Sunday 31 July 2011

Roma sign Stekelenburg as their revolution continues

Both Juventus and Lazio have arguably been the most active clubs in Serie A this mercato, but Roma are not far behind and are slowly assembling their squad for next season. With Bojan Krkic and Eric Lamela signed up for next season and Gabrielle Heinze added to the case Roma have now turned their attention to their goalkeeping situation, a department which has not been rock solid for them in recent years.

Enter Maarten Stekelenburg, the former Ajax and Holland number one. Widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world, especially after his performances for Holland at the world cup last summer, Stekelenburg has joined the Roma revolution. One man out the door seems to be Mirko Vucinic. The highly rated forward looks set to join Juventus in a 15 million euro move this Monday and the merry go round looks set to kick in. If the rumour mill is to be believed this will lead to Fabio Quagliarella moving away from Turin possible to Fiorentina in an exchange with Juan Manual Vargas to fill their void down the left hand side. This could well be an interesting week in the transfer market.

Tuesday 26 July 2011

Udinese continue great pre-season

Many have suggested that Udinese, since parting with Zapater, Inler and Sanchez, are on track to become this seasons Sampdoria. Having qualified for the Champions League last season Doria hit self destruct when parting with their two best players and crashed out of the Serie A top flight  in dismal fashion. Udinese were last years Samp when they qualified for the Champions League, but will they be this seasons Samp and go into oblivion after parting with some of their best players from the last campaign?

The answer at the moment would be a resounding no. There is depth to this Udinese team. While Sanchez and Inler may have gone, Asamoah, Benatia, Armero, Handanovic and Di Natale still remain and they have shown that they are a force to be reckoned with after destryoing Bordeaux in France 3-1 and Marseille 2-1 in recent days. Impressive results again two of the three last French Championship winners. Even more impressive when you think that Ligue 1 will kick off much sooner that Serie A. Udinese however have business before then of course in the Champions League preliminary rounds and while many believe that they will struggle to get through that phase they have shown so far in the pre-season that they can take their game to big foreign sides and win. Now they just have to do it when it matters, and recent results will give them the confidence that they can do so.

Tuesday 19 July 2011

Big guns yet to fire

Juve, Lazio and Roma have added quality this mercato already and whilst it is only mid July we have still yet to see either of the Milan giants make any truly significant market moves. Whilst Milan have strengthened from a defensive view point with the signings of Philip Mexes and Taye Taiwo from Marseille and Inter have added highly rated talents Jonathon and Ricky Alvarez, neither of the Milan giants have made the sort of moves that will as of yet send shock waves around the rest of the division and Europe.

Milan tifosi are of course awaiting the arrival of Mr X, a label given to their key mercato target by Allenatore Allegri and Vice President Galliani this summer and most will not doubt that this player is indeed on his way. Milan last summer constructed an excellent mercato whereby they secured Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robinho and Kevin Prince Boateng in August and most believe a similar situation is on the cards this year. Riccardo Montolivo looks set to join after all but washing his hands with Fiorentina. Interestingly many don't believe him to be Mr X, with Argentina's Javier Pastore and Cesc Fabregas topping the list in that category. The latter may initially seem unlikely but with Barcelona still haggling over the transfer fee for Udinese's Alexis Sanchez one wonders whether they will have the muscle to facilitate two huge transfers this summer.

What about Inter however? Well, they are after all still linked with both Tevez, Pastore and Sanchez but all look distant possibilities at best for the nerazzurri and while many will argue that the core of a quality team still remains and they no longer have Rafa Benitez to undo Mourinho's good work at the club this club needs a big name to rejuvenate a squad that may have become somewhat stale since winning all before them in the 2009-2010 season. Of course they will start this season with Giampaolo Pazzini and Yugo Nagatomo in their ranks but if they do make the anticipated shift to 3-4-3 then surely they will have to acquire someone to play out wide on the right flank of the 3 up front. 

It's no surprise then that they have been linked with Genoa's Rodrigo Palacio for that role. Indeed, the Argentine was superb at Genoa this season but it is arguable if he is big club quality and perhaps lacks the top level experience to bring Inter on a notch, which surely has to be their objective in this mercato.

All in all its been a cautious approach from both Milan clubs so far as opposed to both Juventus and Lazio who have added a number of players already. Whether it will end that way however remains to be seen.

Thursday 14 July 2011

Napoli add Inler

Napoli have had a quiet mercato so far considering they finished 3rd in Serie A last season but the San Paolo crowd will be pleased with the addition of Gokhan Inler to their starting line up at a fee of around 13 million euros. The Swiss midfielder has long been a target for some of Europes biggest clubs and Napoli have secured another coup by adding the former Udinese man to their starting line up. 

President De Laurentis has been behind Napoli's metoric rise from Serie C1. The additions of promising talents Lavezzi and Hamsik upon their return to the Italian top flight was seen as a sign of things to come and now Napoli can consider themselves to have one of the strongest lineups in Serie A with the likes of Cavani, Maggio, Gargano and De Sanctis within their line up. Inler adds more in this regard and Napoli fans will remember his 30 yard strike in Udinese's 2-1 win at the San Paolo last season.

This looks likely not to be the end for this Summers market for Napoli fans however, as President De Laurentis promised more signings, principally a forward to add depth to their exciting attack. Goran Pandev and Sergio Floccari have been linked but one wonders if a more high profile name will arrive to bolster their attack in the Champions League.

Friday 8 July 2011

The so called 'Small clubs' re-enforce.

With Inter signing Ricky Alvarez, Lazio signing anyone they can get their hands on, Juventus adding Pirlo and Roma on the verge of signing Barcelona's Bojan and Erik Lamela you would think the smaller Serie A clubs are being left in the dust. Not so, it would seem.

Last seasons surprise package Cesena have already added Adrian Mutu, a player proven at International and top club level for their forward line next season. Today returning Serie A side Siena, relegated with a thread bare squad only last summer, seem to have signed Italy international Gaetano D'Agostino. Having not quite taken off in Florence the much hyped midfielder, linked to numerous big clubs last summer round Europe, seems content to rebuild his career at Siena.

For Serie A this is great news as after last years competitive relegation battle, which ultimately saw Sampdoria bite the dust, many teams can't be considered relegation fodder nor certain of Serie A status before the season begins. With this in mind it will be interesting to see how fellow competitors for that precious survival status will respond this summer. Bologna, Lecce, Novara and Atalanta will certainly have to do so.

Thursday 7 July 2011

Lazio on the rise?

Juventus aside, it's somewhat surprisingly Lazio who have been most active in the market so far in the Serie A. While Inter today completed the signing of the highly talented Ricky Alvarez from Velez Sarsfield, under the noses of English side Arsenal, Lazio look set to wrap up the signing of Djibril Cisse from Panathinaikos. 

Cisse has reeked havok in Greece scoring 52 goals in just 60 games. It's an outstanding return and one that won't be replacated in the tough and tactical nature that is Serie A, but his ability to finish will leave many an oppositions defence not exactly relishing the prospect of playing against him.

He is joined at Lazio by German hero Miroslav Klose, whose domestic record in recent years is abysmal. But at Lazio he will be given a new lease of live and is likely to be more of an impact player from the bench, especially in the big games. Irregardless, Klose is player who has performed at the highest level and will be motivated to make the German team at Euro 2012. This makes it an exciting time for Lazio tifosi as they addressing their main problem from last season, which was finding a natural goal scorer up front.

Indeed, it was midfielder Hernanes who toped the scoring charts for them with a splendid 11 goals from midfield while forwards Floccari, Zarate and Kozak brought up the rear with a solid tally of goals. That being said, had Lazio had a Cavani style player, at least in terms of goal output, then they would have been much higher up the table than 5th last season.

However, it looks like Lazio may not be done their either. Fabio Quagliarella has been linked today with the possibility that Mauro Zarate may be moving on, perhaps to Athletico Madrid with Sergio Aguero moving on from their to pastures new. There may be no football at this time of year, but that often does not make it any less interesting.