Comments on: Viola Keep Montolivo a Little Longer, Eye João Moutinho

By: Martha

Martha — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 13:01:03 +0000

Thanks BC, it’s turned up in the Italian press now, but it’s EXACTLY the same as the stuff from the summer — they just seem to keep asking him the same thing, so they can write that article again and again. (Not that I wouldn’t be over the moon to have Quaresma at Inter.)

Linda, I have NO idea what happened with him at Barca, apart from injuries and ineffective play. I can’t find anything, but am now wildly curious.

By: Linda

Linda — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 00:05:45 +0000

What are Barca going to do with yet another striker? (We’re still looking to offload two, if anyone’s interested.)

Martha, I thought you might like this: apparently Frank Rijkaard now prefers to sign married players rather than single ones, after what happened with Quaresma when he was at Barca. What exactly happened I’m not sure, but I guess we can all imagine. :D

By: Inara

Inara — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 23:27:47 +0000

Oops, I meant, he’ll stay at Fiorentina until a year after Euro 2008, when the aged strikers at the top clubs start eying retirement.

By: Inara

Inara — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 23:26:31 +0000

Lyon have as much as chance of getting Mutu as Fiorentina have of getting Ben Arfa. It’s not going to happen in either direction.

I’m pretty sure a player like Mutu will try to go to a “big” club. Clubs like Roma, Lyon, Sevilla, etc, are not much of a step up from Fiorentina (though they might pay slightly better). If you’re going to leave a tier 2 club, you might as well take the next step up.

He’ll probably stay at Fiorentina until after Euro 2008.

By: BC

BC — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 20:40:10 +0000

I think I saw it in A Bola, but do not quote me on it and they do not publish their complete edition online . Looking at google news i can find this version with quotes,

http://www.maisfutebol.iol.pt/noticia.php?id=867435&div_id=1503

Figo says there is nothing serious agreed for Quaresma´s transfer, but any such tranfer «seria extremamente bom para o Inter, para o Ricardo e não tão bom para o F.C. Porto., que acabava por perder um excelente jogador» – it would be very good for Inter, very good for Ricardo but not so good for Porto who would loose an excellent player ; and asked if Quaresma could replace him at Inter «Seria um bom substituto» that is he would be a good replacement.

By: Martha

Martha — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 18:21:48 +0000

BC, got a link to the new Figo interview? Is it the one he just did with O Jogo? The one over the summer that got everyone talking was a total mountain of a molehill situation, where he just said Quaresma was one of the most promising Portuguese players, and it got turned into a “FIGO SAYS QUARESMA SHOULD REPLACE HIM!” thing.

By: BC

BC — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:59:02 +0000

Moutinho is very unlikely, for his career Fiorentina would not necessarily be better than Sporting, to whom he might have loyalties. And he will be very expensive, he is captain and a fan favorite and they got no obvious replacement for him.

The current portuguese player to Italy rumors are, yet again, Quaresma to Inter, to replace their portuguese #7 with his public nod of approval. Those rumors were around a lot in late August, and now again fuelled it seems by a Figo interview. Not sure if it will happen, Porto is in no need of money.

By: Martha

Martha — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:10:49 +0000

Yeah. like tmc says, the Mutu thing has been around since about week 1, the only thing that changes is what the new club is that’s in the hunt — I believe Inara said last week that Lyon were on the list, too.

After each new story, Mutu will talk about how much he loves Fiorentina (which I think he does, though that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to go to Big Club), and he won’t go anywhere, at least for a while.

By: tmc

tmc — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 16:49:08 +0000

Right Chris, so are Barcelona, Man City and Real Madrid. He’s not getting sold this winter. The only way I could see him getting sold is this summer if Fiorentina don’t qualify for the Champions League.

By: chris

chris — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 16:43:25 +0000

You missed the best Viola news of the day: Roma are eyeing up Adrian Mutu.

(They have a lot more money than most people think – they’re just don paying off their debts now)