Poulsen Is Not D’Agostino’s BFF

By: roberto | June 28th, 2009

According to reports, the D’Agostino deal has broken down on account of Poulsen’s unwillingness to live in Turkey… well sort of. The Turkish giants offered Juventus €7.5 million for the Danish international and another €4.5 million a year for four years as the player’s salary. However the defensive midfielder turned it down. While he’ll only be making €3 million a season with Juventus, Poulsen admitted sometimes it’s not all about the dough.

“I am honoured by Fenerbahce’s offer… £3.7m is a lot, but to me it’s not just a question of money. I want to continue with Juventus. For me, it’s very important that my family finds itself well in the city in which I play”.

I see where you’re coming from Christian, family is number one. Unfortunately for D’Agostino, this meant that the likelihood of Juventus meeting Udinese’s €20 million price tag was next to zero. Now while I would’ve liked to see us offload one or two defensive midfielders in favour of someone with D’Agostino’s characteristics, especially ahead of our imminent switch to a 4-3-1-2 or 4-2-3-1 system, the reality is Pozzo’s demands are still a bit too high here. Kudos goes out to Poulsen for sticking to his guns and Secco as well for keeping our youth prospects far from the bargaining table.

IERI… OGGI… DOMANI… SEMPRE JUVE!!!

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Category: Management, Players, Team News

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Armando

Well that sucks that we cant sell Poulsen then, because he doesnt really contribute much of anything for the team in my opinion.

I didnt think Santos really had a bad confederations cup at all. I've never watched him play with the Corinthians, but i thought he did well in the Confed Cup. Then again, i only caught 2 or 3 of Brazil's games.

For 6 million, i wouldnt disagree with it to be honest. Still though, i'd rather just get Maggio instead (who can play on either wing i believe), but Juve doesnt seem to be watching him. Maggio would probably cost more like 10 million, possibly even 12 or 15, but he's worth it.

Alessio, you think Xabi is gonna cost 30 million or moe? I dont know about that, i wouldve guessed 30 million at the max. Then again, the monster prices of Kaka and Ronaldo will obviously not help that, especially when we're fighting with Perez. We should still try though. The D'Agostino saga is most likely over (then again, the same thing happenned with Diego, we got close, then distanced ourselves, and then all of a sudden got him), i dont know much of Ledesma, Xabi's great but is VERY expensive, so i think Cigarini would be perfect.
Johonna

Er, Armando, did you not read Roberto's blog? Poulsen wont go. Not for more money. He likes it in Italy and if a player doesn't want to leave, the club cannot force him to. The contract works both ways.
alessio

Armando, given Real's interest and Xabi Alonso's superb season, I would say he's not going for less than 30mil.
Calisi

I forgot to add, I haven't seen much of Santos.
Calisi

I agree Weston, I thought South Africa caused all kinds of trouble for Santos. Maybe he had an off day, but I wasn't really a fan of his play.

Armando, how much are you anticipating him to cost?
sissoko man love

Cool, it will probably be available to start a week or two before serie a starts so we'll be in touch about it then.
Weston (@wpazzurri)

im not big on santos, he had a dreadful confed cup in my opinion and seemed very ronaldo-like in attitude, but then again, thats all i have to go by... ive never tried the fantasy league, football manager is so much better ;)
Armando

Honestly, i think we actually do have a chance to sign Xabi. Secco has been doing much better lately in the transfer market, even though he couldve sold Mellberg and Marchionni(if his move is actually official) for a bit more. Diego is a fucking awesome signing, and Cannavaro is still good, and his style suits the italian style of play more, so i think he'll do better here than he did at Real. So we know Poulsen is valued at around 7 million, based on Fenerbahce's offer, while Xabi is valued around 25 million. So give Liverpool Poulsen plus 20 million. Then sell Tiago, Grygera, and possibly a striker for some of the funds for this. Or just give Liverpool Poulsen and Tiago plus 15 million. I think Tiago would be open to moving back to the EPL which suits him better. I like D'Agostino, but we should forget about him and get Xabi. Imagine a 4-3-1-2 like this:

Buffon
Brazzo Canna Chiellini Santos
Marchisio Alonso Sissoko
Diego
Del Piero Amauri

Also, get Andre Santos, he's a very good left back. And to Roberto, i just think he's flatout better. More versatile, much better at attacking, etc. I'd say they, especially Zebina, might be better at defending, but only a little bit, and Brazzo in my opinion is MUCH better at attacking. It's a shame he didnt get more time last season.
alessio

Barretto is a decent player but I wouldn't bet on any capocannoniere for him...
Calisi

I'm down for a fantasy league, my friend and I used yahoo sports last season. It is different than ESPN and fantasy.premierleague.com but I enjoyed it. You can change your entire roster each week as long as you stay within the 100mil cap. Player's costs fluctuate with performance, but when you sell, you sell for the original price you purchased them for. You must put 11 on the field, and you can change up the formations a bit.
Pablo

I'm interested in the fantasy mini league. The palermo offside had one last season but people got bored really quick.
sissoko man love

Yo alessio, you mentioned you watch Bari a lot- I was wondering what your thoughts are on Barreto- checkin over the Bari roster and it looks like he put up some filthy numbers last season. I'm makin a run for that free copy of fifa 09 prize for espn fantasy haha watch out! speaking of which we should get a little mini league going when the time comes at the end of the summer if anyone is interested...
alessio

And by poor bargaining tactic, it is, of course, Tuttosport doing it on our behalf.
alessio

Xabi's price has doubled since last summer, and with Perez/Real really wanting him, there is ZERO chance we could sign him. I've always liked the guy though.

It's a poor bargaining tactic, we have the money for D'Agostino but everyone knows we can't compete with Madrid for Xabi.
HolyMann

Bargaining tactic....but i think that they do have the money but think that what udinese are asking for is too much for him, and for that price (maybe a little more) they can get someone like Alonso......or it could be all bullshit and just rumors.....who knows
Johonna

Alright, here is what I dont get: If Juve is saying that they can't afford D'Agostino, how can they afford Xabi Alonso?

Or do you think this is just a bargaining tactic?
Sam

Frikin Moggi.
HolyMann

off subject: Moggi is back with Bologna?? this should be interesting....
Nicolo

Alessio, i concede the defense line i proposed would be on the most part young, but it is also all italian, which can only benefit both Juve and the Azzuri. Besides, we would still have Grosso, Cannavaro and Legrotagglie who could provide the necessary experience for these youngsters, who would learn from the experience and become better players. By the time Grosso, Cannavaro and Legro retire, Chiellini would then be experienced enough to be the leader of our defense

The key part of what I have proposed, as you said, is that it is do-able, especially with our management not willing to spend too much without selling first.

Alessio what other recommendations for Defense could you suggest?
I really wanted criscito to come back, I hope someow it happens next year.
alessio

Agreed with Anthony. If we can't buy D'Ago, the other pickings in the midfield are mediocre, let's stop throwing money at the midfield and spend a bit on fullbacks.

Nicolo, that backline sounds a bit young...but brilliant, and do-able.
Nicolo

And i forgot to mention Santacroce from Napoli, im praying we get him, he is aboslutely awesome, and can play both central and right back.

My preffered back line is Grosso, Chiellini, Cannavaro, Santacroce, with Legrotagglie, De Silvestri, De Ceglie and Ariaudo as subs. Need to get rid of Molinaro, Grygera and Zebina, and very glad mellberg is gone!
Nicolo

Lazio's De Silvestri wants to leave, anyone else think we should sell both Zebina and Grygera for players like this?

Anyone heard the latest on Grosso? As you can see Im mainly concerned with our defence.
Anthony

If we really can't get D'Agostino, then we should probably just stick to the midfielders we have. Its much better than wasting money on more mediocre players. I like that 4-2-3-1 formation, but it leaves Del Piero out of the starting line up. We'll also have three quality strikers on the bench if we play that formation....one of them would need to be sold I think.

I think the 4-3-1-2 is probably best. I'm willing to try playing De Ceglie as a LCM like he played for the Azzurrini at the U21 European Championship. Its not his true role, and he's not exactly a regista...but I'm willing to see how he does there.
roberto

Armando, that exact 4-2-3-1 is what I'm hoping to see next season. I'm interested to know how you rate Brazzo compared to Zebina and Grygera. Obviously higher, but why?
Weston (@wpazzurri)

with de ceglie gone to napoli, criscito still at genoa, molinaro still unable to cross, and zebina and grygera not exactly spectacular, who should we use as fullbacks? motta and santon are probably out of the question, but i heard balzeretti had a good season; what does everybody think about him? i wouldnt mind grosso either because i still think he is pretty good. unlike italy, juventus shouldnt play with players like dossena and gianluca "im-58-years-old" zambrotta.
Armando

How about a 4-2-3-1? I think with us not getting D'Agostino, we should still use the wings somewhat, and maybe concentrate on fullbacks, though Brazzo is very underrated and De Ceglie has a bright future. Though still not as much as the 4-4-2, but at least with attacking midfielders (Camo and Gio in this case) that can drift there or a bit into the middle, whichever they want. Like this:

---------------Buffon
Brazzo--Cannavaro--Chiellini--De Ceglie
--------Marchisio--Sissoko
--Camoranesi---Diego---Giovinco
---------------Amauri

A diamond 4-4-2, aka 4-1-2-1-2 or a 4-1-3-2 would also work like this, with Marchisio and Sissoko alternating in the defensive/central midfielder position, Camo and Gio on the wings or sides of Diego, and ADP and Amauri up front. What do you guys think of this, with us not getting D'Agostino?
roberto

Mauro, Mauro, Mauro. Everyone knows how much I love this guy, even my girlfriend. Like I've said before when all this is said and done him and I will get an apartment together (sorry babe lol). However, I'll also be the first one to admit when his game drops off. Now as you said Alessio, he's been battling injuries for the last two seasons or more and as a result, I think it's clear he's let his frustration dictate his style of play. He seems rougher on his tackles, way more tempermentally inconsistent, and less creative overall. Leaving himself open to even more injuries perhaps? Anyways with that said though, I've still seen enough from him this season to suggest he's still got the goods of a champion. There's no question we'll need him to stay healthy next season if KJ's prediction is to come true, no question.
alessio

Raiola keeps saying he'll play on, but Nedved hasn't said anything to the fact. I wouldn't mind at all if he decided to soldier on with a different challenge, of course, unless it was for Inter, who I doubt would be interested anyways. I just wouldn't understand why he'd rather battle for the Uefa Cup with Lazio then push for Scudetto/CL.
Johonna

Absolutely not, GF. The fans would riot (myself included). Nope, I do see him at Lazio, though.
Gianfranco

Any truth to this Nedved to Inter business!? This would be something...
KJ

Mark my words, Juve will breakthrough this year and overtake Inter for the scudetto...Now get out of the way Christian
Dave

Se l'Udinese non molla D'Agostino, e se la Juventus fallisse l'assalto al Real per Diarra, Ferrara avrebbe in mente una soluzione interna, consegnando all'azzurrino i gradi da regista. (talking about Marchisio)
Dave

In caso di partenza di Grygera, il club bianconero per sostituirlo punterebbe sul napoletano Fabiano Santacroce, o sul ritorno nel Belpaese di Tomas Ujfalusi, ex Fiorentina e adesso nella Liga con la maglia dell'Atletico Madrid
Sam

They will definatly not trade Melo for Marchionni, and i would absolutly love Melo, hes creative, great defensivly nd can also play as a box-to-box midfielder. One of the few absolutly complete midfielders.
Calisi

I'm not sure I like Felipe as a better solution, but with Fiorentina wanting Marchionni supposedly, perhaps that transfer could be worked out smoother.
Mo

Idealy i would like to see felipe melo instead of d'agostino as he has had an incredible season and his performance yesterday got me thinking......he would be perfect alongside sissoko and marchisio! this guy has it all.
alessio

Thanks for the correction, MAD. So you would guess at least 5-10mil of that revenue is put in the mercato, and with the lack of January spending we should still have 15mil or so left in the bank. Not to mention the potential sales (Zebina, 5mil) (Marchionni, 7.5mil) (Paolucci, 5mil) etc.

Sam and Jose, Camo simply cannot be part of our plan for this season as a starter. I love the guy (though maybe not as much as Roberto) but we can't count on him. He started 14 league games this season, and he wasn't fully for for several of those.

Ideally for me, if we sign D'Agostino, we'd have a midfield with a passer, a DM, and an all-around CM. The passer would be D'Agostino, with Tiago, Camo, and Zanetti as subs. The DM would be Sissoko with Poulsen and Zanetti as subs (or if he remains healthy, I'd start Zanetti over Sissoko) and the all-around CM would be Marchisio, with any of the others able to rotate for him.
Sam

yeh i agree with Jose, I really think Camo needs to be part of the 3 man midfield, his creativty, passing, and his back tracking are all great. When fit he needs to start in the midfield, in my opinion.
Jose

How about Camoranesi, he is a good passer and he usually tracks back to defend (certainly more physical than Giovinco)
MAD

"we earned about 50-60mil from the Champion’s League revenue."

Actually, after all the media rights and sponsorship pool money is figured out, the 16 teams that made is to the first knockout round made an average of 38.5 million Euros. Inter was the top grossing Italian team in the neighborhood of 37-35 million.

If I am not mistaken, Juventus made in the neighborhood of 32 million Euros after this last Champions League. A little less than Roma, considering the venue.