Calcio Mercato: Bonucci and Martinez in at Juve

Highly rated defender Leo Bonucci has been signed by Juve from Bari as Fabio Cannavaro's replacement. Bonucci formed a rock solid partnership at the back in the San Nicola with Andrea Ranocchia and has impressed enough to merit a transfer to the old lady. Joining him will be Catania's Uruguayan International Jorge Martinez after an excellent season in Sicily scoring 9 goals in 25 games from the wing. The market really has swung into gear gear for the old lady as Simone Pepe has already arrived and Philipe Mexes is rumoured to be next in line to add depth to the back line, arguably their worst area last season. A left back is still required and with Domenico Crisicto sold to Genoa Michel Bastos of Lyon and Brazil is apparently on the radar.

It certainly looks like it will be a completely different Juve next year. Thiago is close to Athletico Madrid and possibly buffering the likes of Melo, who has impressed at the world cup, and Diego is Krasic of Serbia who could still arrive in Turin. The forward department has yet to be addressed, however Giampaolo Pazzini, Edin Dzeko and Luis Suarez remain linked daily.

Calcio mercato: Allegri in at Milan, Fabiano to follow?

Former Cagliari Manager Massimo Allegri has taken over at AC Milan as expected today. Allegri has achieved good things with Cagliari bringing a them into the top ten in the 2008/2009 season improving players like Davide Biondini, Federico Marchetti and Alessamdro Matri into crucial figures for their club. Now his task is a huge one as he takes a seat on the bench at one of the biggest clubs in the world. Milan have done this before. It is after all where Fabio Capello and Arigo Sacchi appeared in the football world from and where Carlo Anchelotti had great success after a spell at Juventus.

Slowly but surely Milan are rebuilding and Allegri seems a good choice to oversee this period. Thiago Silva has been a revelation in defence while Pato upfront showed glimpses of his brilliance in an injury ravaged season, and maybe under new management more will be seen of Klass Jan Huntelaar who come the end of the season was having a greater impact upon proceedings in Serie A. Anyhow, the attack for Milan is not the problem even if Luis Fabiano appears set to join this mercato, according to the rumour mill. The wing back positions and the midfield is in need of a revamp and depth if they are to challenge at the highest level. Perhaps this is where Allegri will shine best as he looks to bring some of his young talent from Cagliari across the water to Milano.

Italy 2-3 Slovakia: Italy deservedly out

Italy crashed out of the world cup after all the critic's criticism of Marcello Lippi's selections were proven right. Lippi went for functionality over flair and it has cost them dear. For 80 minutes Italy showed next to nothing going forward until Antonio Di Natale got on the end of a Iaquinta back heel after a mazey run from Fabio Quagliarella. Slovakia however only added to their lead to make it a deserved 3-1. Quagliarella pulled one back with a sublime finish in injury time but it was too little too late and now Lippi will be hammered by the Italian press, and rightly so when you consider the calibre of the players left at home. Giuseppe Rossi, Antonio Cassano, Fabrizio Miccoli, Davide Santon and the unpredictable Mario Balotelli all could have added so much more than say Vincenzo Iaquinta and Alberto Gilardino. All of the aforementioned players will play European football next season while the orginal front pairing for Italy will almost certainly not, especially if Iaqunita is dumped from Juve's lineup as is expected. Cesare Prandelli takes over now, and he should breath new life into the Azzurri set up and pick players on merit.


Serie A players lighting up the tournament
As for the rest of the world cup there are still plenty of Serie A stars playing their hand in the tournament, in which it is fair to say that Argentina and Brazil have looked the best so far. Marek Hamsik and his Slovakia side have advanced and he was sublime today. Brazil additionally have advanced with good performances from Maicon, Julio Cesar, Juan, Lucio and Felipe Melo in the middle of the park. So far there has been no chance for Milan's excellent defender Thiago Silva, but he is likely to get a game against Portugal on Friday. Argentina too have advanced with a 100% record and Fiorentina's Mario Bolatti and Palermo's Javier Pastore did well against Greece a couple of days ago, as did Milan target Nicolas Otamendi who is sure to be hot property after this World cup. Diego Milito, after a wonderful season with Inter, has not featured a great deal but did get a game against Greece the other night. It remains to be seen whether he will get the nod against Mexico or whether Real Madrid's Higuain will remain upfront.

Wesley Sneijder, and maybe Klass Jan Huntelaar, are in action tonight for Holland as they look to win three out of three but Cameroon will be looking to end a poor tournament on a high and Samuel Eto'o will look to add to his goal total. Denmark have a great chance to progress tonight and Simon Kjaer has played a role so far for them with a superb pass helping to set up Nikolas Bendtner's goal against Cameroon while Juve's Cristian Poulson literally took one in the face against the African side to preserve their advantage . Japan stand in their way but my money is on the Danes to sale on and play Paraguay. Finally, Uruguay have sailed through the first round with two wins and a draw and could well make the semi final's. They face South Korea next and then potentially one of the USA or Ghana next to fight for a semi final berth against Brazil it would seem in the easier half of the draw, while the other side contains England, Germany, Argentina and Spain. Playing a role in Uruguay's success is Lazio keeper Fernando Muslera and Palermo forward Edison Cavani, supporter the magnificant Diego Forlan upfront. I'll be watching their progress with some interest.

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Calcio Mercato: Zlatan back to Italy?

One year ago Zlatan Ibrahimovic set of into the distance for Spanish and European Champions Barcelona, leaving Inter to win the Champions League for the Catalan giants once again. However, it didnt work out like that with the irony being as we know that Inter went on to win the coverted European crown. Zlatan did play his part in a Spanish League title and finished 6th in the La Liga scoring charts. However, with the purchase of David Villa for Barcelona and the emergence of Pedro there seems to be little space left for the talented Swede who has been criticised for not fitting into the quick Barcelona passing system. With this in mind rumours have been awash on the Italian speaking football websites of an imminent return to Italy, snubbing advances from the EPL for AC Milan it would seem irregardless of his Inter days. There has been little, if any, interest expressed for the San Siro giants yet but the club did promise the Milanistas a top draw player this summer and Zlatan fits the bill in that regard. A line of Ibrahimovic/Huntelaar and Pato being supported by Ronaldinho would certainly give Milan plenty of options going forward and get the Milan fans back in the Stadium of many boycotted their season tickets this year. The potential stumbling block is the transfer fee such was the high amount Barcelona paid to Inter last year in the form of money and Samuel Eto'o. Surely they would want to recoup a large amount of that.

World Cup: Italy 1-1 New Zealand. Useless.

Italy continued to stumble at this World Cup as they were held by a gritty New Zealand team in South Africa today. But there can be no excuses as Italy managed to make New Zealand look like a defensive juggernaught and players who are used to Champions League football and World Cup finals had no definitive response today. Despite dominating in chances and possession Italy could not break through the New Zealand resistance who gave a tremendous account of themselves. The same cannot be said of Italy in this tournament so far, although a win against Slovakia will guarantee a place in the second round and at this time the most likely opponents would be Holland. Lippi has a lot of work to do to turn this poor start around. While Italy are notoriously slow starters, having only scored 1 goal in the group stages of the 1982 tournament and gone onto won, the options to turn this around all seem to be miles away on holiday or in Italy. Balotelli, Cassano, Rossi, Santon, Miccoli and Totti could be quite useful right now. Maybe under Cesare Prandelli they will be.

Serie A: Brescia back up

Brescia, the former stomping ground of Roberto Baggio, Gheorghi Hagi, Andrea Pirlo, Pep Guardiola, Luca Toni and Dario Hubner, have made a welcome comeback to Serie A after a number of years in the wilderness. Brescia beat Torino 2-1 to condem Torino to another year in B at a packed Rigamonti, as Brescia completed a somewhat of a surprise return to Serie A. Suprise, in my view, as last season they stuttered in the playoffs as well and only just scraped through in the last round thanks to a superior league position. Anyhow it is a much welcome return and they join Serie B winners Lecce and runners up Cesena in the division next year. They will want to keep striker Andrea Carraciolo who has had a stellar season for the Rondinelle but will need to add depth if they are to maintain a place in the division next year.

It was bad news for former Serie A Scudetto winners Hellas Verona however as they failed to return to Serie B as Pescara made the jump up to the Cadetti instead in their playoff win. Varese, from Serie C 1A, also won their playoff and will be in Serie B next season as well.

Italy pick up a point and maybe learn a lesson: Italy 1-1 Paraguay

Italy managed to pick up a point against Paraguay after a defensive blunder allowed the South American side to take a valuable first half time league. Italy lined up with Iaqunita and Pepe supporting Gilardino down the flanks but really this isolated the Fiorentina forward. Whilst Pepe showed some nice touched Iaquinta was totally out of position and this left Italy unable to conjure up anything really in the first 45 despite having the larger amount of possession. It was much the same in the second until Mauro Camoranesi was introduced allowing Italy to play a flat 4-4-2. This completely changed the pace and sharpness of the Italy attack and quickly De Rossi leveled from a corner after a goal keeping howler. Italy after this were well on top but couldn't transfer that into legitimate chances. However, its important to remember that they were playing a decent Paraguay side who historically a tough team to break down and qualified ahead of Argentina and Uruguay to get to this world cup. A point was about right on the night, but the lesson of keeping it to a 4-4-2 must be learned. For me that would be the most important point that could be taken from this match.

Selection wise with New Zealand up next it would be worth giving Di Natale and Pazzini a chance to show their worth as starters. Gilardino is an excellent forward but lacks the world class quality that many believe Pazzini has and can show at this level. The Sampdoria striker in my view has a better all round game making him dangerous in the air, and anywhere 20 yards from the goal.

Benitez in at Inter

Rafa Benitez has taken over as Inter manager, with the almost impossible task of replacing Jose Mourinho after a treble winning season. In comparison, Benitez has presided over a woeful season at Liverpool. Benitez has however in the past achieved notable success at Valencia and in the Champions League and this is what Inter will want to do well in again next season. However, his transfer dealings in the past have left many bemused. At Inter he will have finance much larger than that available in Liverpool but he will also have a director of sport that will be fully involved in any purchases as well. So far Mascherano and David Silva have been linked to Inter and both these players would add huge quality. Additionally Carlos Tevez has been linked as well.

However, what would be a concern to most Inter fans would be too much tinkering with what has been a winning formula especially in terms of formation. However, Inter's main problem in the past was the so called mental block that affected them in the Champions League. This was very much conquered this season and Benitez main task will be to maintain that. It's without doubt his biggest task yet as even one trophy may not save his job. But that's Italy and the pressure cooker environment.

Juve definately on to a winger, and more....

Juve seem hours away from securing the signature of highly rated Serbian winger Milos Krasic. The player has already hinted at his desire to move to the old lady and has impressed in performances for CSKA Moscow and Serbia in recent years. His high level of technical ability, pace, the ability to move the ball seemlessly through the opposition, ability to finish from well outside the box and his flowing blonde hair have likend him to former Juventus legend and Ballon D'or winner. Indeed, his ability will be fully on display on Sunday afternoon as a powerful Serbia side line up against Ghana. In many respects it is important that Juve close this deal as soon as possible from their viewpoint as he is already being reportedly followed by Manchester United, Arsenal and AC Milan. A good world cup will only increase the interest in him and consequently his price.

As is as clear as day, Juve had a dire season. With new management in place on numerous levels within one of the worlds greatest football clubs changes on the pitch were always going to be made. Krasic may well be the first, but he is unlikely to be the last. Rumours have been churning out of Italy that Diego is on his way out of the club in a swap deal for Sergio Aguero and cash going Athletico's way, but this line of thought seems to have stalled in recent days. Edin Dzeko of Wolfsberg, top scorer in the Bundesliga last season, is again linked with the old Lady as Amauri and in all likelihood Trezeguet look set to leave Juve this summer. But, the back line will surely be a just a concern for Juve fans. Cannavaro was hapless at times last season left the club already, while Grosso also looks set to go. Simon Kjaer and Leo Bonnucci are two highly rated young players linked to line up next to Chielini next season. One thing looks certain, it will not be a quiet Summer in Turin this year.

Calcio Mercato: D'Agostino in at Fiorentina, Mihajlovic too

The new allenatore at Fiorentina is the legendary free kick taker and defender Sinisa Mihajlovic. The former Lazio legend turned around Catania's season applying the tactical skills gained while serving as assistant manager on the Inter Milan bench. Indeed, Catania seemed to be heading for the abyis of Serie B until Sinisa arrived and registered victories over the likes of Juve and Inter. Fiorentina, upon evaluating their season, must be a club of mixed emotions. They had a stellar European Campaign that should not have ended in the second round of the European Cup and came very close to a berth in the final of the Coppa Italia. However, the old addage of 'so close and yet so far' applied here as they ended the season 11th in Serie A and out of the European places. So, with Prandelli the new Italy manager Sinisa has filled the void. Expect of clinical Fiorentina next season, and one with a very strong home record for sure. Joining him at the Viola will be Udinese midfield Maestro Gaetano D'Agostino who last summer was linked with a host of big clubs around Europe after a scintilating season where he scored goal after goal from midfield. However, Fiorentina have pounced on a dissapointing season for Udinese as a club in general s they look to push towards a top four place next season.