Lucarelli Ready to Move?

By: Martha | December 5th, 2007

I LOVE ORANGE! Shakhtar Donetsk’s shocking Champions League collapse (six points from their first two matches, none from their last four) has dumped them out of all European competitions; in addition to the revenue the lost matches will cost the club, the collapse might also cost them a large Italian striker.

Since rumors started to emerge of Cristiano Lucarelli’s dissatisfaction with life in Ukraine, most of the moves floated in the press have been contingent upon Shakhtar dropping out of Europe. Had they reached the knockout stages for the first time in club history, Shakhtar would have been very unlikely to let go of the man who featured in all of their Champions League matches, despite not playing much in the Ukranian league. Additionally, Lucarelli’s competitiveness might have made it harder for him to leave — the idea of playing on that huge stage and, possibly, leading his club into upsets of major European powers would be hard to resist, particularly for a man who, apart from periodic Azzurri appearances, has spend most of his career toiling out of the sight of most of Europe.

So, now that Shakhtar are out, the rumors can resume full force. Just looking at the names that have been mentioned over the past few months, it appears he could be hearing from: QPR, Livorno, Genoa, Napoli and, a new addition to the group of suitors, Torino, the club which hometown paper Tuttosport claim is suddenly his most likely destination. And oh, could Torino use him.

Some Related Serie A Posts:

Category: Genoa, Napoli, Serie A

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Roman

What do you know about Ukraine?
mctalian

He'll probably end up back at Livorno, but I think if Napoli got him he'd solidfy them as true UEFA Cup contender, if they are not already.
...His move to Ukraine was very surprising, but as Martha alludes to understandable: he wanted to be a big fish and see if he could play on a team that could make noise in Europe. That pipedream is gone, and it's time for him to come home. No offense, but Ukraine is kind of a scary place.
Martha

Yeah, but he says a lot of stuff ... Tim's question is a good one -- could Livorno possibly afford that? I can't imagine Shakhtar would let him go TOO cheap.
Marco420

Aldo Spinelli has claimed that he already has an agreement with Shaktar to get Cristiano back if he ever leaves.....
Martha

Tim I don't think I've seen a price in any of the rumors so far, but I'll keep an eye out. Meantime, maybe someone else has spotted something.