Dan The Man

Daniele De Rossi Remains Loyal to his Hometown Club

Daniele De Rossi has rejected a move to English giants Manchester City. Yeah this is old news, but I have yet to offer my opinion on it. 

Daniele is one of the premier talents in the Italian Serie A, and to see him reject a move to one of the biggest clubs in the world is admirable. It's not like any Italian football fans hated De Rossi in the first place, I just feel like he gets forgotten about at times. Maybe last year more than ever, just because Roma was such a mediocre team. But when the Euro came around, De Rossi was arguably the Azzurri's best player, and was noticeable at all times on the field. Whether it was creating an offensive opportunity, or if it was making a last ditch effort on the defensive end he was absolutely sublime. Or maybe, just maybe, it was showing that he could even play in central defense if need be, to me he is one of the most valuable talents on the planet.

The Roman Boys Celebrate the 2006 World Cup Win

Putting a price on him would be difficult, but Roma was put in a very tough place following the £31 million offer Man City threw at them. There a comes a time when an offer is just too good to reject, and maybe this was it, however selling De Rossi at this point would be extremely detrimental to the team's prospects for this year. If there was one player on any team in the Serie A, that you could say is irreplaceable, who would it be? I'd say Daniele De Rossi. 

Roma's Future Captain

Daniele is the reason I think Roma can challenge for the Scudetto in 2012/13, we know that Zeman's all out attack tactics will be in full effect, but without De Rossi Roma don't have that rock in the midfield that can save goals from going in on their own net. I may be Serie A biassed, but Daniele is the best box to box midfielder in the world. I challenge you to name me a better one. 


But really I just wanted to applaud Daniele, I have all the respect in the world for this guy, he knows Roma have a chance at a title this year, and he wants to stick it out and win some trophies with his hometown club. It's hard to find a guy like him in football these days. 

Grazie Daniele You Have Earned the Respect of Many Around the Globe

Van Persie Agrees Terms with Juventus

More of a story than a blog here today, but Sky Italia's Gianluca Di Marzio is claiming that Juventus have agreed to personal terms with Robin Van Persie.

Twitter has been sent abuzz with news that Van Persie has agreed to personal terms with Juventus. Sky Sport Italia is reporting that it is in the 5-6m Euro per season range, which isn't bad for a player of his quality, but the real sticking point is the transfer fee.

Arsenal are being very stubborn on the fee for Robin Van Persie which is at the very least 20m pounds. So far Juve have not gone anywhere near that. Juventus has always been known for setting their price on a player and how much they would like to pay for his services. If the fee is to high they'll go find someone else, perfect example is Marco Verratti.

To this point Juve have not offered more than 15m Euro which is way off the asking price Arsenal is looking for, and reports have circulated that Manchester United has put down an offer of 30m Pounds for RVP. Naturally, Arsenal has taken this offer into consideration and is trying to use it against Juventus to try and squeeze more money out of the Bianconeri. However, I seriously believe that Juventus will not go much higher than what they are at right now.

Yes it would be nice to get Van Persie but they will only buy him if he costs considerably less money than what Fiorentina is asking for Jovetic. Look at it this way, get a player who is in his prime, and about to fall on the wrong side of thirty(Van Persie), or pay the same price for a young star who has yet is just entering his prime, and whose value is almost certain to grow(Jovetic). The latter is the decision Juventus has a history of making.

Unless Arsenal lower their asking price from Juventus considerably, then this news means nothing. Fans of Juventus or the Serie A can only hope that Arsenal decide to sell RVP at a discount to the Bianconeri just to get him out of the English Premiership.