Look, Toni’s Going to Inter! I Mean Juve. No, Wait — It’s Bayern!

By: Martha | March 30th, 2007

That's Mr. Toni to you. Apparently many sports papers around Europe have “Luca Toni Day!” written on their calendars for March 30, because the media is full of stories today about his imminent departure from Florence. Because the one thing all these sources agree on is that he’s on his way out. Where he’s going, however, is anyone’s guess (though that’s not stopping anybody from writing with a lot of confidence about the destination).

From the US (!) comes a vaguely gossipy story on SI.com (From an Italian story, but still — SI is covering Serie A!), reporting that Toni has not only told his teammates that he’s on his way out, but also that he’s put his house in Florence up for sale. Which, if it’s true, shows very, very little PR intelligence from a man who is insisting he doesn’t know yet if he’ll be leaving. According the SI piece, Toni’s most likely destination is “one of Italy’s biggest clubs — most likely Juventus.” So there’s one vote for Juve, despite the lack of Champions League football.

From Germany, meanwhile, comes word that he’s all but signed at Bayern Munich. According to Bild (Which I gather is a bit of a rag — perhaps the Tuttosport of Germany?), Toni used his weekend off from Azzurri training to sneak into Germany and meet with Bayern GM Uli Hoeness. Plus, he’s supposedly already begun the house-hunting process in Munich which, again, if true? No PR savvy, this guy. In order to persuade the Viola to part with Toni, Bayern are reportedly preparing a £35 million offer, an amount so massive they (and Bild) are certain it will be irresistible. And so, viola, Toni’s in the Bundesliga — and that Champions League.

Or not. According to Italy’s Corriere dello Sport (AKA that infuriating paper that lets you see a screenshot of its front page but no actual stories), Inter are “tutto su Toni!” (I like to think it means something like “all in,” but it’s a very enthusiastic endorsement, no matter the accurate colloquial translation.) In order to tutto them some Toni, the paper says Inter will offer €25 million, as well as possibly the services of Adriano (!) and Motta. Moratti’s idea, apparently, is to build the gawkiest, lankiest strike-force in creation, and to bring other teams to their knees via the sheer power of height. (Oddly enough, the €25 million is the same amount Tuttosport says Juve will offer for him, though they’re not talking about throwing in any players. Hmm.)

So, there you have it: No one know anything, but at least they’re clueless in dramatic fashion.