Juventus Mercato 2009: The Departures

By: alessio | June 10th, 2009

So we’ve done a post on the possible arrivals at Juventus this mercato. As part of the season review, Martin of the Arsenal Offside did a list of players who are likely to depart the team. I think it’s a great idea, so I’m copying it. Perhaps I should have done the departures before the arrivals…but whatever. That’s how we roll at the Juve Offside. It may sound strange, but I am even more interested in who is leaving. It shows the direction the club is taking in a variety of ways, the least of which, the formation we’ll be using. Without further ado, I present the possible departures from Juventus.

Except for Nedved, of course.

Certain:
Jorge Andrade: Cause we rescinded his contract. All told, we paid about €2.5million per game. And very average games at that. Fuck you, Agricola.
Dario Knezevic: Hoooorayyy try-before-you-buy! His ass is on the first bus back to Livorno.
Pavel Nedved: He wants to spend time with his family….and practice golf so he can kick Mauro and Del Piero’s ass whenever they play. “We had training” won’t be a legit excuse for them.
Sergio Almiron: The management has given up on this guy. We loaned him to Monaco to get his confidence and form back so he could rejoin Juve, the loan to Fiorentina was strictly to try and raise his valuation so we can recoup some money from his signing. Whether he goes out on loan again or the team decides to end this monkey business and take the hit, he won’t be wearing bianconero next year. (unless of course we sell him to Siena, or more appropriate for his level, Ascoli)

Strong Possibility:
David Trezeguet: Trez hasn’t been getting enough minutes since coming back from injury, and is desperate to play. His agent, Antonio Caliendo (Maicon’s too), has been talking his big mouth off for the last 2 months about how Roma or Barca or someone are keen on him. Great. The management has hardly helped matters either, saying we’d sell him for the right price and if he wants to leave, it’ll happen. Last summer it was “he was untouchable,” even in the face of large bids from Barcelona. The good news is if there’s anyone who can keep him around, it’s Ferrara. With Ranieri in-charge, I think this transfer would have been in the certain section. Ferrara played alongside him and I think Trez believes in him as a coach. All I ask for next summer is a summer without massive speculation about Trez’s future, he can’t enjoy it too much either.
Michele Paolucci: Who, you say? A Juve youth product currently co-owned by Juve and Udinese, but playing for Catania. He has scored a respective amount of goals for Catania. Juve’s interested in D’Agostino and Udinese need a replacement for departing bullshit-goal scorer Fabio Quaglierella…I would not be surprised to see the Friuliani buy the other half of his contract, even without a D’Agostino move. I don’t think he can step into Quag’s shoes immediately, but he scored a nice amount and it’s always good to have competition for your other young guns like Sanchez and Floro Flores.
Marco Marchionni: Three years ago, this kid was at Parma lighting up the wing. One of Italy’s few natural wingers, he was routinely being called up by the Azzurri. His career has stalled, hardcore, since his free transfer to Juventus. Marco had a good season in Serie B, and then was injured our entire first season back. This season he has remained relatively injury-free, very important with Camoranesi’s injury problems, but has hardly been staking a strong claim to a starting shirt. Combine this averageness with the strong hints we’ll be moving to a winger-less 4-3-1-2, and you can see where Marco does not fit in the picture. His agent confirmed this to CalcioMercato, saying ““Marco could end up on the market due to a technical choice.” He’s been linked with moves to Fiorentina and Roma. I really like the guy, but he hasn’t really been performing too stellar and the formation next year will probably not have any space for him. Best of luck wherever you go, Marco.

Some Possibility:
Tiago: His form has improved, but if we sign D’Agostino, that may mean the end of his bianconero spell. If we’re moving to a 3-man midfield, we should have 6 CM’s in midfield, which is why I’d like to keep him. But he might not like the idea of playing 3rd fiddle…it would be him or…
Christian Poulsen: He’s largely flopped, and another CM would just bury him in the pecking order. He has a pretty high salary as well. There’s been some offers from Fenerbahce, but his agent has said he’s settled in Turin and does not want to move to Turkey. Anotherwords, he likes practicing with the elite and collecting a nice paycheck.
Jonathan Zebina: Jonathan has never really been liked by most Juventini, (myself strongly included) his performances are average, his salary is high, and his minutes next season are anything but guaranteed. The twist is Ranieri’s departure; the duo never got along, but it could have been due to Zebina’s temper and his unbelievably comically bad season debut in 2007-2008, but he seems to think Ferrara believes in him, having started twice. It could be because Grygera was injured, too.
Mauro Camoranesi: Same reason as Marchionni, technical reasons. The reasons he might stay, though, are that he’s a club hero, he’s world-class when uninjured, and he’s shown before he can play a bit more centrally, even if he doesn’t like it. Though we might not go with a 4-4-2 by default, that doesn’t mean with players like Criscito, De Ceglie, Giovinco, Salihamidzic, and Camo that we can’t bring it back on occasion. If the club gets a decent offer (given his age and injuries), they might go for it.
Paolo De Ceglie: Sort of ditto to Giovinco, with Criscito likely coming back and supposed Juve interest in Dossena (ew no) he’d be squeezed out. His agent has been linking him to several clubs including Udinese in a possible swap-deal. I wouldn’t be totally opposed to his temporary departure if we do indeed bring back Criscito.

Little Possibility:
Sebastian Giovinco: With the arrival of in-kind player Diego from Werder Bremen, he may find his minutes even more constricted for next season and look for a possible loan, or gasp, co-ownership. Udinese wants him in exchange for D’Agostino. The positive news is that if Secco sells Giovinco, there will be a public outcry in Turin that rivals the anti-Cairo riots.
Cristian Molinaro: Like it or not, I really do not see him leaving. The management likes his work ethic and his lack-of-primadonnaness, and why not, he’s a decent player. If we bring back Criscito, maybe he can teach CR28 how to cross. I imagine he’ll be kept as a reserve, and for his determination, attitude, and salary, he’s a good candidate.
Zdenek Grygera: The Czech had a good first season and some good performances, but shouldn’t really be starting. I would imagine Zebina would get the chop before Grygera, but it’s possible if we bring in another right-back. Not a bad reserve, though.

No Chance:
Gianluigi Buffon: This guy endured a lot towards the end of the season, and his extremely-visible disappointment with the team’s performance led to a lot of rumors of him moving on. Unlike Kaka or Ibra, he said “shut the hell up” and issued a personal communique on his official website confirming his love for Juventus and desire to help the team improve. I was glad to hear that he discussed the future with Blanc and Secco (not Ranieri before he was sacked…that was a pretty strong inclination) and they gave him answers. Too often you hear of players who have no relationship with the club and can’t get any response from them, I was glad to know that they are willing to talk to the players.
Alessandro Del Piero: Blah blah blah, Juve has other priorities other than extending his contract right now, OH MY GOD DEL PIERO MIGHT BE LEAVING JUVE!!! God, I wish I worked for one of these papers. Do you know how much money these journalists make? It’d be like writing a plot for Family Guy, take two unrelated things and when bored enough, find some flimsy way to connect them.
Giorgio Chiellini: Goal.com gave me my chuckle for the day when they linked Chiellini AND Buffon to Arsenal.
Claudio Marchisio: Signing D’Agostino doesn’t have anything to do with Marchisio’s position in the team.

Predicted Departures:
De Ceglie (hopefully on co-ownership), Marchionni, Paolucci, one of our right backs. (Grygera, Zebina, Mellberg)

Trez is gonna stay, that’s all I have to say about that.