Finally, a Reason to be Happy Juve are Back in Serie A

By: Martha | June 5th, 2007

Claudio! As Bob reported yesterday, Juventus have successfully pried Claudio Ranieri from Manchester City’s clutches, a move which, while it will inevitably have Juve fans tearing out their hair on a regular basis next season, is good for those of us who want him around just because he’s so passionate and crazy and entertaining. (And having Juve fans frustrated by him is just a lovely bonus — as Ginkers points out in his post on the signing, the real question is whether this will result in us having to start liking Juve — the horror! — or hating Ranieri. Both prospects are equally troubling.)

Interestingly, the deal easily might not have happened — if things had moved a bit quicker at Man City, or if Luca Vialli hadn’t asked for quite so much cash (For a guy with limited experience on the bench and has been out of management for five years, he’s got some nerve.), wor Claudio would be off in England right now, and we’d still be hearing about Lippi being courted by the Old Lady.

But things happen for a reason and all that, and Ranieri is now The Man in Turin. And, as usual, he’s totally fired up and a little bit crazy, telling the press that the moment Juve approached him, he agreed to take the job because “You simply just can’t say no to a club like Juventus. And I didn’t!” The deal is a three-year one — seemingly splitting the difference between the Tinkerman’s desire for a long-term contract and Juve’s instinctive caution about tying themselves to anyone for too long — and the gaffer will be paid about £570,000/season, plus possible, performance-based bonuses. (By contrast, Vialli was reportedly demanding a multi-year deal starting at an insane £1.4 million/season and rising to £2.1 million by the end of the contract.)