May 9 Juventus News: Frings Farewell & more

By: Gianfranco | May 9th, 2007

Exactly what I never wanted to write, but I guess the time has come……… Torsten Frings signed an extension to stay with Werder Bremen until 2011, which almost completely rules out the German coming to Juventus this summer. This is a huge loss as just a couple weeks ago it seemed we were in the drivers seat with Frings being in Torino meeting with management. This hurts in more ways then one, not only do we lose out on Frings but now other teams who know we are desperate for a big time midfielder are going to increase their asking prices for Gilberto, Diego, Mavuba, Mesto, and so on. Now this is vital for Juve to step up their search for a midfielder with some serious negotiating to come soon…..

The Giandomenico Mesto rumor has come to light again since Frings renewed with Bremen.

Not only am I a diehard Juventino, but Im an avid baseball fan as well. Im a diehard New York Mets fan and follow all of baseball very closely with an eye on prospects and the minors. In baseball it is rare to come across Italian players, the vast Minor League system always holds interesting stories and journeys of players trying to make it, and the following two youngsters are the only two Italian born players in the minors right now. So I’d like to introduce my readers to Alex Liddi and Alessandro Maestri. It is exciting to see two young Italians in a calcio crazy country try to eark their keep playing the American pastime, to me I find it truly interesting. Liddi is in the Seattle Mariners farm system and Maestri is in the Chicago Cubs farm system honing their skills in the Minor Leagues I will be following the two closely on their progress and keep anyone up to date if interested. In bocca al lupo ragazzi

To Marcello in regards to your comment, no worries Juventus is not turning into Inter at all. First off we would never want to be anything close to Inter, unlike the Nerazzurri the core of our team is Italian. Buffon, Chiellini, Del Piero, Camoranesi, Palladino, Marchionni, Balzaretti, Birindelli and others are just the players who are usual starters. The base of our team for the years to come will revolve around Buffon, Criscito, Palladino, Chiellini, Nocerino, Marchisio and others. So to put the issue to rest after recent debate, no Juventus is not turning into Inter at all. A few summer transfers of some foreigners does not mean we will be like Moratti’s misfits, it all has to due with who is available for positions we need. Like central midfielders our most needed position, the top Italians are Pirlo, Gattuso, De Rossi, Aquilani, Perotta, Corini trust me none of those guys are available for Juventus. Same goes for defenders, which have the two most promising Italian defenders with Chiellini and Criscito. This is why we will most likely be bringing in some foreigners this summer, but no need to worry.