The stars start to jockey for summer moves
Friday 03 April 2009 16:00
It’s getting to that stage of the season where a footballer’s thoughts turn to a big-money move - or an improved contract at least.
Many of Serie A’s finest are trooping back from international duty no doubt feeling that it might be a time for a change of scenery.
Leading the list is Ricky Kaka, who, whenever back in Brazil, seems to find something to complain about concerning Italy.
This time, it was about the quality of medical treatment between the two countries. The midfielder has been hobbling around since Christmas but all it took was a few days back home and he felt as right as rain again.
Something amiss in at the much revered MilanLab then? No doubt there will be plenty of backtracking over the weekend to get back in the good books of the Milan medical staff.
It's this two-faced attitude that eventually wears everyone down, and isn’t it time he acted like a good Christian and just came out and admitted he wants to join Real Madrid or Chelsea?
Maybe Ricky thinks it won’t be a clean break after all and there waiting for him on the steps of the Bernabeu or Stamford Bridge will be apple-cheeked Carlo Ancelotti.
"You can't escape me, sunshine"
Adriano may be sporting a big grin when he regales his grim-faced Argentine team-mates about his exploits at the Brazil country club, but even he’s trying to muscle onto the getaway bandwagon.
You'd think he'd be grateful that he's being paid a king’s ransom to swan off to South America to party, but the wayward front-man has apparently gone missing and failed to board the plane back to Milan on Friday.
Even before he “disappeared” – at the time of writing: whereabouts unknown – there he was claiming he had to “reflect” on whether he should sign another deal with the club (or in other words, wait until president Massimo Moratti deposits a few more zeroes into his bank account).
Someone else with ideas above his station is Gianluigi Buffon, who must have been watching that movie with Robert Redford and Demi Moore. Why else would he put out such an indecent proposal?
Of course, it was left to Gigi’s agent to mouth that stock phrase when there's a whiff of money in the air: “Gigi is happy at Juve – but you know, if an incredible offer came along, then we would have to think about it.”
Note the word “incredible.” But what's even more incredible is that these players can get away with such utterances and end up getting their own way.
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About Richard Whittle
Despite the name,
Richard Whittle is so at home in Italy that some call him Riccardo Rossi. He has lived and worked in Italy for the last 15 years as a football journalist and works as Italian soccer commentator for the English-speaking world covering Serie A, Champions League, Europa League and Italian Cup matches as well as Italy internationals. With Paul Visca, Richard concocts the regular
Calcio & Coffee podcast.