Someone is Lying about Amauri. Shocking.

By: Martha | October 18th, 2007

Amauri in pink. Mariano Grimaldi, Amauri’s compulsively talkative agent, has spent this week fill the papers with very serious quotes about Big Club interest in his client, specifically from Milan and Roma. Regarding the latter, Grimaldi didn’t just do the usual talking in vague terms about being flattered, or how anyone would want to play for the club. Instead, he told the press that, and I quote, “The two clubs are in talks.” Wow, this is serious stuff, huh?

Or not. Palermo chairman Maurizio Zamparini has come forward today with his usual bluster, saying not only that Roma couldn’t afford Amauri — and, if it came down to a bidding war with one of the free-spending clubs, he’d be right — but also that no one at Palermo has spoken with anyone at Roma about the player. Oh reeeeally? Now, Zamparini may be completely insane and lacking the brain/mouth filter that most of us got as a standard part, but I don’t think he’s a liar. Really, that’s part of his problem — it doesn’t seem to occur to him to just lie and make things sound good when he can be rude and abrasive instead.

This isn’t exactly the first time Grimaldi has talked up Big Club fascination with his client — back in May, he gave an exclusive interview to goal.com (Media whore much? Jesus.), in which he detailed interest in the then-injured Amauri from Liverpool, Inter, Juventus and Real Madrid, among others. Oddly, he went suddenly silent after that, and there were no reports over the summer of imminent moves, despite Rafa Benitez’s unabashed affection for the striker (he decided to spend £13 zillion on Fernando Torres instead) and Grimaldi’s clear desire to be in the papers as much as possible.

My point here is not that these clubs don’t (or at least didn’t) want Amauri, just that his agent has a problem with talking too much, based on nothing more than the voices in his head, and notes strangers pass him on the subway. Amauri will clearly leave Palermo soon, but Grimaldi doesn’t look like the most reliable source on his possible destination.*

*Man City might be interested, as well — it’s only a matter of time before we hear from Grimaldi about those talks.