Looks like Dodo has tore his cruciate again in a friendly against Orlando on Friday night, unlucky for the young fellow as he arrived at Roma recuperating from the same injury. Balzaretti missed pretty much the entire season with an some sort of groin injury and at 32 you’d have doubts over whether or not he has much football left in him. Bastos will probably not be purchased outright and Romagnoli is really a stopgap option at left back. Think we will need two left backs next year. Kolarov has been heavily linked and he would be a dream signing, I don’t think his ex-Lazio background will be any problem for us and there have been murmurings for some time that we have a deal done for Brazilian youth left back Abner - who is also recovering for a cruciate injury.
Paredes and Sanabria were involved in the friendly against Orlando so I’d imagine both players will be with us in the pre-season for Rudi to gauge whether they are ready to contribute to the team next season. I would also expect him to run the rule over the likes of Viviani, Frascatore, Politano and Golubovic in pre-season. Jose Angel could also return given the injury problems at left back, I think he is rubbish and would rather we just sold him, Marquinho has done well with Verona so will probably sign for them permanently. Borriello is back, this is the final year of his contract so hopefully we can offload him.
On the transfer front, Benatia, Pjanic, Strootman and Destro are players who seem to be in demand and have all been linked with big money moves - I’d prefer we didn’t sell any of them but if United bid £30m for Strootman it would be impossible to say no. He’s had a very good season for us before his season ended with injury but I actually think Nainggolan has came in and done a superb job and Strootman will probably find it very tough to get his place back.
Pjanic is probably the most in demand and the most likely to leave with PSG very interested. I would accept nothing less than €50m for him, possibly €30-35m if Verratti was included - his agent recently said that Roma would be a great option for Verratti and Sabatini is a big fan. Not sure how he would fit in here though as in essence himself and De Rossi play a similar position although there is a difference to the way they carry it out, I do think Verratti is young and adaptable enough to blend in another role beside De Rossi though. I’d prefer if we kept Pjanic and Strootman but if the offers are good enough then they will help us strengthen other areas. Paulinho and Salih Ucan are other names who have long been associated with us in midfield and there have also been reports we will take Bertolacci back from Genoa, he would be a decent depth player. Taddei will leave this summer.
In defence I think we will make Toloi’s transfer permanent as he has done relatively well, Sabatini is trying to negotiate a reduction on the agreed fee in the loan arrangement. I think that will pretty much be it for the centre backs as Jedvaj and Romagnoli are there as well. We may be in the market for another right back but I’m reasonably happy with what we have there right now. Maicon’s form did tail towards the end of the season so I’d maybe have some reservations about him next season.
Attack is probably the area I’d like to see most improvement in. I think Gervinho, Destro and Totti all had great seasons with Florenzi doing reasonably well and Ljajic being pretty disappointing. I think we need two new options here. I’m hoping our big signing this season will be a wide attacker - somebody like Lamela, Sanchez or Cerci. Iturbe is another name also associated with us. I’d also like another good player who is comfortable through the middle or out wide, Kalou has been a name mentioned and he would be relatively inexpensive and Garcia knows him - not a player who is the quality I’d like in a regular stater but decent enough for 20 games a season. I’d also galdly take Menez back on a free transfer. Pastore is another player who could come into the equation particularly with any move for Pjanic.
I see the illegitimate group have splintered even further with them now having two threads for last season under different titles.
The situation with Benatia is very disconcerting. It really says a lot about the board’s ambitions as well considering we pushed out young stars like Marcos and Lamela last season and look like we will do the same again this season. Hard to see how we can build for the future when we actively look to cash in on our best players after a good season.
Both Lamela and Marcos did not want to move last season but were pushed in that direction and the same thing seems to be happening with Benatia. I don’t think Benatia is being at Al unreasonable. He had a magnificent season and is one of the top centre backs around but his wages don’t reflect that.
In more positive news Dodo looks like he has not torn his cruciate again.
Rudi has signed a contract extension tying him down until 2018.
Two transfer stories doing the rounds about Benatia today, firstly City are said to have bid €22m for Benatia but Roma won’t accept anything under €35m. The second story is reporting that Chelsea are set to offer €18m and Lukaku for Benatia - I’d imagine that Sabatini and Rudi would do business for the latter offer.
Seydou Keita looks to be on his way on a free transfer, not too excited about this one if truth be told but I’m sure it’s only a depth signing.
Salih Ucan has been linked with us consistently over the last 6 months and reports in Turkey seem to suggest he will soon be joining us for €10m and the deal should be completed on Monday. I’d imagine that will be our midfield sorted for next season unless we lose Strootman or Pjanic. We will likely have a selection of Pjanic, De Rossi, Strootman, Nainggolan, Keita and Ucan - possibly Paredes too if he stays with Roma next season and Garcia views more a midfielder than an attacker, Florenzi can also cover there so we have more than enough options. I’d be very pleased with that so we can then focus on the attack and defence.
Edgar Balanta and Giulio Donati have been names linked with the defence. Very impressed with Donati in last year’s Euro u-21’s and the few times I saw him in action for Leverkusen during the season, he’d be a good replacement if Torosidis leaves. Balanta is a very highly rated young defender so he would be welcomed as well.
Marko Basa for €3m looks like our next target. He turns 32 this year but he should be able to provide some decent cover.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbXFf577pVg
Tin Jedvaj has joined Leverkusen on a two year loan deal with an option to buy, Roma also have a counter-option which they can exercise.
Calling @Fitzy
Roma are closing to signing 17 year old Australian Danny De Silva, please provide a lowdown on him. He will stay with Perth Glory for another season before joining Roma.
The Basa and Ucan deals seem to have hit some snags but Roma still remained interested and are likely just having Sabatini lowball the fees. Some very interesting names cropping up in the last few days. We almost seem to be in line for buying a whole new defence this summer - Toloi looks like he won’t be signed on a permanent basis, Jedvaj has gone out on loan, Balzaretti looks to be crocked and Maicon struggled towards the end of the season with niggly injuries.
Basa would seem to be on his way as mentioned before, Colombia and River Plate prodigy Eder Balanta also seems to be of interest to Sabatini and Matteo Darmian and Switzerland and Wolfsburg’s highly rated left back Ricardo Rodriguez is also linked with us. I’d be delighted if we could get all four in though it would likely mean Torosidis or Maicon is for the exit door which I can live with. It was Sabatini who brought Darmian to Palermo when he was there.
With Keita already signed and Ucan looking like it could happen I think that leaves us relatively fine for midfield providing we don’t lose anyone, might be best to hold onto one of the young players like Viviani until Christmas and Strootman is available again.
In attack we are now being linked with Aubameyang, some reports state that it could be cash plus Ljajic offer which would be good for us as he is a versatile player who can play through the middle or out wide. Itrube would still seem to be our no.1 target so if we could get both and offload Ljajic it would leave us looking very strong up there.
The deadline for resolving co-ownerships was on Friday.
[LIST]
[]We redeemed D’Alessandro, Verre, Pettinari and Sini. We then subsequently sold D’Alessandro to Atalanta for €3m.
[]Politano, Antei, Barba, Stoian, Betolacci and Caprari all had their co-ownership deals renewed for a further year.
[*]Nico Lopez’s remaining share was sold to Udinese.
[/LIST]
This is the final year that co-ownerships will be in existence so all those players who have had their deals renewed for another year must be decided one way or another next year.Out of the players redeemed I see Verre as the only one who could be involved with the first team this season, we will also Viviani returning from loan so one of these could be in the first team picture this season.
On to the latest transfer news, it would appear we have finally reach an agreement for Ucan. It will be a two year loan deal with Roma paying €4m up front with the option to purchase for €11m. Confirmation has yet to become but this is allegedly a deal in principle that has been struck. We’ve been linked with Croatian international Marcelo Brozovic who plays for Dinamo Zagreb and is currently at the World Cup, he’s a 21 year old midfielder by all accounts. Stefano Sturaro is a21 year old midfielder at Genoa who broke into the team last season and Sabatini is keen on him, it’s reported we will purchase him and leave him on loan with Genoa next season. PSG’s Adrien Rabiot is also being linked, he’s another young midfielder.
Worringly we’re being linked with Eto’o and Drogba in attack, I don’t wan either of these mercenary has beens with us next season.
Ucan seems to be edging closer to joining Roma. It has been reported that he could join Hellas Verona in a similar deal to Paredes where he joined Chievo on loan to avoid Roma using up their non-EU allocation. I’d like if he was at our disposal next season. Adriano would seem to be our no.1 target for the left back position but Enrique is very keen to keep him there. Ivan Strinic is another alternative who is a Croatian international left back.
We’re supposedly very interested in Yannick Ferriera Carassco who is a Belgian u-21 international, he plays as a winger for Monaco and the few times I saw Monaco this season I was very impressed by him. His contract is up next summer and is said to be available for €5-7m. I think we will sign him along with another wide attacker who will be the marquee signing and offload Ljajic. Juve look to have beaten us to Stefano Sturaro.
Urby Emanuelson? FFS sake. :mad:
Emanuelson looks to be a done deal, 3 year deal on a bosman. I am seething at this, the guy’s plain useless. He’s probably been bought as a utility player who can cover on the wings and at left back - a bit like Bastos last season but I’d be hoping we’ll be at least adding another first choice left back and two other wide attackers. Ucan also finally looks to be coming.
Reports are also doing the rounds that Benatia has agreed to join City in a €30m deal, a conflicting report states that Roma are demanding €30m and Nastasic. I think Nastasic is an absolute class act and would see the latter deal as an excellent bit of business, obviously I’d be very disappointed to lose Benatia but we could really use that money to add depth to the squad where we will be competing on three fronts next season.
Eder Balanta looks to be on his way from River Plate, I doubt he will be Benatia’s replacement and would expect us to buy a more established defender to replace Benatia should he leave.
Emanuelson, Balanta, Ucan and Carrasco all look pretty likely to be signing for us in the next week or so. There have also been fresh reports stating that City will opt for Malanga over Benatia.
Ashley Cole on a two year deal. Not particularly enthused by this, I’ve always felt he was severely overrated - solid defensively but he has never offered much going forward and in Serie A the attacking outlet full backs offer is of much more value than the defensive aspect. He’s also past his best, was really hoping for someone like Kolarov, Rodriguez or Armero being brought in. He’ll still probably be an improvement on our options here though not the level I’d have hoped for.
With Emanuelson also coming in I’m guessing Dodo will be loaned out and Balzaretti also being offloaded if we can find someone for him.
Cole and Ucan are confirmed.
Cole on a free transfer - two year deal, Ucan arrives on a 2 yr loan deal with €4.75m paid up front and the option to make it permanent for €11m. Worryingly, Eto’o is now being linked on a one year deal.
Dodo has joined Inter on a two year loan deal. We are now being linked with Abner, another young Brazilian left back. Shaqiri is also on our radar according to the latest reports.