News Round-Up As Donadoni Keeps Talking

By: Martha | January 24th, 2008

Balza •In case you missed it, Atalanta beat Milan 2-1 yesterday despite, as often happens with Milan’s opponents, having much less of the ball, and the worse of the play. (La Gazzetta gave Pato a 4.5. Nico Burdisso, who was lasted less than eight minutes before being sent off for Inter, got a 5. Ouch.)

•Roberto Donadoni is in a feisty mood these days, criticizing Francesco Totti and Sandro Nesta on one hand, and teasing Cristiano Lucarelli and Bobo Vieri with the possibility of call-ups on the other. Apparently all this talk of a contract extension has him feeling important.

•Federico Balzaretti’s move from Fiorentina to Palermo ~~is all but official~~ is official, with the Rosanero reportedly paying just under €4 million for the defender whose arrival, according to the knowing folks who comment here, could lead to the move of Cristian Zaccardo into the middle of a Palermo defense very much in need of stability.

•And, while we’re talking about Palermo, a couple different sources are reporting that a swap has been agreed which will see Marco Pisano go to Reggina in exchange for Salvatore Aronica. Announcements were supposedly meant to happen today, though, and the fact that neither team has made a peep suggests the media might have (shockingly) jumped to conclusions.

•Sebastian Frey is supposedly house-hunting in Milan! Horrors!

•According, oddly, to the Portuguese press, who usually don’t bother with rumors this totally unrelated to the teams they cover, Momo Sissoko will leave his Mali teammates on Sunday for a trip to Turin, where he’s expected to have his medical and sign his Juve contract, a move that will supposedly cost the Old Lady about €13 million. After that, he’ll go back to Ghana and do his best to keep Mail playing for a while.

•Sergio Almiron has foolishly turned down a move to Fiorentina, and instead has reportedly come to an agreement with Monaco, who he’s expected to join within the next few days. The move is a loan, with a proverbial option to buy.

•Luciano Moggi, AKA the voice of class in calcio, says that, if Pierluigi Collina is going to describe himself as the “coach” of the referees, he should resign, because his team sucks. Heh.

•Inacio Pià has joined Catania from Serie B side Treviso, where he had been on loan from Napoli. From what I can tell, the striker is still owned by Napoli, and is just on loan with Catania til June.

•Along with a lot of other people, Inter supposedly want to buy Kun Aguero from Atletico Madrid. This story seems to stem from something a “transfer market consultant” said so it’s probably total fiction, but anyone who wants Aguero is going to have to be prepared to pay a whole lot more than the €20 million he cost Atletico a year and a half ago.

•And, finally, Juve are still after Rafael van der Vaart. Hamburg personal have admitted that talks with the Turin club are underway, but won’t say anything else. As has been discussed before, Hamburg want a deal with someone sooner than later, so they can get fair market value for the Dutchman; if they want until next summer, they’ll get virtually nothing.