one of the biggest stadiums in Italy, and it has a very loyal fanbase. They also brought a certain Antonio Cassano into the world of calcio. If Bari falls into the right hands the Pugliese club can really become a big player in the Calcio world.

- Lots of interest for Raffaele Palladino. Sampdoria, Genoa, Napoli, and Fiorentina all want the Neapolitan seconda punta. Palladino really has had an up and down year and has really been pushed out of the squad by players like Nedved, Camoranesi, Del Piero, and Trezeguet. He wants playing time and this summer he may go to a team that guarantees him that. Sampdoria seems to have the advantage, as his agent is also Cassano’s agent.

- Speaking of clubs from Serie B being bought, Bologna president Alfredo Cazzola is in Manhattan as we speak. Some say he’s there on vacation and that he’s buying a house in the Big Apple, but it seems he is there to talk to a group that is interested in buying the club from Emilia-Romagna.

- Paolo De Ceglie, who has been one of the best left-backs in Serie A this season, is talking about going back to Juventus this summer (this weekend is Siena-Juventus). Juventus has already talked about bringing the 20 year old back, and it seems he would be competing with Christian Molinaro for a starting spot. He also says he wants to win Olympic gold this summer with Italy.

- Quick question to Lippi: Del Piero or Cassano? Del Piero a million times.

- Juventus, Inter, and Milan are fighting each other for the “new Balotelli”. His name is Adama Diakite, he plays for Padova, and he’s only 15 years old, and he has scored 25 goals in 19 games with the youth team. He is of Ivorian descent but his father has been living in Italy for 16 years, so he can apply to become a dual citizen and choose to represent Italy in the future.

- Fiorentina looks like they finally secured the Stevan Jovetic deal. Jovetic, an 18 year old fantasista, has scored 11 goals in 27 games in the Serbian league where he plays for Partizan Belgrade. The deal will cost the Viola around 10 million euro.

- And finally, it looks like Milan have found a young defender to lower the average age of the defense below 35. Who? Michele Canini of Cagliari. The 23 year old central defender was considered one of the most promising young defenders in Italy 2 years ago, but suffered a bad injury and left the limelight. But now he’s back and Milan are after him. They are prepared to sell Cagliari full rights to striker Alessandro Matri, and also give them 21 year old winger Ignazio Abate, who is impressing with Empoli this season. The deal would be a 1 year loan with Milan having an option to buy.

Also, everyone remember to support Fiorentina tomorrow as they take on Rangers in the UEFA Cup semi-final second leg. You may not be a Viola fan or like the Viola, but they are the only Italian representative left in Europe! So Forza Fiorentina (tomorrow)!