Mega News Roundup As We Wait for the First Mega Deal

By: Martha | January 2nd, 2008

Old Azzurri boyz Sory this is so epic, I’m headed to the airport and wanted to pull together as much as I could before I’m at the mercy of the FAA and the weather. God only knows when I’ll get home.

•RomaChris has done a great Roma rumor roundup, including such diverse (and occasionally bizarre) names as Arjen Robben, Santiago Solari, Fabio Liverani and Javier Saviola.

•Speaking of Roma, despite his wife’s earlier instance that he’s going to retire at a (relatively) young age, word on the street is that Francesco Totti is about to sign a deal keeping him in Rome until ~~he dies and blows away~~ 2012, at which time he’ll be 36. According to reports, the new deal would include a salary decrease, which would save him the humiliating nightmare of Being Punished in Public For Getting Older and Less Productive that Alex Del Piero went through with Juve earlier this year.

•And, on the topic of old folks with new contracts, there’s talk that Fiorentina are preparing to offer Bobo Vieri a new, two-year deal, despite the fact that he’s said he won’t sign anything that runs longer than a year. I suppose they can be forgiven for their eagerness — I mean, Bobo is pretty great, even if he’ll probably be entirely immobile by 2010.

•Maniche isn’t in Atletico Madrid’s team for their upcoming Copa del Rey match, something which may or may not mean he’s close to signing with Inter (or Spurs, or Fiorentina). Whether Maniche comes in or not, though, Moratti says Elano is too rich for Inter’s blood, so they’ll supposedly be looking elsewhere for that midfield reinforcement.

•Teams are apparently lining up to take the never-used Sergio Almiron off Juve’s hands, from Olympiacos, who like him because he’s not cup-tied, to former club Empoli, to River Plate, who are eager to bring him home to Argentina.

•PalermoSteven reported this morning that Palermo have allegedly offered Amauri a new, four-year deal worth €2.5 million/year — that’s two-and-a-half times his currently salary, and will dwarf what everyone else at the club makes (as far as I can tell, €1 million is the top right now). As I said on Steven’s post, I can’t wait to see Captain Barzagli’s reaction to the offer, if Amauri signs that deal. (And, if he doesn’t, there’s always Juve and Milan.)

•Best Google translate headline ever: “Lupoli the beautiful eyelashes.” Wow. Arturo Lupoli is pretty and all, but that does seem a bit indelicate, even for a fan site. Anyway, fully half of Serie A and Serie B are all on Lupoli’s proverbial jock, trying to grab him on loan for a few months. The latest suitors: Parma, Ascoli, Napoli, Catania, Atalanta and Derby County. Anywhere the kid will play sounds good to me, let’s just get this over with, huh?

•As you may recall, everyone also wants Christian Riganò and, as of this weekend, “everyone” includes Cagliari and Siena.

•Mark Bresciano made it very clear last summer that he doesn’t want to be in Palermo and, based on how much he played in the first half, the feeling is mutual. So, it’s not surprising to hear that he’s being connected with a move to either Man City (again/still) or Lazio, who at this point are probably just trying to sign warm, healthy bodies.

•Torino, who would very much like some people to help them stop drawing every single match, are supposedly interested in taking either Rolando Bianchi or Cristiano Lucarelli on loan. Join the crowd, Toro.