Tonis and Gilas and (a) Frenchman, Oh My!

By: Martha | February 14th, 2007

Gilardino, sans clothing. Apart from those about Figo and Zidane coming to New York, this is definitely the best rumor I’ve read in months: Tuttosport (which, you may recall, is the Turin-based paper that likes to make up deals that are good for Juventus) reported this week on possible talks between Milan and Juve … and ~~Palermo~~ Fiorentina. Yes, that’s right, it’s a (pretend) NBA-style three-way deal!

To their credit, the writers at Tuttosport do start with a fact: Juve are looking for a David Trezeguet replacement, since he is expected to flee the club this summer. From there, though, the whole thing seems to fly off the rails a bit: According to the paper, Trez would be sold to Milan, who would then send Alberto Gilardino to ~~Palermo~~ Fiorentina. They, in turn, would sell the precious Luca Toni to Juve, thus completing “one of the great deals in Serie A history!”

Actually, now that I think about it, the elements of this are all couched in reality. In addition to the need for a Trezeguet replacement at Juve, there is a certain logic to Gila going to be ~~Palermo~~ Fiorentina, because it would mean a reunion with Cesare Prandelli, under whom he made his reputation at Parma. Furthermore, it’s not impossible that Fiorentina will sell several of their higher profile players this summer, simply because they need the money — and, since he’s perpetually unsettled anyway, the departure of Toni isn’t unimaginable. All that said, though, it’s really hard to believe it will all come together this way, particularly given that Gila is five years younger than the other two. Even if his scoring at Milan hasn’t been at the level everyone had hoped, essentially swapping him for the fragile, older Trezeguet seems like a huge risk. Plus, Juve would be making out like bandits here — why would ~~Palermo~~ Fiorentina and Milan want to help them out, particularly after this lovely year without the Old Lady in the way?

Edit: My deepest apologies for the inexplicable replacement of “Fiorentina” with “Palermo” — over and over and over again — and thanks to RomaPete for gently pointing out my hideous error. As he said in his comment, if Palermo sell Toni, that truly will be a great deal.