Transfer Rumours/Contract Extensions

[Dejan-Stankovic]

Suazo is lethal if you play on the counter. Other than that, not so much.

[Carlo Romano]

PM & Cajun, I at least am hoping we get Suazo as well as Baptista! Within our price range and the 2 weeks left we won't buy better and that includes Quagliarella. Weeks ago our management made noises about also hoping at the last minute to get a good player on loan so just maybe Lady Luck will favour us!

[maro]

As with so many players, Cajun, he's always likely to look better in a side not coached by Minchio.

[Dejan-Stankovic]

Do you think Ibra looked better under Capello or Mancini, Mary?

[maro]

I'd always assumed Ibra would have been the one on top with Minchio.

[Dejan-Stankovic]

I knew I should've worded that question differently.

[maro]

Honestly, though, Cajun, I'm always a bit baffled when people run this argument. Ibra's troubles at Rube were solely down to the fact that his finishing isn't of the highest order but his all-round play there was always excellent. He was an absolute corner-stone of the way Crapello had that team playing. And, for me, his performances at Inter have simply been a continuation of where he was at. He's got better, as you'd expect, and can carry that team in a way he didn't have to at Rube, but I've never understood the narrative that some people tell of his coming good in nerazzurro.

[Dejan-Stankovic]

I believe it's mainly because of the freedom Mancini afforded him to fully express himself on the pitch. At Juve I felt he was somewhat restricted due to Capello's rather disciplined style of play and while he was excellent at Juve, he is now considered world class as opposed to just a great player. Most of the credit lies with the Ibra as I don't believe Mancini taught him anything extraordinary as a player but rather had Ibra do what Ibra does best and it's certainly telling since his recognition as potential WPOY.

Suazo is a different case. He was vicious when he had room to opperate in and on the counter you could barely stop him. But when the game's at 0 - 0 and you need to score, he's not going to help much. He's a lot more technical than Martins, for example, who was just all pace and little end product. But you need to have the game to suit him as when he was at Cagliari who were always pushed back due to being a team of lesser quality, he had all the room in the world to operate in on the counter which was the reason for his success imo.

[maro]

Yeah, I used to think that about Suazo but I changed my mind on him when I watched a little handful of Cagliari games at the end of the 06/07 season when he was up against teams which were defending pretty deep and not allowing much space in behind. He has real power, too, as well as a good touch, and I think he'd also flourish in front of a technical and creative trequartista. At Inter, the problem is that under Minchio you never really had quite that kind of player to stitch together the midfield and attack and so Suazo's explosiveness couldn't be exploited in tighter spaces either. His movement isn't as clever as Crespo's or Cruz's and he's not as brilliant in the air as either of those guys or Ibra. And so in the end I think your style of play squeezed him. You play back to front very quickly as well as down the flanks. I think, though, that he's more than just a counter-attack player. With Mourinho I suspect you'll also play with a fair bit of width and again that's probably not going to suit him. Getting beyond Totti, or playing in front of Kaka' as he so nearly did, I think you might see that he has more in the locker than he's had the chance to show at Inter.

[maro]

I don't know why I watched a little run of their games - I must have been having trouble with Roma streams and they were the best I could do, or perhaps they had a little run of anticipi or somesuch?

[Dejan-Stankovic]

Lol I was just about to ask why you would be watching Cagliari!? It would be interesting to see him operate with a player like Totti behind him; some nice one-two's and precision passing into space maybe what he needs to get back his old form. You know, the beast used to play CM, AM and ST for Seville; extreme flexibility there and a great buy. Although I'm not sure what sort of a CM he was and if he's able to play with DDR.

[Carlo Romano]

According to Il Messaggero, Roma are lining up moves for Valencia’s Edu and on-loan Manchester City striker Nery Castillo.
The Giallorossi yesterday made their first big signing of the summer when they captured Julio Baptista from Real Madrid for an initial fee of €9m. However, Roma’s spending is not believed to be over just yet, and Il Messagero is today linking them with two new targets.

The first is Valencia midfielder Edu. The 30-year-old made his name at Arsenal earlier in the decade, and he was a key part of the ‘Invincibles’, who won the 2003/04 Premiershit without losing a game all season.

He left the Gunners to join Valencia on a Bosman transfer in 2005, but his three years at the Mestalla have been nothing short of disastrous, due to a host of injuries.

The Brazilian has been linked with a move away from the club this summer, and Roma are said to be ready to launch a bid for the player.

The capital-outfit are also pondering a move for Shakhtar Donetsk forward Nery Castillo. The Mexican was outstanding during the 2007 Copa America, and his future seemed to be very bright.

The 24-year-old then left Olympiakos for Shakhtar Donetsk, but he never settled in Ukraine, and after playing just six games, he was shipped out in December 2007 to Manchester City on a one-year loan deal. He has struggled at Eastlands too, but Roma believe that Serie A may be more suited to his skilful style of play.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nery_Castillo

[Carlo Romano]

Rai is going with the story today (Sunday) that Nery Castillo will probably be going to either Real Betis or Roma...that's according to his agent who says the matter should be fact by next week end.

[Bagg10]

[Zoff82]

[tonykart]

Roma & Fiorentina Fight For Obinna

According to the Gazzetta dello Sport, Roma and Fiorentina are both battling it out for the signature of Chievo’s Nigerian star Victor Obinna.

The 21-year-old Obinna is one of the most highly rated youngsters currently plying his trade in Italy, and the lightning paced striker last season played a key role in Chievo’s promotion to Serie A.

Inter currently have first refusal on the Nigerian, as when he joined Chievo from Enyimba in 2005, the Italian champions actually helped finance the move, and in fact they also partly own a percentage of the player's contract.

Obinna has been linked with a host of other Serie A clubs this summer, including Inter, Napoli and Catania, but the Gazzetta says that Roma and Fiorentina are the two main clubs fighting for his signature.

The striker has been in absolutely outstanding form for Nigeria in the Olympics, and has been the main reason for their run to the semi finals, where they will play Belgium.

Obinna has stated on a number of occasions this summer that he sees his future away from Chievo, and it is very possible that he could leave the Verona-based outfit before the end of the transfer window.
________________________________________________________________

Obinna is sweet. He would be a good fit on Roma.

[Bagg10]

You guys should get Papa Waigo or Osvaldo.

[marco]

[SPqR]

[maro]

Osvaldo or Menez, Populusque?