Weekend News Roundup: Playing Catch-Up

By: Martha | June 2nd, 2007

WOO HOO! •So, Luis Figo is definitely not going to Saudi Arabia. (I guess that talk of appealing to FIFA to declare the contract void was just window dressing.) According to the man himself, there will be no giant payday for a few months in the Gulf and no triumphant return to Sporting — it’s Inter or no one at all.* Huh. Turns out he does have a loyal bone in his body. Who knew? Either way, he’ll let us all know in a couple weeks, after he gets done making “Pro” and “Con” lists and figuring out exactly how old his legs feel.

•Another financial scandal is hitting Serie A. Yawn.

•Don’t order that Man City jersey with “Ranieri” on the back just yet: Now that the Tinkerman has officially parted ways with Parma, Juve apparently have him in their sites, and will stop at nothing to bring him to Turin (at least now that Luca Vialli has told them to stick it). According to the Italian press, a general agreement has been worked out, though whether the contract will be one or two years has not yet been decided. (It also hasn’t hurt that there have been unexpected delays with the Man City deal, either. Wor Claudio apparently wants a job, and he wants it now.)

•In case you were wondering, Adrian Mutu was the best player in Serie A this season — or he was according the post-match grades in La Gazzetta dello Sport, anyway. The paper averaged every regular’s scores for the season, and Mutu came out on top with a weekly average grade of 6.58, just beating out Inter’s Dejan Stankovic (Holla!), who averaged a 6.5. How ’bout those Eastern Europeans?

•Juve are reportedly prepared to offer €15-20 million for Liverpool midfielder Mohamed Sissoko. And, while they’re at it, they’ll also try to pry Alou Diarra from Lyon’s disinterest grasp.

•Despite the most fervent hopes of Palermo fans everywhere, co-owned Igor Budan will reportedly be sticking with Parma (who own his non-Palermo half) next season. Damn. In other news, the Rosaneri have joined the hunt for the serivces of Empoli’s Sergio Almiron, which I suppose it something.

•Woo hoo, Azzurrini!

•Parma are likely to sign Simone Inzaghi (AKA Pippo’s better-looking, less productive kid brother) from Lazio, foolishly hoping he can replace Giuseppe Rossi in their front line.

•In Milan, meanwhile, Ibra continues to work on Inter’s last nerve. Not content with praising Luciano Moggi and flirting with Milan, the striker is now hoping to play in Sweden’s Euro 2006 qualifier today, despite not having fully recovered from his recent groin surgery. Brilliant.

•And, finally, in managerial news: Carlo Ancelotti has signed a new contract to keep him with Milan through 2010, Walter Mazzarri is taking over at Sampdoria, replacing Walter Novellino who will probably end up at Torino, and Stefano Colantuono will ride the crazy train at Palermo next season.

*The most important thing about this article is its mention of Figo’s presence in Lisbon. Oh yes, I will find him. Expect stalking and blurry photos to follow.