Ferrara eyes Juventus reinforcements
Reuters - Thursday 14 January 2010, 17:53
ROME - Under-fire Juventus boss Ciro
Ferrara has called for reinforcements to help stem the Turin
side's worrying slump in form as he prepares for Sunday's Serie
A visit to Chievo Verona.
Ferrara looks to have averted the immediate danger of
dismissal after advancing to the Italian Cup quarter-finals with
a 3-0 win over Napoli on Wednesday.
However, his position remains precarious given that last
weekend's 3-0 home defeat by AC Milan left Juventus 12 points
behind leaders Inter Milan and all but ended their faint title
hopes.
They have 33 points from 19 games and share third place with
Napoli.
Ferrara's options to engineer a reversal of fortunes have
been hampered by injuries to important players such as Mauro
Camoranesi, Vincenzo Iaquinta and David Trezeguet.
Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon said on his website that he is now fit to play after knee
surgery, but the club said later on Thursday that defender
Martin Caceres will be out for 20 days with a thigh strain.
Furthermore, Mohamed Sissoko is at the African Nations Cup
with Mali, while defender Cristian Molinaro and midfielder Tiago
have been loaned out to VfB Stuttgart and Atletico Madrid
respectively.
"Now we'll have to intervene in the transfer market,"
Ferrara told reporters. "Some players have left and they'll have
to be replaced."
Another target is Argentine midfielder Cristian Ledesma, who
is taking legal action to free himself from his contract with
Lazio after being frozen out this season for making a transfer
request.
Juventus were hoping to recall Davide Lanzafame from his
loan at Parma, but the forward's present club told reporters on
Thursday that he will not be moving.
Aside from the result on Wednesday, Ferrara will be
encouraged by the displays of Brazilian playmaker Diego and
captain Alessandro Del Piero.
Diego, who had been a disappointment since arriving in a
big-money deal from Werder Bremen in the close season, netted
the opener and looked sharp throughout.
Del Piero then grabbed a brace for his first goals of the
season, having had limited playing time so far, in part because
of injury.
Inter are without a long list of injured players for
Saturday's tricky match at Bari but forward Mario
Balotelli is available after a suspension.
In-form AC Milan, who are eight points behind Inter in
second with a game in hand, meet bottom side Siena at home on
Sunday.