Goodbye, Lucarelli

By: Martha | July 13th, 2007

It seems like such a good idea at the time. As we discussed on Wednesday, Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk recently become quite interested in Livorno’s want-away goal king, Crisitiano Lucarelli. At the time, I dismissed the rumor as just that, since the destination was cold and in a faraway, low(ish)-level foreign league, and it was almost impossible for me to imagine Lucarelli playing anywhere outside Italy.

Which just goes to show what the hell I know, because as of last night, the striker is officially a Shakhar player. Lucarelli has reportedly signed a three-year deal (making him 35 when it ends) worth €3 million/year, which sort of makes the whole thing makes sense — if nothing else, at least he’s finally going to get paid. And despite losing their leading scoring and large-than-life figurehead, Livorno are probably not that sad to see him go, particularly since they now have an extra €8 million to spend on younger, less difficult players. Lucarelli will be the first Italian ever to play in Ukraine, and he better get his ass in gear — the season starts this weekend.

This makes me sad — what are the odds Ukrainian league games are going to be showing up on Gol TV any time soon? And, more importantly, what’s he going to do about that tattoo? I vote he turns it into a puppy. (Too bad “Wino forever” won’t work in this case.)

Some Related Serie A Posts:

Category: Rumors & News, Serie A

« WAG of the Week: Fernanda Lessa (Take Two) | Home | Inter Make a Trouble-Free(ish) Signing! Maybe. »

Forza Futbol

I'm gunna miss that big hunk! =(. Who's going to be the 2nd top striker next year behind Totti?
Francesco

to quote Kramer from Seinfeld: "Ha ha, the Ukraine. Do you know what the Ukraine is? It's a sitting duck. A road apple, Newman. The Ukraine is weak. It's feeble. It's time to the put the hurt on the Ukraine..."
chris g

Actually Ukraine is hotter than people think. It's not as high up as Russia, which I assume is why the league runs through the winter and the Russian league runs through the summer.

I'm all for making a stopover in Ukraine to bring him an Italian goody bag.
Martha

Chris, I hope he find his commie peeps and isn't miserable there. I'm really worried this is going to end up tears, by which I mean a transfer back to Italy during the winter break. (Assuming they have one there. Isn't it always winter in Ukraine?)
Martha

Anthony, as my new favorite commenter, you're officially invited on the Offside Trip to the Former Eastern Bloc Chris and I are organizing for the sole purpose of ogling the opposite sex. Signups will be in a few weeks.
chris g

Anybody else find it not-so-surprising whatsoever that Lucarelli is the first Italian to play in a former republic of the USSR?

I don't think this will exactly be a trend.
Anthony

in mark wahlberg fashion, I got 'Matha Foreva' on my stomach. (bostonian accent)

But, if I was playing for any Italian team, including a C2 team, I don't think I'd ever leave Italy, but, I know for a fact that Ukrainian broads are pretty mint.
roswitha

And so age, injury, and financial stability eat away at Italy's bandiere, man by man ...
Francesco

well he's the first Italian to play in Ukraine. He'll probably have an easy adjustment since the coach Lucescu used to coach in Italy. I can see him scoring around 30 goals next season, but with the league's co-efficient it probably wouldn't be enough to win the european golden shoe.