Summer Mercato 2010

Originally Posted by Gabriel489

Nesta actually has pride, if he ever drops to Kala and Janku level, he will ask to leave Milan or retire.

As for Dzeko, as I said in my post earlier, Dzeko heading to Real makes sense since they only have 2 strikers or max 3 if u count CR7/9.

I'm actually hoping Roma and Inter go far this CL to save our CL spot.....again
Are we even a seeded team for the draw?

Serie A will only be strong in Europe if those Europa teams begin to actually compete in Europa.

The teams we have should compete......Palermo, Napoli, Juve all quality teams

Having quality and actually trying to win the competition is a very different thing.

Originally Posted by hitmannq8

Geo, I don't think Milan has paid 4,5 for Sokratis, I think we have just traded the co-ownership of three of our youngsters. Also they have made 12.5m POUNDS for Veloso PLUS Zapater (who cost Genoa quite an amount last year).

If its true, then Genoa have slightly passed teams like Napoli/Fiorentina/Palermo in terms of quality. I am really enjoying that the Serie A is strengthening like this, the future looks bright. Serie A will lose the 4th CL spot for sure next year, but if we keep going like this we will return to the days of the 90's. Palermo also have a sick team with a few new arrivals. Napoli and Fiorentina are the only ones that disappointed me this transfer market (along with, ofcourse, Milan).

I made a quick search (so there can be some mistakes) for all the amounts and it was reported that for Sokratis, it was 4.5M + 3 co-owned players. For Veloso, I saw several reports saying they paid 9M (all my amounts are in €).

Well, on the website of UEFA, they even report that it is 7M (€) + Zapater.

Anyway, that doesn't change a lot of things as the point of my post was that Genoa hasn't spent that much actually. They just made some smart moves.

#3Forever: Nesta can't turn into a Kaladze as Nesta is already older and despite that, he's 10 times better than Kaladze, 5 times better than most of the defenders and still at the highest level (there was a kind of drop last year, but he had the excuse that he didn't play for one entire year).

Oh Hitmannq8, I wanted to ask you why Napoli and Fiorentina have disappointed you ? If I'm not wrong, they didn't sell players, so they will be as good (or a bit better as they will not need time to include new players and play as a team) as these last years ... I know these both teams need a "fuoriclasse" (or WC player) to really, seriously compete in Europa League (more then)/Serie A, but who knows, if Montolivo finally explodes for Fiorentina, if Lavezzi can be there for a whole season, if Hamsik keeps progressing, if Cavani turns into the very good player he should be when you listen to the hype about him (on the pitch, it's totally different), well, these teams could be very dangerous.

PS: I realize that Fiorentina probably needs players, Napoli has already a good team, their problem is maybe their bench who isn't good enough, maybe.

Geo, I agree mostly with what you say but I really think Napoli needs a player like Hernanes or Riquelme, in the middle dictating the play. Fiorentina have sold Bolatti to River and seem to have taken a very promising 19 year old from them. Fiorentina though are the team in biggest trouble because they have high wages, and they were in the CL last year, and they lost 45% in Season Ticket sales, so their income this year will be far less than last year. They also lost their most important weapon: Prandelli. I think Mihajlovic sucks as a coach.


Fiorentina are only going to go down IMO, just like Sampdoria who lost their most important weapon in Del Neri (who will fail miserably at Juve in my opinion) and have not made ANY good transfers yet. Napoli will go down too if they don't make a couple more moves. The enthusiasm of their fans is very important for a team to reach far. Palermo have done great on the market, selling Cavani and Kjaer but gaining quality replacements, I think they lack 1 world class CM to be able to be a great team. I really like how Genoa look like this year.

Lazio have also a good chance to be very good, they have one world class striker in Zarate and two good strikers in Rocchi and Floccari. They have Foggia and Matuzalem in the middle, and now Hernanes. They lost a good LB Kolarov for a crazy crazy amount (19m pounds) and got a decent replacement. If they buy two more players (1 WC CB and 1 WC attacking midfielder) I think we can have an absolutely amazing Serie A next year. Milan would really need to sweat to qualify to Europa league if we don't make any serious signings ourselves.

btw I totally forgot about Zarate, it would be amazing if we could sign Zarate. He only scored 3 goals last year and had a horrible season, its the ideal time to buy him if we ever wanted to. I think he can be as good as anyone in Europe right now.

Fiorentina will be back on market, they will lose Jovetic for 6-7 months because of injury.

About Boateng, rumours are that Genoa and Milan are partners on this move ... Milan would buy him and would sell half of the contract to Genoa. Where would he play ? I don't know. What is the advantage of such a deal ? I don't know.

I disagree about Lazio, they're far from being a good side. Zarate is really far to be a WC player (I rate him highly, but he's far to be among the best strikers on the planet), and their defense is too bad to only need one WC defender. Anyway, it's difficult to find WC players, because by definition, they are few in the world to be WC as only the best players are called like that.

Manchester City knows it: despite money, it's difficult to buy WC players if you're not in CL. Lazio is far from CL, they're even not in Europa League, so attracting WC players is impossible for them. I think they sold their players to "balance the books", as they are in huge debt if I'm not wrong.

Geo, no, not necessarily...

Genoa got 3 WC players and they're not in the CL... Milan got Ronaldinho, Sheva, Flamini and they were not in the CL, Roma last yr got Menez, Baptista, Riise, the list goes on... CL is important, but not vital. Ppl just dont want to go to City.

Geo, does Boateng have an EU passport (German I think?) I dont understand what they want to do with Boateng, but it does seem fishy that Genoa has bought Rafinha and Veloso (both players wanted by Milan earlier in the transfer season). Maybe Milan are funding the transfers somehow (explains the money they're spending) and they will just give them to us in a few years lol.

Geo, and with Kolarov's money Lazio can be a great team. I just think they are lacking 2 great CBs along with a decent one. Do they still have Radoi? That guy was a good CB a few years ago. They should snatch Toloi from underneath Palermo's noses and possibly get Vidic or Bonera. They certainly have an amount to spend now and Lotito confirmed he will buy 2 or 3 more players. I think Zarate is world class.

Z Boban, has it been confirmed that Jovetic's injury is that serious? I know he got hurt but how bad is it?

Originally Posted by hitmannq8

Geo, no, not necessarily...

Genoa got 3 WC players and they're not in the CL... Milan got Ronaldinho, Sheva, Flamini and they were not in the CL, Roma last yr got Menez, Baptista, Riise, the list goes on... CL is important, but not vital. Ppl just dont want to go to City.

Geo, does Boateng have an EU passport (German I think?) I dont understand what they want to do with Boateng, but it does seem fishy that Genoa has bought Rafinha and Veloso (both players wanted by Milan earlier in the transfer season). Maybe Milan are funding the transfers somehow (explains the money they're spending) and they will just give them to us in a few years lol.

But joining Milan, historically a strong side in CL (even if you can be out of the competition one year, they knows Milan will end coming back in CL) and joining Lazio (no CL since ... ? Trying to keep their position in Serie A since ... ?) is completely different.

Who are the 3 WC players Genoa got ?

Geo, Lazio were in CL 5 years ago, Lazio won the Serie A 10 years ago, Lazio have history in the CL and won the UEFA cup. Lazio is in one of the most beautiful cities of the world, Roma. Lazio have a fan base world wide... City weren't in the CL in over a decade and haven't won the premiership in a life time and have zero history. All City has over Lazio is money, nothing else.

Veloso, Toni and Rafinha are all players who regularly play in the CL. Toni was Europe's golden boot winner 2 years ago, Veloso was tracked by several big teams.. Rafinha ok maybe not. EDIT: Totally forgot about Eduardo.

Roma got a bargain in Adriano and if he turns out to be half they player he was for Inter or his previous Brazilian club, they gain alot. Also got Simplicio (mind you both for free). Haven't been active much because they're trying to find a buyer for their club.

What has Roma been doing this summer? I haven't really heard much gossip except about Janku

Originally Posted by #3Forever

What has Roma been doing this summer? I haven't really heard much gossip except about Janku

They got Adriano and Simplicio for Free...to me its a perfect mercato.

Originally Posted by hitmannq8

Geo, Lazio were in CL 5 years ago... City weren't in the CL in over a decade.

Veloso, Toni and Rafinha are all players who regularly play in the CL. Toni was Europe's golden boot winner 2 years ago, Veloso was tracked by several big teams.. Rafinha ok maybe not.

But Lazio isn't regularly in CL. The regular clubs in Italy, in this decade, are Inter, Roma, Juventus and Milan. Sometimes, one of these clubs failed and another one managed to qualify one year, but it generally did hurt them more than help them (these clubs often do a bad season then). Fiorentina managed to take the vacant place most of the times and keep their poisition in the league, their problems started when they lost Mutu last year because they weren't that far from the top teams at the beginning of the season and were in the race for CL for a long time.

Miguel Veloso is a good player, but not a WC player. Toni has his best years behind him. Rafinha, I don't say anything about him as I don't know him enough. So IMO, Genoa will still be a good Serie A team this year, but they won't be in Top 4.
EDIT: They will be better than last year anyway if everything is logical (which is rare in football). So Serie A will be more difficult and we agree on that, it's a very good and interesting thing.

If Toni and Veloso is WC, so does Flamini and Borriello.