Lucarelli Ready to Move?

By: Martha | December 5th, 2007

Shakhtar Donetsk’s shocking Champions League collapse (six points from their first two matches, none from their last four) has dumped them out of all European competitions; in addition to the revenue the lost matches will cost the club, the collapse might also cost them a large Italian striker.

Since rumors started to emerge of Cristiano Lucarelli’s dissatisfaction with life in Ukraine, most of the moves floated in the press have been contingent upon Shakhtar dropping out of Europe. Had they reached the knockout stages for the first time in club history, Shakhtar would have been very unlikely to let go of the man who featured in all of their Champions League matches, despite not playing much in the Ukranian league. Additionally, Lucarelli’s competitiveness might have made it harder for him to leave — the idea of playing on that huge stage and, possibly, leading his club into upsets of major European powers would be hard to resist, particularly for a man who, apart from periodic Azzurri appearances, has spend most of his career toiling out of the sight of most of Europe.

So, now that Shakhtar are out, the rumors can resume full force. Just looking at the names that have been mentioned over the past few months, it appears he could be hearing from: QPR, Livorno, Genoa, Napoli and, a new addition to the group of suitors, Torino, the club which hometown paper Tuttosport claim is suddenly his most likely destination. And oh, could Torino use him.

Category: Genoa, Napoli, Serie A

Tags: Genoa, Livorno, Lucarelli, Napoli, QPR, Serie A, Shakhtar Donetsk

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• Marco |  December 5th, 2007 at 9:19 am

  
  
  

  Not to mention that the next game in the Ukrainian league won’t be until March 2008 (you know, it’s really cold down there and all). So you’d have to wonder what on earth Lucarelli would be doing until then…

  Posted from Canada

  

• Tim |  December 5th, 2007 at 9:54 am

  
  
  

  Anyone hearing rumblings about how much this will cost? I could see that as being a big factor - since none of the teams mentioned have a ton of money at their disposal. But, Lucarelli is on the older side at 32.

  Posted from United States

  

• Martha |  December 5th, 2007 at 11:14 am

  
  
  

  Tim I don’t think I’ve seen a price in any of the rumors so far, but I’ll keep an eye out. Meantime, maybe someone else has spotted something.

  Posted from United States

  

• Marco420 |  December 5th, 2007 at 1:44 pm

  
  
  

  Aldo Spinelli has claimed that he already has an agreement with Shaktar to get Cristiano back if he ever leaves…..

  Posted from Canada

  

• Martha |  December 5th, 2007 at 1:54 pm

  
  
  

  Yeah, but he says a lot of stuff … Tim’s question is a good one — could Livorno possibly afford that? I can’t imagine Shakhtar would let him go TOO cheap.

  Posted from United States

  

• mctalian |  December 5th, 2007 at 7:39 pm

  
  
  

  He’ll probably end up back at Livorno, but I think if Napoli got him he’d solidfy them as true UEFA Cup contender, if they are not already.
  …His move to Ukraine was very surprising, but as Martha alludes to understandable: he wanted to be a big fish and see if he could play on a team that could make noise in Europe. That pipedream is gone, and it’s time for him to come home. No offense, but Ukraine is kind of a scary place.

  Posted from United States

  

• Roman |  December 13th, 2007 at 6:38 pm

  
  
  

  What do you know about Ukraine?

  Posted from United States

  

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