Newbies for Genoa and Fiorentina (Juve Get Nothing)

By: Martha | January 4th, 2008

Daniele Finally, transfer are starting to trickle through. Granted, the most noteworthy so far are the ones Juve aren’t making (Branislav Ivanovic? Nope, sorry. Ever Banega? Nope, too late.), but it’s only a matter of time until something big happens. Right, Milan? Until then, though, we’ve gone some loans to digest.

Speaking of Juve, Domenico Criscito and Ruben Olivera are both moving to Genoa today, as the club tries to bring some permanence to their stay in Serie A. For Criscito, it’s a return to the club for which he was a defensive force last year, playing a crucial role in Genoa’s promotion and earning himself a U-21 spot in the process. He’ll doubtless settle in right away, though his arrival will mean a reshuffling of the Genoa backline, and possibly the departure of someone on loan. Olivera, meanwhile, has only two appearances for Juve this season and will be very happy to have a chance to make an impact elsewhere. He’s been on Juventus’ books since 2003 but has spent most of that time either on the bench or out on loan (Or, just for a bit of variety, beating the crap out of opposing players, something of which I can find no video evidence. Since he was suspended seven matches for it, though, I assume it happened. Help!). He did, finally, make something of a place for himself at Samp last season and can obviously perform at a high level when he feels like it; any appearances he makes at Genoa will be bonus for Juve as they try to figure out what to do with him.

In Florence, meanwhile, the Viola are welcoming Piacenza striker Daniele Cacia, half of whom they bought last summer; it was always understood that he’d join the Viola this month. Still only 24, the former U-17 and U-19 international has been at Piacenza since 2000 and, after several spells on loan, has played regularly for them during the last two seasons, scoring an average of a goal every other match. The fact that the Viola bought part of him obviously means they’ve got faith in Cacia, but there’s certainly no guarantee he’ll see the pitch in Serie A this season — a lot probably depends on the health of the current team — but a bigger squad is always a good thing with the UEFA Cup and Coppa Italia still going concerns.