Filed under: Champions League, Italian League, Premier League, Spanish League, Transfer Market
Since I have not been able to post new stuff on the blog, here’s a quick overview of what has been happening around:
* Fiorentina and Lazio are back into Serie A, after both clubs appealed against the original ruling. They also had their points deduction reduced. Same goes to Juventus and AC Milan, as both had point deduction reduced as well, but Juventus are still dropping to Seria B, though they have a bettech chance on returning to Seria A next season. While AC Milan are now given back their spot in the Champions League (official declarion awaited). Inter Milan were also handed over last season’s 2005/2006 league title.
* Ruud Van Nistelrooy switched to Real Madrid afterall, after I had initially reported it two weeks ago.
* Valencia striker Mista has signed for Atletico Madrid, while Fernando Torres has declared that he will be staying at Atletico.
* Manchester United have signed Tottenham and English international midfielder Michael Carrick for 18m pounts.
* Chealse sold both Del Horno (to Valencia) and Duff (to Newcastle), while Liverpool gave up on Daniel Alves and signed Jermaine Pennant.
FC Barcelona has reached an agreement with Juventus for the transfer of Lilian Thuram and Gianluca Zambrotta. Thuram has signed a two-year contract while Zambrotta has committed himself for the next four years.
Thuram and Zambrotta, together with the rest of the Barca squad who took part in the World Cup, will join up with the team for the tour of Mexico and the United States.
Real Madrid have completed the signing of Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro and Brazilian Emerson. The Spanish club paid £13.7m for Juventus, a bargain in today’s prices.
New Real Madrid president Calderon has also promised to bring in Robben, Kaka and Fabregas. The club is also on the verge of officialy completing the signing of Nistelrooy.
Rafael Benitez today hinted at the possibility of bringing Trezeguet to the club on loan.
“Trezeguet is a good player, the question is what kind of player do you need,” Benitez told The People.
“We will look at what happens in Italy and see what we can do. All the Juventus players are good players – Trezeguet, Zambrotta – a lot of them are good players for us and for other clubs in the world.
“They will now be a better price than they would have been three months ago.
“There may be possibilities for a loan deal and for me that is not a problem. If he is a good player and he is a professional, it’s not a problem for me.”
The French striker had expressed his desire to play for Liverpool in the past when the club was managed by Houllier. Zambrotta could be also be a loan possibility, as Liverpool are still yet to find a right winger, especially since Rafa’s main target Daniel Alves looks less likely to make a switch.
Filed under: Italian League
Italian newspaper reports today claim that Juventus have been relegated to Serie B and docked 20 30 points as a result of their involvement in match-fixing. They will also be stripped of their Serie A titles for each of the last two seasons.
Gazzetta dello Sport states that all the clubs have been informed of their punishments and that Juventus will be joined in Serie B by Fiorentina and Lazio. They will also all be docked points.
Fiorentina will start in Serie B with a 12-point deficit and Lazio a seven-point deficit.
It is also claimed that AC Milan will remain in Serie A but will have a 10 to 15 point deduction.
The official verdict will be announced at 6pm today.
In addition to the punishments handed to the clubs, a number of the individual directors were suspended.
Former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi has been suspended from all football for five years. Adriano Galliani, who was AC Milan vice-president, has been suspended for one year.
All clubs made official statements on their websites, announcing the verdict unjust and unfair. All clubs announced to appeal.
The four clubs will have up to three days to appeal to the Federal Court but a final verdict has to be announced before July 25, when the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) must give UEFA, Europe’s football governing body, the list of teams that will compete in the continental club competitions in the 2006/07 campaign.
Inter, Roma, Chievo and Palermo are in line to take the places of the penalised clubs in the European competitions. While Lecce, Messina and Treviso are subject to keep their places in Serie A and avoid being relegated to Serie B.
There was no mention of who would be given the Serie A titles, but Inter Milan are the most likely club.
Filed under: Italian League
Skysports has reported that the verdict will be reached on Saturday, while the Telegraph says it will be announced tomorrow. In either case, Juve sporting director Alessio Secco is expecting relegation to Serie B and will try his best to hold on to his star players.
Todays reports are claiming that a decision has already been made with both Juventus AND Milan relegated. An official decision is yet to be announced, but is expected today as announced previously.
Relegation of Milan will mean Kaka might be available to move to Real Madrid, as it’s new president Calderon planned. On the other hand, Juventus seem to be preparing for relegation by the sale of 27 year old Romanian striker Mutu for £5.5m to Fiorentina, while 20-year old Bulgarian international Valeri Bojinov is moving to other way as part of the deal.
UPDATE: News just came in that Juventus has signed Didier Deschamps as their new manager, the club had announced. The Frenchman aslo signed a two-year deal, supporting the claims of the inevitable drop of the club to a lower league, and perhaps even to Serie C.
Instead of losing out on their stars by selling them if the likely relegation comes, reports are suggesting that Juventus stars will be loaned out to Real Madrid, untill the Italian club returns to Seria A. Some of the names mentioned are Zambrotta, Emerson, and Cannavaro, which are also obviously chosen by former Juventus and new Real Madrid manager Fabio Capello.
Filed under: Italian League
The prosecutor in Italy’s match-fixing trial said today that he wants the involved clubs thrown out of Italian soccer’s top league and champions Juventus relegated to at least the third division.
The trial is currently underway and on it’s third day. Stefano Palazzi, the prosecutor, called for Juventus to be stripped of the Serie A titles it won in the last two seasons and relegated to ‘below Serie B’. AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio should all go down to Serie B, he said. And not only that, he also asked for all four teams to have points docked at the start of next season.
The tribunal has said it aims to deliver its verdicts on July 10, the day after the World Cup final in Berlin. All the accused have denied wrongdoing.Those found guilty can appeal, but the appeals process must be finished by July 27 – the deadline set by UEFA for the FIGC to submit the list of teams for next season’s Champions League and UEFA Cup competition.
Which is only logical after Calderon has won the Real Madrid presidency, and promised to bring the Italian to the club. Juventus announced Capello’s resignation today on their website.
Footy In A Week 