And Today in Non-Champions League News: Transfers Rumors (And a Few Other Things)

By: Martha | May 23rd, 2007

Joaquin •The killjoys at Milan are insisting they’ve had no talks (Outside, one assumes, of “Hey Andriy. Jose is an asshole. Good-looking bastard though, isn’t he?”) with long-lost striker Andriy Shevchenko. This despite The Sun’s recent assurances that the club are talking personal terms and preparing a bid for the striker. The Sun, wrong? Never!

•According DiarioSport, Inter have offered Valencia a package of £10 million and Santiago Solari in exchange for Joaquin, only the latest winger who is supposedly being seen as a Figo Replacement.

•Silvio Berlusconi is determined to reach his 100th birthday. And, when he gets there, he won’t look at a day over 60 (thank you, genius plastic surgeons) and will still be picking the Milan team.

•This Obafeme-Martins-to-Juve thing just won’t die. Apparently his attitude has been questioned in Newcastle this season (Just imagine how many goals he’d scored if he’d tried!), and his refusal to play in the last game of the season because of a knee injury none of the physios could find may well have been the last straw. So, his terrifying pace and short man’s power could be headed to Turin, while the Magpies are left without a single healthy striker. Sigh.

•La Gazzetta dello Sport, meanwhile, is reporting Juve have signed a deal for Azzurri and Udine striker Vincenzo Iaquinta, though neither club have admitted anything yet. The reported £5.7 million price tag is significantly smaller than the rumored £10 million asking price, but the inclusion of partial rights to Juve property Michele Paolucci seems to have helped Udine agree to less money. Though Didier Deschamps — who is seriously uptight about who Juve spend money on — likes Iaquinta, this in no way should be seen as a sign he’s staying. That would be way too logical.

•And, maybe, Juve aren’t done: Could Mexes could be next? Or maybe Mohamed Sissoko, of whom Deschamps is a bit of a fanboy? So many possibilities, and the transfer window isn’t even open yet!

•Eighth-place Atalanta have been refused entry to next year’s Intertoto Cup because they failed, in UEFA’s estimations, to fulfill “criteria across sporting, personnel, administrative, legal, infrastructural and financial areas.” Alrighty then. They have a few days to appeal, but if that doesn’t work out, the spot will fall to either Sampdoria or Udinese.