Pazzini and Cassano in a swap between clubs
Giampaolo Pazzini and Antonio Cassano are all set to trade clubs. Pazzini will be moving to Milan as he no longer fits in with Andrea Stramaccioni’s plans while Cassano is moving to Inter because he’s Cassano and a rolling stone.
Both clubs are strapped for cash but Milan is worse off but are willing to pay €7.5m in addition to offload the striker who will find fewer gays out in Inter’s locker room (ah, just a joke). Cassano is to undergo a medical and Pazzini has already agreed to personal terms where he will be paid €2.8m annually for three years. The agreement was thrashed out at the highest level following a summit between Massimo Moratti and Adriano Galliani.
The Serie is shaping up to be quite an open affair this season. Champions Juve will no doubt feel the pinch of not having Antonio Conte coaching on the sidelines although a 10 month ban in Italy seems to have been redefined as training with the players and talking tactics but not coaching on match day. Conte can obviously take lessons from Jose Mourinho, the master of touchline bans adept at semaphoring his assistants what needs to be done. There is talk of Fernando Llorente coming to town but he’s been linked to so many clubs its hard to take seriously. Plus, no player would like to adapt to a new system with such a coaching vacuum.
Stramaccioni’s Inter are still gelling under him and of concern is their defense that leaked goals all year long. Milan has to deal with the loss of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Motta, two vital players to PSG, opening up more questions to whether they can mount a meaningful title challenge over a long season. With so many uncertainties, the odds favour Napoli, still largely intact minus Ezekiel Lavezzi unless Chelsea raids last minute for Edinson Cavani. It appears Daniele De Rossi will commit to Roma despite all the talk about City spiriting him away for €30m. And even Lazio look good.