In an effort to cut back on the meaningless and pointless transfer titbits and soundbites that often appear during the summer, here’s a brief recap of the week in black and white.
The transfer window hasn’t even opened yet, but that hasn’t stopped the inane and idiotic headlines from appearing all over the place. My personal favourite popped up yesterday, linking Manchester United with a €100m bid for our very own Paul Pogba – Where did they come by their information? Something the player had said? A statement from either club? No, it came from a ‘source’. Not just any ‘source’ but a ‘club source’. I don’t know about you, but i’m not totally convinced.
Perhaps there might be something to it, or perhaps, indeed, ESPN and others have their own reasons for publishing stuff like this. Even at this early stage, patience is sorely tested and my interest is beginning to wane. Instead, I’ve decided to divert my energy and endeavour into providing a more accurate and informed weekly update of all things ‘Black and White’ for your reading [dis]pleasure.
Simone Zaza: ‘I’m staying at Juventus’
This is the kind of stuff I like. Players that say what they mean, and mean what they say. Simone Zaza tells La Stampa how it is:
“Have I ever thought about leaving Juventus? No, not even in January. I want to stay at Juventus. I struggled a lot, because Juve is a team full of great players. But I always just put my head down and pedalled harder. I’m not someone who gives up easily. I always trained well, with the aim of getting onto the pitch. The Premier League? Honestly, the Premier League fascinates me, but I want to affirm myself in Italy. And besides, as far as I know Juventus don’t want to sell me.”
Pretty safe to say that the player has no desire to leave the club and he’ll be in the squad for next season….unless Juve do decide to sell him…..or he might do a ‘Vidal’……. Nah Simone’s not like that.
Agent: “Juventus have scouted Gabriel”
Another story with some actual substance to it: Christian Simoes, agent of Gabriel Jesus confirms that Juve are indeed interested in his client.
“Juventus have scouted Gabriel, I can confirm that. Bayern Munich have taken steps too, they’re another big club that is interested in Gabriel. Both have made moves, but there hasn’t been an official offer from either Bayern Munich or Juventus. I’ve read a lot of rumours, but we’re waiting for real offers and then we’ll see, because for Palmeiras it’d be worth a lot. Would he like Juventus? They’re one of the world’s top clubs, who wouldn’t? The same for Bayern Munich, they’re fantastic teams. We’ll wait for offers and see what happens though.”
Whatever comes of it, at least we know that the interest is real and Juventus are in the hunt, although the supposed €40 million release cause is a pretty steep.
Miralem Pjanic – Juventus bound
It’s difficult to assess the Pjanic move, mainly because there’s been no ‘official’ talk from either of the clubs or the player himself, but i suppose that’s only to be expected in a deal of this magnitude. As such, social media went into meltdown on Wednesday night when it was reported that Juventus had paid the buy-out clause for the Bosnian….but since then, it’s all been a little quiet. The last time the story was reported with this level of furore, Roma were quick to deny the rumours. This time round, the Giallorossi have been all too quiet, however Roma President James Pallotta was none too pleased to be accosted by journalists who were anxious to find out more about the supposed transfer:
The usual reputable sources such as Sky Italia and GdS have spoken of the deal as all but complete, however last night Di Marzio reported the transfer was not yet 100% due to various issues with how the payment would be structured, the specific figures etc. This morning’s CdS and GdS insist the deal will go ahead while La Repubblica suggest the announcement will take place next week.
What can we make of all this? Not a great deal. Despite the positive indicators, there’s still potential for this to become another Draxler-gate. For now, we’ll have to sit-tight, enjoy the start of the EURO’s, and hope for some official news in the coming days.
Alvaro Morata: “I feel at home at Juventus”
A fortnight ago, we were convinced Morata had played his final game for Juventus – There was that interview in which he talked about returning to Madrid as what he wanted most, then came some backtracking…..and now there’s a little more ambiguity – In his latest press conference, Alvaro said the following:
“I’m very calm, because I have a contract with Juve and I feel at home there. At the moment I belong to Juve until someone tells me otherwise. Now I’m thinking about the European Championships, a very important tournament for me and my teammates.”
It’s difficult to get any kind of read on the situation, given that Morata doesn’t seem to know where his future lies. Juve director Beppe Marotta spoke about the buyback clause that Real Madrid retain on the player. On 24th May, Beppe said he expected the matter would be resolved within 10-14 days – While that time frame seems to have elapsed, we do know that negotiations are expected to take place soon.
“We have talked with Florentino Perez, but anything regarding Morata has been postponed until next week,” Marotta told Sky Sport Italia on 30th May
“There has only been a meeting to clarify things, so we will now assess what to do. With Morata the ball is in Real Madrid’s court. His desire is to remain with us and this is a source of pride, but we have to see what Real want.”
Sounds like the ball is in Real Madrid’s court – Once again, we’ll just have to wait and see. Marotta is apparently on his way to Madrid next week…..
€100m for Pogba – €120m for Pogba – and on and on it goes…
We all knew it was coming, but did we expect it to arrive so soon? Of course we did. Mediaset report that Real Madrid bid €120m for Paul Pogba while ESPN say Manchester United are ready to make an equally substantial bid. With Marotta expected to be in Madrid next week, I’m almost certain we’ll get a whole plethora of newspaper headlines telling us that Real will pay millions for our midfield star; Despite the locations for Pogba’s future ranging from PSG to Barcelona and everything in-between, the one constant has been Beppe Marotta, who has repeated time and time again that Pogba is not leaving:
“Pogba leaving Juventus? It’s not happening. We’ll keep him” [Marotta to RAI, 9th June]
EURO 2016 kicks off with France v Romania later tonight and we can be certain of 2 things: (1) Expect a big showing from our Polpo – (2) Expect plenty of nonsensical headlines with inflated figures to appear in the papers tomorrow morning.
Other Juventus news in brief…
- Juventus have announced they will play a friendly in Hong Kong against South China AA on July 30 – Tickets go on sale on June 23.
- Sky Sport Italia say Juve will sell Roberto Pereyra to Watford for €13.5m.
- Stephan Lichtsteiner has been linked with a move to Chelsea in recent weeks. The player had this to say about a possible transfer: “I do not close the door to anything but I’m a Juve player”
- Despite Beppe Marotta confirming that Domenico Berardi will join Juventus, the players agent has continued to deny that any deal is in place: “So far we haven’t had meetings with Juventus either, as all I can say right now is Domenico is a Sassuolo player”
- Despite Dani Alves confirming that he’ll be joining Juventus, there’s been no official announcement from the club yet. Sky Sport Italia suggest that Alves won’t be unveiled until after the Copa America.
- EURO 2016 starts tonight and Juventus are well represented:
#Juventus #EURO2016 XI [JuveIran] pic.twitter.com/oplZmLZHRy
— Juvefc.com (@juvefcdotcom) June 1, 2016
Thats all for now – If there’s anything you’d like us to cover, please leave a comment below and we’ll aim to include it in next weeks roundup. As always, your continued support for the website is greatly appreciated.
Superb and jolly to read round-up of the tabloid tittering, my friend. I like the Zaza zeal and if Italy defy expectations of a horrorshow group stage exit, I have an inkling that the tournament could be the making of the Zaza. We have the best CB and GK combination on the planet, although they are used to far superior options nearby. If Conte can steel himself to afford the side a hint of creativity over industry, we may have a chance of escaping the group and then…who can say?
It would be amusing to have a Jesus in the squad, yet as you mention, the bandied about fees are too high for such untested in Europe goods.
Pjanic? Seems a brilliant signing and I found Pallotta a goon as I had thought of him previously.
Pogba? No dice…no word from Raiola or Paul. Smoke without fire, to sell words and create traffic for the big boys.
Morata has become an odd case. I have given up offering credence to any tabloid snippet quotes taken out of context and reverted to ‘no idea’. It would be easier for us if he stayed, and I will move from my stance of disgust offered previously in regards to one of our players suggesting he dreams of playing for another club and likes the premier league, for did he say these words? If he did, he is now saying something different. It seems prudent to simply wait and see.
Pereyra is rumoured to be heading to the premier league and good riddance…What concerns me is the talk of Lichsteiner. Yet he does not seem the kind of chap to fear competition from Alves, yet would Alves sign as back-up or on rotation? The answers to those questions I am concerned to learn the truth of for despite Stephan’s silliness, he is a monster and one of the finest in the game in his position.
Always a pleasure to hear from you comrade
I echo your thoughts on Zaza – This tournament could be the making of him. I hope he stays on at the club and fights for his place alongside Dybala – he needs to expand his game a little more – He’s a battering ram of a striker…..on occasion, i’d like him to use a lockpick, when the situation calls or it.
The Jesus kid seems far to pricey – once the opposition start sniffing, i know we’ve missed our chance….although we are carrying ourselves better than we have in a while – the JUVE name has weight again….lets use it to our advantage.
No idea what to make of Morata – the poor chap seems lost, and in reflecting that to us, we are just as lost in the whole situation – We need clarity as much as he does !
I hope Lichty stays on – No need to depart yet -he’s first choice and he should retire with us, Alves is there simply to give him a like for like replacement.
Only a first effort – The idea is to put as much of the Juve news, including the dreaded mercato stuff, into one weekly digest so people can recap what’s happened, whats genuine, whats worth celebrating, worth deliberating etc. Hopefully, it will give more breathing room for the articles that TGP, James, Enrico and Vince put together – They generally generate lots of debate and enthusiasm!
The most frustraing thing is to see the endless stream of mercato news in the summer and having to report on as much of it as possible, as it’s associated with our club directly.
It’s not something i’ve ever enjjoyed reporting on – I’d love to be able to write more on tactics, player strengths or the simple joy of a 2-1 victory over Milan (Although i stress, i am not a writer) but the simple fact is, the transfer news always gains the most interest. Hence the attempt to try and divert it into a nice cozy segment, along with the other pertinent Juve happenings in the week.
I digress….please feel free to leave feedback, however scatching it might be, and we will always try and channel it into our content to make the site a better place for all you glorious Bianconeri !
Excellent idea to do this, I fully support it!
For some reason, I really really think Pogba is staying another year… could be more, and I hope it is more, but another year for sure. It would be a surprise if he leaves. Regarding our supposed acquisitions, I’m not celebrating Pjanic’s arrival yet… Alves is pretty much confirmed as well but I’m not celebrating his’, either. Not yet. Berardi is I think an easier deal to make, if we want to.
I can understand how “ugh” it would be to write about the mercato, specially ours since it’s always all over the place, but I appreciate this post! Twitter gets crazy with conversation and “confirmations”, so it’s nice to have it all condensed in one place. Thank you for taking the time to do this! 🙂
Thank you for taking the time to post, Elisa! always great to hear your feedback and comments – they make the site a better place.
The mercato is a necessary evil – I suppose we just grin and bear it 🙂 You’re right though, definitely not time to celebrate anything – Nothing is official until it’s official – then perhaps we can start to dream of a midfield of Pogba, Pjanic, Marchisio, Khedira etc.
As for the Twitter convo’s and news all over the place…..that was exactly the reason for this post – to try and condense everything into one place and then recap the siutation with facts and actual comments rather than press speculation!
I just remember previous celebrations that turned into “but, but, but whyyyyyyyy”.. so inwardly I’m eeeeking with the best of them but outwardly keeping my composure. Honestly, August 31st can’t come soon enough this year! I just want it to be overrr! XD The horrible thing is that the more we keep winning, the crueler our mercati will be. So, we’re doomed!
Totally agree – it’s those two months from the end of june to the end of august where i can;t help but wonder about Pogba, Morata…and now Dybala and Sandro – We finally have nice things and everyone wants them!
Remember when we have paolucci, Grygera and knezevic ? No one wanted them. good old days – no trophies, no success, no problem ;P
Sandro and Dybala? Please not!!
Financially the days when we needed to sell players is over. We are heading in the next few years for half a billion euros turnover – safe to assume that we don’t need to sell….
The only question that remains therefore is do the players want to leave? I think that as long as we are challengers in the CL, and can offer reasonably high (note not the highest) wages then players will stay from now on. The Moratta situation is unique of course. Rest easy!
Yeah sounds great!
Hernanes, Asamoah, Neto, Peryra(????) Morata all out. Morata had one perfect night in march. Thats it.
Alves, Pjanic, Marchetti, Berardi all in.
I think Juve should only focus on the CL.
Scudetti is to easy and coppa nothing special.
Its time to get the biggest trophy.
Always a pleasure to read your answers on elisa. Seems to be shes the only girl here.
Thanks god she supports our greatest love!!
Pogs will stay until 2017 when he will be down to 2 years left on his current deal if I recall. Then it will be D-Day – he will either leave (or Juve get rid for fear of the contract running down to 1 year when his value will be far less), or he will want a huge increase in his salary to make him stay. If he’s on 4.5 mil euros at the moment I can see him wanting that increased to at least 6.5. Even then he will be pretty cheap by the standards of what others are getting in Spain and England. But I imagine if he loves the club an extra 40k a week might just be enough to keep him with us.
Apparently we were going to offer him a contract extension till 2020 with an improved salary. 6M starting from 2016/17 increasing linearly to 7.5M in the 2019/20 season. Maybe that was all BS, but I liked the sound of it.
https://m.calciomercato.com/en/news/exclusive-juventus-offer-paul-pogba-contract-extension-all-the-d-560334
Sounds probable. It would be a Juve ‘thing’ to make it rise year on year. Not like us to spoil a player by giving them all their sweets in one go!
i heard he will get 6,5 plus bonuses
I heard it already is going up to 6 or 6,5 from next season on
Why move to a new club with immense pressure with 1 year remaining in starting of world cup.
Money chap – it is the loudest voice by far footballers and their agents hear… Drowning out almost everthing else including logic, integrity and rationale.
Juve: (assuming new deal) 6-7 million euros a year wage…
RM or Barca or Man UTD or City or PSG: 5% of the likely 100m euro transfer fee & 12+ million euros a year wage….
It takes a very strong and principled man to turn down such a huge increase in money. Pogba’s world may not be about money though, although it has to be said that would put him in a tiny minority of footballers.
Fact is None of the club has an interesting project like Juve.Juve have a tactical genius Allegri and the best youngsters in Europe in which he is the focal Point. Pogba also rejected last year Chelsea huge salary Offer .If Roma can give De Rossi 6.5 mil then Juve can also give pogba 8.5 mil which would be enough to keep him till 2018 and having a shot at Europes best trophy the CL.For Pogba project matters.
I don’t think people turn down Barca or RM because of a better ‘project’! Some may want to stay at Juve for a time because of loyalty, sure it is a famous club and has a big prestige around the world. But if you know who Pogba’s agent is you will know that there is only one thing that ultimately matters, and that is money. Even staying ay Juve is probable calculated by his agent as a longer term benefit to them in terms of transfer fee or wages. That ethos goes all the way back to Pavel Nedved’s time with Raiola as his agent. I don’t think Pogs will leave this year, as a 6th scudetto will be history but he won’t see out his days with Juve unless both the squad is top class AND his pay closes the gap significantly on what the other clubs can offer him.
Remember Pogba has his BIG pride. As the years roll by he won’t like that the fact journeymen squad players in Spain and England get more money than he does (and they do already). Eventually he will throw his toys of of the pram. It’s up to the club to keep him happy. But anyone who thinks a 100+million transfer and 300,000+ euro’s a week wages does not appeal to him or his agent are not living in the real world. Would you turn down a 4x salary increase?
In real barca he will be behind MSN and bale and Ronaldo..No club is offering him 9mil+ salary
Sorry chap but you are incorrect. Clubs are already breaking the 250 – 300,000 k barrier very comfortably now for ** star ** players. With the new premier league TV deal the number of clubs and players being paid that sort of money is going to increase.
300,000 euro’s = £230,000.
To the best of knowledge:
Wayne Rooney / Messi / Ronaldo / Zlatan / Toure / Aguero all currently make around that per week including incentives.
De bruyne / Neymar / Silva / Suarez / Bale / DeGea / Sweinsteiger all make around £200,000.
Pogba, will probably be the biggest transfer in history, and would join Messi etc at that top level.
Chelsea / PSG / Barca / Real / Man U / (maybe)Arsenal / Man City would all offer him that kind of money without a 2nd thought. It’s Pogba we are talking about here, the most wanted player in Europe!
PJANIC UPDATE !
Just heard from a Juventino in Bosnia who sent me an interview from Pjanic’s PR manager – the deal is happening, expected to be finalised soon – Juve have paid the clause in the contract.
Quick get the news out on Chitter or Faceache… Think of all the clickbait potential!
hahaha ! i have done that many times – today, i can’t be bothered 🙂
Thats awesome.. And looking at this pic the new jersey is really growing on me. It also looks good on Pjanic 🙂 The third kit looks promising too. I might be getting both of them.
if you lie i will come for you and eat your liver lol
lmao !!!!!!!
Whilst it seems the deal is close to done (from plenty of other sources), it is a horrid to believe that it has become common place for modern footballers, other than that ponce Ronaldo, to have not just agents but also PR managers. They are not politicians, nor film stars, they make their fame on the field with their feet not on the cat walk or at premieres on the red carpet. PR managers for footballers, dearo dear eh! How the game has changed, and the world in turn. Too many layers between the fans and the beautiful battle, and the same problem with some between the players and the battle. As keen to make a fashion statement as to score a goal…Its something I dislike about Pogba, but he is forgiven such tomfoolery, for he is still so very young, loyal, impeccably behaved and loves the club. He makes more statements with his performances than his hair. Still…I hope it is something he will grow out of. And he likely will as he adjusts to the ever brighter limelight and it becomes more a bane that a sparkle.
Of course the interesting part of Pjanic’s response to his ‘PR manager’ was that whilst bothered, serious and demanding respect to Roma and himself, he did not at all make any move to deny the irksome outburst of his pal Adis Junozovic.
That picture + caption “120m for a player terrified of footballs? Where do we sign ?!”
Funniest thing I have seen in a while 🙂
I can’t help but to thrilled about Pjanic. Seems to be coming true and with Alves and Berardi coming in too.. Great stuff to look forward to! Especially if Morata would also stay..
Same for Pogba and Dybala and all others mentioned of course, but I doubt there is any truth to these rumours!
Anyone know why deschamps plays Pogba out of position? A waste of talent.
I think to accommodate Matuidi. Deschamps would know that Pogba is better on the left, I think he is trying to fit in all his best players into a starting XI, and pushing Pogba to the right is the easiest way to do it.
Pjanic did say his PR agent has no authority to say anything about a deal, Lets hope it doesnt mean there is no deal
he said that he didn’t know the guy, but i’ve seen lots of pictures of the two of them together so he’s not being entirely honest
Sounded a lot like it, with more standard stuff. Protecting Roma a bit I think, as long as the move isnt official yet
Probably scared for his personal safety from their ultras, until he is safely in Turin!
Haha that ofc too! To make a dignified exit eh!
Is it me or did our boys not start off euro16 too well? Evra giving away a clumsy penalty and Pogba being subbed out?
Evra was clumsy and was shown for a lack of pace. Pogs was good, very good passing but continues to make people wonder what all the fuss is about. For the huge transfer fee touted people are expecting Messi or Maradonna (or even Baggio) like skills, and so people (in UK I can speak for) think he’s seriously overrated – that was being said last night on twitter. Did not help him that Payet was playing top of game last night. He is a great player.
Couldnt watch the game so checking out here!
Cant blame people for it I guess, most of them dont even see Pogba play after all. Based on hearsay and media reportings instead of watching the player.
Hopefully Pogba can show them why he is so highly rated
His passing was top drawer last night. He made some telepathic crosses and through balls. Plus he had a great shot saved. He was only 2nd to Payet.
Good to hear, thanks for informing me mate!
Hopefully he can put in some MOTM performances for France! (Kinda expect France to win the whole thing)
For sure. He will be topnotch in 2 years. Now hes sometimes overrated.
Pogba was clearly given no freedom from deschamps.He was always on def duties which in a wayhurted his attacking prowess.Playing him on the right hand side of midfield did not help.
Yes it is odd that he was placed on the right flank, while he thrives being on the left flank.. I can only guess it is to accomodate as many stars as possible and assuming Pogba will adapt to any role given
read this guys, looks like we got him.
https://app.football-italia.net/?referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.football-italia.net%2F85684%2Froma-pjanic-asked-juventus#article/footballitalia-85684