U21 Championship: Good News, Bad News for Italy
By: Martha | June 11th, 2007
On one hand, the opening of the U21 European Championship is great news for Italy: The country can show off its young stars and, ideally, come home with a trophy that adds the Azzurrini to the Azzurri as World (or, alright, European) champions.
The bad news, however — and the thing that has me shaking in my proverbial boots — is that the tournament gives the rest of the world a chance to see and desire Italy’s best young players. And, with Chelsea (among others) sending scouts to the event with directions to bring home “the three best players,” I’m frankly scared out of my mind that the best Italians might go the way of Portuguese starlet Nani (who is leading the Portuguese team in the tournament) and leave home for the greener pastures and bigger money elsewhere in Europe.
While I’ve sort of resigned myself to losing Giampaolo Pazzini — thought to be at the top of Chelsea’s list, and just the sort of flashy scorer who tends to catch the European eye — sooner than later, it would break my heart to see players like Riccardo Montolivo and Torino’s brilliant Alessandro Rosina leave Serie A. Pazzani’s explosion at Wembley thrust him into international awareness, but the other two are still secrets, to a degree. If they play the way they’re expected to this month, though, everyone will soon know their names, and will be lusting to take them away. Call me crazy, but the thought of the beyond-special Rosina plying his trade anywhere but Italy is horrifying to even consider. (Especially if it’s at, say, Man U. Or Arsenal. Shudder.)
[Italy kick off the tournament this afternoon against Serbia.]
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Tags: Alessandro Rosina, Azzurrini, Fiorentina, Montolivo, Pazzini, Rumors -amp; News, Serie A, U-21, U21Subscribe
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I wonder whether Chelsea would make an insane offer for Pazzini. I also wonder whether or not he would leave. Perhaps Fiorentina wouldn’t have much of a choice but let’s weigh the options.
Chelsea obviously need cover at striker because the African Nations Cup will cause Drogba and Kalou to miss some time in September (both are Ivory Coast internationals). This leaves them with Pizzaro (just acquired of the Bayern Munich bench) and the disappointing Sheva as their two main options during that time. I cannot see them being able to get rid of Sheva this summer, due to the fact they just splashed out so much cash for him a year ago and the fact that no one would be willing to make them a comparable offer. Though maybe AC or Inter have something up their sleeves (it would have to end up being some kind of cash + player exchange deal - Chelsea is not seeing those 30 million pounds again).
But, if you are Pazzini, do you go to Chelsea where you only stand a chance at being a first team player on rare occasions when other strikers are on international duty? He already has a pledge from Fiorentina to be the main striker for them next year. Plus, the Della Valle family has made Fiorentina profitable again and they are not in a position where they need to be selling players. More money will be coming in next year due to the UEFA cup, and I think it is fair to say that Champions League football in ‘08-’09 is a strong possibility.
Hopefully Fiorentina can hang on to their Azzurrini starlets. This is not the situation at the turn of the century where Cecchi Gori was going bankrupt and had to sell of Rui Costa, Batistuta, Nuno Gomes, Toldo, etc. because the ship was sinking. As for Pazzinin, the team can pay him, he’ll be the man instead of some also-ran on the bench getting a run out in carling cups games and maybe a handful of premiership games while the African Nations Cup is happening. And let’s keep Montolivo a secret as long as possible.
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United States
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The threat of other teams coming in and taking our best young players is and should always be there. It’s the sign of a healthy country when your bright talent is coveted by clubs across the world. I know the Azzurri won the WC with a squad of all Serie A players, but I really think having future Azzurri members ply their trade in La Liga, Bundesliga, EPL, Eredivisie, etc… is better for the overall health of Italian calcio.
I also think the threat may be slightly overstated because, in general, Italian players don’t like playing outside the country. Whether or not that’s because of the Italian male psyche (wants to be close to home) or the weather or because Italians feel their calcio is the best in the world or whatever. Many more Italian players choose to work in Italy than work in other European countries. It’s a little like the English in that respect.
All that being said, we damn well better beat Serbia because England and Czech Republic drew earlier today and we can really make a case to get out of the group if we pick up the full 3 points today.
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United States -
Couldn’t disagree with you more, Ginto. Employing so many foreigners in the Italian league is a delicate enough balance, but if you start exporting Italian stars, especially world-cup winners, the development of all Italian-born players becomes severely hindered IMO.
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It’s a decent argument and I agree it’s a delicate balance but I think having some of our players in other leagues brings a different mindset to the Azzurri. Now perhaps I’m just looking at this argument in terms of how it helps the Nazionale. I don’t think Serie A in general benefits from having Italian stars playing in the EPL for instance. However, especially for some of the young Azzurrini, I think getting some of them into the EPL, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, etc… does round out their experience and they can come to Serie A with the knowledge and experience of how football is played in these other countries.
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