Transfer Rumors, aka: Hey Juve, Wake the @#$% Up

By: Chris | May 23rd, 2007

On the biggest day of club football during the year, newspapers would much rather report on who might be moving where this summer. Makes sense. Let’s roll with them. Il Romanista and a couple others had a few tasty nuggets for us to chew on:

1. Philippe Mexes was reportedly dining with the same Milan official Monday night who was seen earlier in the day in Athens with the team. I know it’s not a long flight, but come on, nobody from Liverpool/Milan was leaving Athens. Unless it was to discuss how Philippe highlights his hair so splendidly.

* – And yes, that picture was taken after Philippe was asked how he feels about joining Milan or Juventus.

2. Juve reportedly met with Roman officials to discuss a price for Mexes and Christian Chivu. Which was immediately met with: they are not for sale. End of story. Upon which the Juve officials immediately threw a tear-filled tantrum and claimed they were going to buy the Colosseum just to get back at Roma. Ok, I made that last part up. But this was reported in Tuttosport, who next week will probably report that Juventus officials have invented a rejuvenation(no pun intended, seriously) machine to bring back a 17 year old Pele and a Zidane with hair. They’re massively pro-Juventus(Tuttosport World Cup headline after Ukraine: Grazie Juvitalia. Even though Toni score two. What a joke). Juve needs to get a clue. They aren’t the big bad wolf anymore. They can’t buy up whoever they so desire. They’re just another soon-to-be-promoted club from Serie B. It felt really good to say that.

* – Btw, if you aren’t going to keep Bojinov, can we have your half?

3. People who have read anything I’ve written will know how I feel about Inter and Massimo Moratti. However, despite their ridiculous player valuation, Inter may have actually gotten a clue. A very small one, but a clue nonetheless. Reports say Inter offered Grosso, the rest of Pizarro’s contract and 5 million euros for Chivu. Roma laughed at this immediately. But if they bump that 5 mil up to 10-12, Roma would have to think a little. Grosso is a bit older but he is not that much of a dropoff from Chivu. If Real Madrid offers 22+ million euros as rumored, then have a nice career, Christian. Chivu is a great player but he has made some pretty bad blunders this year that have resulted in goals that never should have been. Either way, he probably remains in Rome.

4. The last report from Il Romanista dropped my jaw because it came from nowhere. They reported Roma have discussed a 9-10 million offer for Mathieu Bodmer of Lille. I love Bodmer, and I typically hate anything that comes out of France. Bodmer is quite simply a stud, who would slot into a centrocampista role nicely and push Perrotta somewhere else. Only one problem with this, Bodmer is notoriously slow. That doesn’t fly in Rome these days. Still, he’s worth well more than 9-10 million (he’s compared to some dudes named Gerrard and De Rossi) and would do extremely well dictating the offense from midfield, sort of like Pirlo but playing a bit further upfield. Previously linked with Manchester United and Arsenal. I don’t know how legitimate this is but I’m driving the Bodmer-to-Roma bus now.

4. Oh, and there was a little blip that Roma are interested in Gourcuff. Not even worth discussion. Not going to happen. I swear he wears makeup anyway. I’ll pass.

5. I’m throwing out Valeri Bojinov’s ladyfriend, aka babymomma, as a dark-horse for WAG of the year. And yes, you can always count on me for Bulgarian Celebrity Babymomma Gossip. I’ve got a guy on the inside.

Good luck to both squads today.