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DIEGO COSTA TO JOIN AC MILAN

Chelsea striker Diego Costa is set to join Serie A giant AC Milan this summer.

The Spanish forward was deemed surplus to requirements by manager Antonio Conte despite helping the club to their second Premier League title in three years.

The public spat between the former Atletico Madrid man and the former Italian football team manager affected the valuation of the forward as prospective employers know Chelsea are desperate to push him out.

Serie A side AC Milan have signed over ten players as they rebuild their squad. Directors of the club were spotted in London to likely complete the deal for the player. The Rossoneriwant Costa to contribute as they seek to end Juventus’ long standing reign in the league.

Previous links to Alvaro Morata, Andrea Belotti and Pierre-EmerickAubameyang have failed or is failing so Costa’s deal is a realistic one they can complete within the time frame. The Blues striker is also a capable player to lead the attack in Milan. Continue reading DIEGO COSTA TO JOIN AC MILAN

DZEKO BREAKS ROMA GOALS’ RECORD

Roma striker EdinDzeko has broken the club’s record for number of goals scored in a season.

The former Manchester City striker hit both goals in the 2-0 rout of Empoli at the StadioOlympico. Dzeko has a total of 33 goals in all competitions this termwith 23 coming in Serie A games.

The record of 32 goals a season was held by club legend Francesco Totti, Rodolfo Volk and Pedro Manfredinibefore Dzeko broke the mark. He scored the first goal using his knee following a corner kick in the 12th minute. He grabbed the brace in the second half after Mohammed Salah sent the ball.

The scoreline might have gone a different direction had the referee awarded a penalty to Empoli after goalkeeper WojciechSzczesny fouled MameThiam. The loss means Empoli have failed to win any of their last seven matches – they actually have not even played a draw. The foul on Thiam is arguably a penalty kick but that could have changed the dynamic of the game. Continue reading DZEKO BREAKS ROMA GOALS’ RECORD

SALGADO HAILS RONALDO FOR FOURTH BALLON D’OR TITLE

Real Madrid’s star player, Cristiano Ronaldo, was hailed by former defender of same club, Michel Salgado for his (Ronaldo) fourth Ballon d’Or win.

Salgado emphasized that the Portuguese’s successes are interestingly impressive considering who he has been up against.

Salgado believes that its highly impressive for the Real Madrid star to have won the Ballon d’Or four times against the argentine star, Lionel Messi.

In comparison of how determined Ronaldo is to Luis Figo, a former teammate to Salgado said: “I have not gotten to know him (Ronaldo) much, but it was enough to realise what a winner he is, he is a tremendous footballer and a complete sportsman. I have only ever seen Figo with that same winning mentality.”

Salgado also appreciated the team manager, Zinedine Zidane and the team as a whole for their efforts so far in the chase for the Spanish league title. Real Madrid is having a perfect season so far and he thinks the current Real Madrid is more consistent than the one he played with.

Zidane, who played for Los Blancos between 1999 and 2009, is really putting a good fight for the league cup. Salgado praised the team for their mentality, which he says is a lot stronger at the present stage than it was. Continue reading SALGADO HAILS RONALDO FOR FOURTH BALLON D’OR TITLE

Inter Milan needs stability

Former Inter Milan player Luisito Suarez believes that the club needs some stability at the top if they want to become a dominant force once again in Italian football.

Luisito Suarez has been a star player for Inter Milan in the sixties and has won three league titles and two European Cups with the club.

He said that this is a problem that is faced by football clubs in general at the moment and that Inter Milan will have to find a solution to this. He said that managers do barely have time to mount a serious project and that they are replaced too soon without having time to build a team.

Luisito Suarez said that it is this lack of stability that is affecting the club and he feels that there are too many changes at the club. He believes that Inter Milan should appoint a manager for the long run and make sure that he is given the time and resources to build a quality team. Continue reading Inter Milan needs stability

Allegri Warns Juventus about AC Milan’s Threat

Massimiliano Allegri says that he is expecting a tough test from AC Milan as Juventus head into the game looking to maintain their winning run.

Even after having won several consecutive league titles, Juventus remain as the strong favourite for the 2016-17 league title. A game against Milan would probably rank as one of the easiest in the Juventus fixture list, as AC Milan have never really threatened against the top teams in the last couple of years. Financial difficulties, though, meant that the club finally changed ownership from Silvio Berlusconi to Chinese investors.

Milan have been linked with top names in the last few months, although the club are yet to make a significant investment in the transfer window. Manager Vincenzo Montella has managed to revive the form of the team even without substantial investment from the owners. After having managed three consecutive victories, Milan will have a lot of confidence flowing through their veins in addition to the home advantage. Incredibly, the club are just a couple of points behind table leaders Juventus this season. Allegri has seen enough from the opposition to suggest that Milan are now once again on the way to becoming a force in Italian football. Continue reading Allegri Warns Juventus about AC Milan’s Threat

Allegri Confident of Success Once Again in the Italian Serie A

Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri claimed that he is feeling confident about the title chances of his team in the 2016-17 season.

The five-time consecutive Italian champions started their defence of the title with a 2-1 win over Fiorentina. This victory was especially important since the club was entering into a new era. They were without midfielder Paul Pogba, who has been instrumental in the last four title successes. The midfielder was sold for a world record transfer fee of £ 89 million and the club spent most of this fee in bringing Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain.

The Argentine striker showed why he is one of the highly rated forwards in world football. It took him just 75 minutes to open the account for his new club. A proven striker in Italian football, Higuain’s presence is only expected to make Juventus stronger even though they will be without Pogba. Allegri stated that every team’s ambition is to win all the games. Hence, he is prepared to wait until the end of the season to find out the real winner. He is confident about his team’s ability to retain the title since they have signed are some of the best players in the world.
Continue reading Allegri Confident of Success Once Again in the Italian Serie A

AC Milan Gets A New Coach

Different teams are doing different things as the heat turns up in the Euro tournament.

AC Milan on their side is planning their game a little different. They are planning to restructure their gaming plan. It is felt by their new coach, Vincenzo Montella that the team needs to restructure their defensive strategies. His current focus is to devise a new line up for the team and rebuild it from scratch. Rossoneri has lacked a significant leadership for long. That has shown in the past seasons as well. This is a problem that has plagued them as they have sought to find their position in the European competition. The new man at the helm is looking to turn things around and to make things better.

Montella has several changes planned. For instance, he hopes to bring in immediate replacements for players who have departed like Alex from Brazil and Phillipe Mexes from France. Both walked away last month as their contracts explored and were not renewed. Continue reading AC Milan Gets A New Coach

Italian Footballer Andrea Wishes To Move On From National Role

There are some players who find that the time has come to retire from the game, and Andrea Pirlo as part of the Italian team finds that his role in the team has come to an end.

Andrea stated that Conte will probably be looking at other players for taking up the midfielder position. Andrea has had a laminated career where he has had the opportunity of playing in different international teams. For instance, he has left Juventus in the last summer season when he was given the offer to join New York City FC. The player has been part of the Euro 2016 this year, but he feels that his role is no longer with the team.

He is considered a veteran playmaker, but like all footballers, everyone needs to decide when their role has come to an end and when to exit an active playing career from the field. Again, playing for a club is different from playing for a national level team. Andrea has realized this when he was picked to play for Italy. The dynamics are different as most players come in from different clubs as opposed to being part of a football club altogether, even though many might come from other clubs as well. Continue reading Italian Footballer Andrea Wishes To Move On From National Role

Italy is in search of the successor of Antonio Conte

Antonio Conte is the current coach of the Italian national football team but his time in charge of the national side will reach it’s end after the 2016 Euro’s finalizes on July 10. When this time arrives, Conte is going to leave his managerial position of Italy and take charge of Chelsea.

The Italian national football team is now searching around for someone that can replace Antonio Conte and someone who has recently been linked with this position is Claudio Ranieri.

Claudio Ranieri recently secured the Premier League title with Leicester City in what has been an outstanding season for the Greek coach and for Leicester City as well. The 64 year old manager is now attracting the eyes of big clubs and even national sides; one of the national teams that are believed to be interested in offering Ranieri with a managerial position in the team is Italy.

Unfortunately for Italy, Ranieri has declined this offer as he is not interested in taking charge of a national football team.

When Claudio Ranieri was asked about the possibility of coaching the Italian national football team, he replied by saying:”The Italian national team? It’s a closed chapter for me. I was already burned in Greece.”

For the majority of the managerial career of Claudio Ranieri, he has been in charge of clubs more than anything else but Ranieri tried to step away from his safe zone and he accepted the managerial position of Greek but it was a disastrous time for Ranieri as he led the national side to 3 defeats and 1 draw, not even 1 victory.

Ranieri is not interested in taking up another managerial position for any national side. Continue reading Italy is in search of the successor of Antonio Conte

THE THREE DUTCHMEN WHO INFLUENCED ITALIAN FOOTBALL

In AC Milan, you would rarely get away in any debate about the club’s football history without hearing the names of three Dutchmen who changed the game for the club and subsequently Italian football. The orange invasion, as it is referred to, was during the end of the 1980’s to early 1990’s at the Italian club. The period was blessed with abundant top rated football talents such as the Argentine – Gabriel Batistuta, prolific striker – Marco Van Basten, Roberto Baggio and Gianfranco Zola.

Marco Van Basten, Frank Rijkaard and Ruud Gullit formed a three-man Dutch force that changed Italian football. Arrigo Sacchi was made coach at The Rossoneri at the time. He was instrumental to the fine tuning of AC Milan, after a few years of trouble for the club. Basten was blessed with the height, a lethal finish aside being swift. He was touted to be the next Johan Cruyff and he lived up to expectations with his impressive display. He made the switch to The Red and Blacks after a successful campaign with Dutch giants, Ajax.

On the other hand, Gullit signed with the club at almost the same as Basten. Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Costacurta had developed a strong partnership at the defense line leaving both Dutchmen with leading the striking force. This combination led to Milan’s clinching of the title with only two losses. Continue reading THE THREE DUTCHMEN WHO INFLUENCED ITALIAN FOOTBALL

Antonio Conte’s long term future remains undecided

Antonio Conte is the current head coach of the Italian national football team and he has contract with them which extends until the end of the 2016 Euro’s but the Italian coach has received numerous offers from different clubs and now it seems uncertain as to what Conte will do after his time with the Italian team runs out.

Carlo Tavecchio is the President of the Italian Football Federation and the administrator is hoping that Antonio Conte will stay in charge of Italy beyond the conclusion of the 2016 Euro’s but it will ultimately depend on whether or not Conte accepts a contract extension deal.

“We’re willing to extend Conte’s contract by two years but obviously it will depend on what he wants and what conditions present themselves during Euro 2016 which we hope to win. I’m sure that he will renew, he is like a son to me. However, if he decides to look elsewhere, then we will find a capable replacement’’ This was the statement that was released by Carlo Tavecchio as he expressed his desire to see Antonio Conte remain in charge of Italy for a few more years.

Ac.Milan, Chelsea, Manchester United and Real Madrid are all of the top European clubs that have shown interest in adding Antonio Conte to their managerial staff departments. The majority of these clubs have had a recent change with their respective managers and are now looking around the transfer market for coaches who are capable of winning titles and Antonio Conte is an experienced manager who has lifted the Serie A silverware with Juventus on 3 occasions and he is doing a superb job with the Italian national team as well. Continue reading Antonio Conte’s long term future remains undecided