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Free Weekly Episode - AC Milan Sign Okafor With Chukwueze Next, Man Utd Hojlund Bid, Pogba & Lukaku Chaos, Retegui To Genoa & Much More (Ep. 344)
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From AC Milan surprise signing of Noah Okafor with Samuel Chukwueze coming in, Romelu Lukaku begs forgiveness from Inter Milan who have created an absurd lack of goalkeepers in squad whilst being ridiculously links to PSG striker Kylian Mbappe, Bayern Munich's Kim Min-Jae incredible legacy at Napoli and Serie A, Italy striker Mateo Retegui joining Genoa, Fiorentina loan Arthur Melo for almost nothing from Juventus whose Paul Pogba situation gets worse by the day, to Man Utd bidding for Atalanta starlet Rasmus Hojlund as well as which club is the best fit for Roma linked Gianluca Scamacca and much, much more as Nima and Carlo break down all the talking points from a jam-packed week in in Italian football.
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Transcript
Introduction to Italian Football Podcast
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian football podcast. Hello everybody and welcome to the Italian football podcast. I'm Carlo Garganese, here as always with Nima Tavalli. So it's been another crazy week on the Mercato.
Milan's Transfer Strategy: Okaphor and Chukweze
00:00:18
Speaker
Milan have continued their spending spree. They have signed Noah Okaphor.
00:00:23
Speaker
who, well, this one came completely out of nowhere, but they finally got their striker that they needed so desperately. They're also about to sign Samuel Chukweze, the winger, explosive winger from Villa Real. So they have now spent all the money that they made for selling Sandra Tenali, and they brought in a host of players with that money. So Milan, very, very busy.
Lukaku's Attempted Return to Inter
00:00:49
Speaker
Elsewhere, we've got Romelu Lukaku, who has come begging back to Inter. He doesn't seem to have any club to go to, obviously, right now. Inter, there's also a goalkeeper mess at Inter. They go on their pre-season tour without a first-choice goalkeeper or a second-choice goalkeeper. So what is going on there? Kim Min Jae has now officially left Napoli. How will he be remembered after only one season at Napoli, but what a season it was.
00:01:18
Speaker
Matteo Reticchi, Italy's naturalised centre forward, has joined or will have joined by the time this podcast comes out. Genoa, he's having his medical on Monday. Arthur Mello has joined Fiorentina on loan from Juventus. Can he rebuild his career of such a, such a, the next Javi, he was called by Javi himself a few years ago, can he finally rebuild his career?
00:01:43
Speaker
Paul Pogba at Juventus, can he rebuild his career? It's a total shambles right now, he's injured, he's probably not gonna be fit for the start of the season.
Juventus' Injury Woes: Pogba's Struggles
00:01:51
Speaker
He's not gonna play in the United States on Juventus' tour, so we will discuss that as well. Then, Rasmus Heuland, Manchester United are set to make an official bid this week for Heuland, he's already agreed personal terms. How much should Atalanta charge Man United? What is he worth?
00:02:10
Speaker
and lots of other topics which we will aim to get into, but we'll see how we get on. We've got Kilian Mbappe, the domino effect of his transfer away from PSG on Serie A teams and even Inter being linked to him. So lots to talk about. We've got plenty more as well. We'll see if we can get to all of it.
00:02:31
Speaker
As always, this is our free weekly episode, which we do every Monday, reviewing the weekend Seria action and all the biggest talking points in Italian football.
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00:02:41
Speaker
If you want to support the Italian football podcast and receive all our content that we do throughout the week, including our weekly Q&A episode every Tuesday, where we answer all the questions sent in from our Patreons, plus the weekly Thursday midweek review show, plus interviews, post-match reaction and much, much more, then go to patreon.com slash
00:02:58
Speaker
and become a subscriber for just $2.99 a month plus VAT. And for all of you listening on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Podcasts, et cetera, we'd really appreciate a five-star rating. And give us a follow, subscribe to us.
00:03:13
Speaker
really helps us to grow. And I can just say actually that last Monday's show was our most listened to podcast ever since we started this three years ago. So thanks everyone for your support. So let's get into the today's show.
Milan's Young Talent Acquisition Strategy
00:03:30
Speaker
Okay, let's start with AC Milan, who had been very, very busy over the last week. They officially signed Noah Okafur from
00:03:45
Speaker
RB Salzberg. They signed in for between 13 to 15 million, including addons. Nima, we know that Milan have been looking for a striker all summer desperately because of Olivier Giroud is going to turn 37 and they needed a younger attacker. What do you make of this? Is this the right striker that they brought in?
00:04:13
Speaker
I mean, that remains to be seen whether or not he's a success or not. I don't want to go too much into that, but again, it reveals a clear strategy from on behalf of Milan. It reveals that
00:04:29
Speaker
they know exactly what they want to do, whether or not it's successful or not. That remains to be seen. But it is clear that Milan are going after these, they're hoovering up young, talented players of a specific profile. They want to play, I think Milan are becoming the 21st Premier League team. I mean, they don't play in the Premier League, of course, but it seems to me the more you look at these signings that they
00:04:53
Speaker
They intend to play Premier League-style football, a high-intensity, high-tempo game with all these signings that they brought in much more direct. They're having a fantastic window.
00:05:11
Speaker
They're very ruthless in how they go about things. Again, 76 words, bye-bye Paolo Maldini, bye-bye Ricky Massara. Then they got to work. The first thing they did was sell Tonali and they didn't give a damn what anyone said. They didn't give a damn about the criticism from the fans, from the media, from anyone. They just ruthlessly went about their business. They've signed a couple of players who all are one 27-year-old, one 25-year-old, but most of them younger than that.
00:05:38
Speaker
And they're bringing in a player who has pace, strength, intensity, can score, can create, very versatile, very dynamic. He can play in all three positions in a 4-3-3. And I think Pimilan are going to play a little bit like Napoli did.
00:05:57
Speaker
last season. What do I mean by that? I mean by the sense that they're not going to be so rigid in their 4-2-3-1. I think they're going to be very, very fluid between their 4-2-3-1 and a 4-3-3. And Liao and Okafor and Chukwezo, if he arrives, you're going to see a lot of positional shifts, a lot of interpositional changes.
00:06:17
Speaker
It's very clear how Milan are going about it, how they're going to play, and I think it's going to be very interesting to follow. It's, again, 24th of July. It's impossible to say where they are in the Scoredetto if they can win it, but I think next season's title race is going to be very, very tight, and I think it's obvious that Milan are in it.
Okaphor's Potential Impact at Milan
00:06:36
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think with Okafor specifically, I mean, obviously, I don't watch him week in, week out, but I've seen him in the Champions League. I've seen him for Switzerland. I remember him causing Italy all kinds of problems in that World Cup qualifier, the 1-1 when Torgini missed. Well, he missed.
00:06:53
Speaker
He missed penalties in both of them, but the second one, the second one that Italy, when they would have qualified for the World Cup if they'd won at home, and he, Ocofor, started. Switzerland had a lot of plays out and he was quite unknown.
00:07:10
Speaker
no one knew much about him going into that game. And he caused all kinds of problems in that game. That's the first time I stood up and noticed of him. And I've seen him in the Champions League. He scored against Milan last season. You can see he has that. He has a quality. He has quality. You can see he has pace. He has the physical qualities, the intensity that you talked about there, Nima. He can score and create goals.
00:07:36
Speaker
But I also, he's definitely a very flexible player, he's a very versatile player, and I think that's a positive because he can play in the centre, so he can rotate with Giroud, who obviously isn't going to be able to play every week at his age. But as Milan are going into more of this 4-3-3, he can play on the left, he likes to go drift out to the left a lot, but he can also play on the right,
00:07:56
Speaker
He can play in a front two, not that I think Milan will play in a front two, but he's got those physical qualities that he can stretch the play, he can work the channels.
00:08:07
Speaker
So, you know, I think there is the ability and potential there. He's young. He's not prolific. I mean, you look at his goal record, 43 goals in 177 games. He's never hit double figures in the league. That obviously, that has to improve if he is going to move on to the level that Milan need from attackers. But you can see the potential. I think in a way, it's kind of
00:08:30
Speaker
there's the risk versus reward on this transfer. I think it's a good one from that in the sense that the price is good, 13 to 15 million, including add-ons. I mean, if this goes wrong, they can still sell and not make a loss at all really. So I think there's not too much risk in this transfer. There's a lot more potential reward than there is risk. The biggest concern I have
00:08:55
Speaker
is, and we're going to talk about injury prone players, including Pogba, later, his injury record. That is a concern. His injury record is not good. He's had 13 different injuries in the last three seasons. Lots of muscle and hamstring injuries. That can happen when you're young, obviously, growing pains and all that. So we'll see if Milan can solve that out. But that would be my biggest concern, would be his injury record.
00:09:19
Speaker
No, I think that's a good point. I think that's a good point. But to me, if it's just to pick up on that financial point, it's Milan are having a fantastic summer. I mean, the way that they're investing.
00:09:30
Speaker
They're not overpaying for any players. They're even managing to sell, you know, what's his name, Fude Balotore, who are one of our patrons called Balon Dore. You know, they're even managing to cash in on him. And they're doing a really good job this summer of being able to sell players, get something for them, and it doesn't drag on. I mean, this deal with Okafor, they completely kept that under wraps.
00:09:59
Speaker
And by the time it was leaked, it was already done. It was finished. It was done. Completely done. So they're really doing something really interesting here. And it's something new that we've never seen in the city. What about Samo Chiquerzi?
00:10:15
Speaker
because he's going to join Milan as well. It's a done deal. It's only, you know, he's going to come in and he's going to do his medical in the next day or so. And then that would be done. We're looking at 20 million plus 8 million in bonuses, 4 million a year.
00:10:32
Speaker
Gabbia, Matteo Gabbia will go on loan to Villa Real as part of the negotiation. Again, kind of fits into what Milano is trying to do. Players with pace, intensity, physicality, versatility, youngsters. This is somebody that's been labelled by some, probably exaggerated, the Nigerian I.N. Robin. He is certainly an explosive player.
00:10:59
Speaker
I think it's an interesting one. He's 10 goals, seven assists last season in all competitions. He can score, he can assist. He's inverted with his left foot from the right wing, so he offers something different to Pudasic. But what is interesting is that Milan now have depth, and I think that is something that
00:11:22
Speaker
is the positive out of selling Tenali for all this money as it's allowed them to get this depth in the squad. And they've now got Pulisic and Trukweze for one role on the right. And then Pulisic could also play on the left as an alternative to Rafael Liao. And then Noah Okafor can play in the center, but he can also play on the left and the right. And you know, so there's lots of options there that Milan now have in attack, right?
00:11:46
Speaker
Well, exactly. It's depth. And it's also above all, it makes their attack far less, you know, when you had Giroux, Giroux can only play in one position in one way. Same with Zlatan. This makes them far less predictable. They have players now. And they're also even, you know, saw some rumors of them selling, what's his name, who joined from Liverpool, fifth striker. Origi, yeah. Yeah, Origi. West Ham. Which is, again, a free transfer. They sell him for 10, 12 million. That's a huge capital gains. I mean, they're doing all
00:12:16
Speaker
the right moves, they're doing all the right things. And in order to do that, you know, when they get rid of these players and the ones that they keep, I mean, it makes them far less predictable. It makes them much more flexible, much more fluid, much more dynamic. Modern. Milan is a modern, on paper at least, they look like a very modern side. Of course, it has to translate into the pitch. But I actually think that, you know, Milan is, I like where Milan are. I really do.
00:12:44
Speaker
Well, everything we played out on the pitch at the end of the day, I mean, you know, a lot of these players that they have signed Milan are discarded players, like Rothloftis Cheek, like Pulis, they're players that the big clubs haven't wanted to go for. But you could say the same thing about Paul Pogba, he was discarded at United, Lukaku was discarded at Chelsea. I mean, that's Italian football for you, really. Italian football can't compete for the creme de la creme. They have to go for the
00:13:11
Speaker
big money signings that fail in the Premier League and no other Premier League wants to touch on the 10.4. None of these are guarantees as they are. I know no one is a guarantee ever. I was just basically saying that let's just be careful not to go overboard because it's not like they are signing absolute world beaters here. They're signing players, they've created a debt, they've brought in young players that could be great.
00:13:35
Speaker
The end of the day, the proof will be in the pudding how well they do. Of course, like it is with all teams and all players and all signings. But I do see a project here. I see a clear line. I see a clear coherent strategy. And I think Milan, again, the same thing we saw about the new stadium. He's pedal to the metal there. Now it's still just talk, but I think we could see something there. And I think the moment that the penny drops and the shoe drops and Milan officially abandons San Siro,
00:14:06
Speaker
That's going to be very interesting to see how Inter react to that. But no, I think Milan are doing, they, you know, whether it's, again, it's a results, it's a results based industry. And at the end of the day, if you fail, you're slashed and destroyed and said, you know, you're an idiot for getting rid of Maldini and Masada and Tonali. But if you succeed, you'll be declared as a genius. All I'm saying at this point is I see a clear, coherent strategy. I think it's
00:14:35
Speaker
the way that they want not just on the pitch technically and tactically, but also off the pitch financially and the kind of players they're going after. I think it gives you as a Milan fan, if you're a Milan fan, you look at this and you go,
00:14:50
Speaker
hmm, there's actually a project here, there's a strategy here, there's something to look to here, something to believe in. And it's not finished yet either, they're still planning to sign a central fielder, could be Musa, they're going to sign a backup left back if Ballatorre leaves, so they're not finished yet and they are spending that money, it's not a case of
00:15:10
Speaker
Juventus or Inter in seasons past where they've sold players, big players, a tonali-like player, and then that money has just gone to paying off debts. They reinvest in the money that they've made. So that is a positive. And we saw them play against Real Madrid, actually. They went 2-0 up, although most of the players weren't, many of the players won't even be first-choice players necessarily for Milan. But they went 2-0 up, they ended up losing 3-2.
00:15:37
Speaker
But yeah, Pulisic was lively and a fantastic goal by Romero, Luca Romero. It could be an interesting one. Like a messy Dybala-like left footer from him, so that was good to see. Another interesting signing that's gone under the radar, you know, it was at Lazio last season.
00:15:55
Speaker
Yeah, I found that strange because he came to such a big fanfare and then and then and then left maybe we can We can ask because we're having a Lazio journalist this week on Wednesday or Thursday Just need to finalize the last details about that. But yeah, we're doing it for all our patrons. We're doing we do a weekly Mercado deep dive a club specific one. We've done inter you've a Mila Napoli
Lazio's Transfer Strategies: Ins and Outs
00:16:19
Speaker
Roma and now we're doing lots of this week
00:16:21
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, so interesting to see why Plazio allowed him to go. Yeah, when he came, it was such a big fanfare. Okay, well, staying sort of in Milan, let's go back to good old Romelu Lukafi, who's in the news every single week on this podcast now. So after stabbing into in the back, he's now come back groveling on his hands and knees, wanting to take him back. Is that right, Nima?
00:16:48
Speaker
Here's what I think about all of this. This was a masterclass by Juntoli, because Juntoli knew that if Lukaku went to Inter, Inter went to Scoredetto. It's as simple as that. Lukaku, Lautaro, Turram, Corea walks the Scoredetto by five to ten points, and Juntoli knew
00:17:08
Speaker
didn't want that, did not want that at all. And he also knows that Romelu Lukaku is the easiest, you know, is probably in all of football, the most easily affected and most impressionable person in all of football. I think you could, like I said, if you were to hold a broomstick in front of your face and talk, you could do the Jedi mind trick on him. He's very, very easy to impressionable. So they basically just told him. Yeah, look at him.
00:17:33
Speaker
Yeah, and they unsettled him. And he's being as stupid and easily impressionable as he is, fell for it, and that soured his relationship with Inter. And I think Inter, again, I've been on this podcast for about a year and saying, I don't think we should, Inter should extend Romelu Lukaku's loan because I don't think he's worth the money. I would only take him on another season loan. I wouldn't buy him because I don't think he's worth the money. I think he's peaked. I don't think he'll ever be the player he was under Antonio Conte, which is the only two years he's been world class ever in his career.
00:18:03
Speaker
I think physically is declining. But still, I think Inter need to stop this ridiculous behavior of any time Juventus is mentioned, they destabilize themselves. This overreaction, again, Romelu Lukaku is a Chelsea player. He's not your player. Marotta spent the last six months saying he's going back to Chelsea and then we'll see. I understand that was a tactic.
00:18:28
Speaker
But that goes both ways. You don't own the rights of the player, and he doesn't own anything to you, so he can talk to whoever he wants. Instead, this overreaction, yes, he didn't answer his phone for two, three days, that's incredibly immature and childish, but you have to be professional about these things. This is a business. There's no honor. Nothing exists until the papers, the contract is signed, and there was no contract signed.
00:18:54
Speaker
Inter, I think, overreacted. The dressing room has also gotten involved, which I also think is ridiculous. I think the dressing room should never be involved in player signings. I think that's part of the management that they should protect the dressing room from all of that.
00:19:12
Speaker
But clearly that's now an issue and they don't want him back. And now he's not going to come back and Inter have weakened themselves. Congratulations, you played yourself. And Lukaku definitely played himself because Yuva aren't going to get him. So you might want to, as some Inter fans on Twitter say, start learning Arabic, Romelu, because that's where you're going. He probably can speak it, to be fair. He speaks about Billy Lang.
00:19:37
Speaker
Yeah, because Chelsea definitely don't want him. Inter have decided to close the door on him. For you, it's a win-win situation. They prevented Inter from getting Lukaku, which was the main target, their main goal. And Lukaku allowed them to do it, and Inter allowed them to do it. So I think it's a ridiculous situation. Inter not going after Balogoon, which completely changes how Inter play.
00:20:03
Speaker
And again, once again, it's another Bremmer 2.0, only this time even dumber, because Bremmer was all Inter's fault. This is kind of Romelu Lukaku and Inter deciding to allow Juventus to completely destabilize their project for no reason whatsoever. And whenever these things happen at Inter, they have repercussions for five, six weeks, or for six, seven months last time with Bremmer, really.
00:20:28
Speaker
So again, they've created a mess of their own making for no reason. And they don't know how to handle crises at this club. And this wasn't even a crisis. Juventus wanting to sign Romelu Lukaku, but not having the money, is completely ridiculous.
00:20:43
Speaker
There's nothing there there. And then whenever he answered the phone after three, four days, if he didn't have the internet, we'll use that as leveraging your favor and say, look, look, we've done all this for you. You go missing. You got to give up some of your money for us to continue this signing. Like again, be professional. Don't be emotional teenagers. And unfortunately that's kind of how inter is run. It's run very emotionally. It's run very unprofessional. That's unlike Marotta in the past.
00:21:09
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. During the Marathi era, it was it was and then during the so-called banter era. Yeah, I buy that but not in the Marathi era. I remember going back with Muji over the time when when he he he made into side Cyril Domaru like
Criticism of Inter's Management Style
00:21:25
Speaker
shit like that.
00:21:25
Speaker
just by leaking it into the newspaper in Marotta. This is emotional stuff, but that's Marotta though. Marotta isn't like that. So I kind of am surprised that Marotta does have a price and does have a, you know, this is it. And so I'm kind of surprised, but maybe like, maybe the dressing room got involved maybe.
00:21:43
Speaker
Yeah. And you've got Steven Zhang there and you've got, you know, what's his name there? Piero Auzilio there, who apparently when Lukaku phones started yelling and shouting for 45 seconds before. Well, maybe, you know what, maybe, maybe you have to realize rightfully so that Lukaku actually isn't that important. It's not actually that much of a big deal if they don't get Lukaku, because like you've said, admit it yourself. Well, he's really not worth that much.
00:22:06
Speaker
He's not worth that money, but in terms of the kind of player he is and what he can give you in terms of the rotation that, you know, it was quite obvious that was what they were going to do, that what they did from April and onwards was how they were going to play and they were looking to strengthen the team.
00:22:20
Speaker
Well, Lukaku can do that job for you. He'll win you a seria title. He'll score you 10-15 goals, important goals in the seria to win you the seria. If you bring in Alvaro Morata, if you bring in Balogun, if you bring in whoever, that changes all of that. None of them play like that. That again makes you look just silly and stupid, unless you really believe that Marcus Taram can hit the ground running and be that guy.
00:22:48
Speaker
which I absolutely think he can. I just think it's, again, it's an unnecessary risk because, you know, that together with selling on an A and having Di Gennaro, who played in the Serie C, and no other goalkeeper, you're not going to... Yeah, so what is going on with the inter-goalkeepers? Why have we gotten into this ridiculous situation where Inter are going on a pre-season tour with no goalkeeper?
00:23:11
Speaker
because Inter are Inter, because Inter are not an organized and professional club. Why have they not signed Sommer or Trubian? Why have none of these deals? Because Gansommer is different. It's got nothing to do with it. I don't like when people talk about, say, you know, and I don't like when people are dishonest. It's not about one and a half million euros that Inter doesn't want to spend. It's about buying Munich, not wanting to give, not wanting to be Inter,
00:23:32
Speaker
and not have a goalkeeper because Noya's physical status is up in the air, and they need to find a replacement first because they, unlike Inter, are a professional organization and run like a well-old machine. So they're not going to get rid of Jan Sommer until they have a replacement. That's why that deal is not being done. It's got nothing to do with one and a half million and penny pinching. That's just childish shit that some people push.
00:23:55
Speaker
to be fair. Marco Verati was not an essential part of Juva that summer. Jan Sommen is going to be a starter. It's a completely different situation. This has got nothing to do with that. It's got to do with the fact that Bayern Munich don't want to sell, don't want to put themselves in that position that Inter are in, because Bayern Munich understand that every negotiation is about
00:24:18
Speaker
leverage and you don't want to give up that leverage, right? So they've conditioned Jan Sommer's sale to Inter on first acquiring a replacement, which is what every professional, seriously run club should do. Not Inter who sell Andrea Onana and then turn up and stand there wondering, oh, did the price go up? Oh, we don't have any leverage in this negotiation, which is exactly what's happened for Trubin.
00:24:40
Speaker
Trubin is, you know, Shakhtar are not going to budge from their 30 million now because they don't need to. Sure, his contract expires in a year. OK, try to gamble on that, get Ingan somewhere for a year and then, I don't know, buy some other either use Stankovic as a backup together with Dijenaro and try to survive that for a year and try to snap Trubin up on a free transfer. That's great. But
00:25:04
Speaker
It is what it is. It's still very risky if you do that. But again, it's this notion that they don't, they talk, I mean, there's no, it annoys me that they have a press conference where Inzaghi goes out once again, exactly like last year, starts talking about how the second star of the scoretto is the objective.
00:25:30
Speaker
They sell on Ana, they don't have any starting or second goalkeeper, they got Sclinga left, and the replacement is going to be Palomino or Toloy, and you're talking about Scudetti? Are you serious? It's stupid.
00:25:46
Speaker
The quadrado thing, I think, is going to be good for Inter, as a rotation player between him and Dumfries. I think that's fine. I think the midfield has changed. I don't know if it's better or not. It's the same discussion we had about Milan, because Brozovic is much more patient in the build-up. It's clear. Inzaghi wants to have a much more vertical and much more direct style of play, much more intense. That's why Fratesi comes in.
00:26:07
Speaker
that I think the midfield is fine. The attackers, Lautaro, Turam, Correa, is okay. But is it enough? So you've sold players for 70, you've bought players for 23 with, what's his name? Vratezi. Okay, so you still have money to spend.
00:26:24
Speaker
I get that the structure of the Lukaku deal, I still think $40 million was too much. I'm glad that deal fell apart from a financial perspective. But you need to improve the team. And yes, Bastoni Acherbidermian worked last year. Maybe it works this year. But that means that next summer, you have a lot of work to do on your defense.
00:26:48
Speaker
a lot of work and this stopgap nonsense and bringing in Toloy unless they really believe in bisect and they do and they do believe in bisect and i think they're right to believe in bisect because i think he's looked really good since he came in he's come with the right energy obviously it's early days still but they believe in him and that's great that's a fantastic scouting if that pans out well done you know but Toloy it's insulting and
00:27:18
Speaker
you know, we said cost seven million euros. Where are you putting this money? Then why are you saying that you're going to reinvest and make the squad stronger and talk about second stars? You're not doing that. You need five players. You need a, you need a striker. You need a right replacement for screen yard. You know, you need another midfielder. I mean, what, what is the two goalkeepers and it's twin July 24th now.
00:27:43
Speaker
It's not a good look. It makes Inter look silly. And they just look disorganized. And that's kind of, you know, all of that came after Juva destabilized the Lukaku deal. And Inter allowed them to do it. And it's so frustrating. So frustrating.
00:28:04
Speaker
Yeah, it's strange what's going on, certainly with the goalkeepers and the centerbacks as well, in terms of replacement. Talking about centerbacks, though, Kim Minjae has now officially left Napoli to join Bayern Munich. Yeah, very, very sad to see him leave off one season. How will he be remembered, though? Well, we've had quite a few of these Serie A one-season wonders. You know, Roberto Carlos, Hakimi,
00:28:36
Speaker
Thierry Henry, but although he wasn't really that good when he wasn't six months at Uwe. But no, I think he will be remembered in Naples forever. That goes without saying. But I think that we will, for me, he will be one of that season, the level that he consistently played at in the Serie A, and
Kim Min Jae's Legacy at Napoli
00:28:54
Speaker
also in Europe. I think last season he was my personal favorite. I think he was the best central defender in the world last year. That's just my personal opinion. I think he was unbelievable.
00:29:04
Speaker
very complete, and really kind of almost together with Huicha Quaratrelia became the symbol of that mercato. You know, Coolybally out came Minjay in, Lorenzo and Signia Denise Mertens out, Huicha Quaratrelia in. I mean, those brilliant genius signings that laid the groundwork
00:29:23
Speaker
for that score to run and win is, you know, he's, he's, he's, he was a pillar of that. And I worry for Napoli because Rudy Garcia does not, doesn't, has never really known how to organize a defense. And I think, you know, it's, it's difficult to find a replacement. You can't replace Kim and Jay, you have to find, you know,
00:29:42
Speaker
You have to find a defender who follows in the steps of how you want to defend, but in a hope that he turns out pans out well. But Kim Min-jae was a jackpot sign. Yeah, to think that he replaced Khaledi Khulabali, who had been, you know,
00:29:59
Speaker
Well, for me, the best, definitely the most consistent centre back in Serie A over the time period that he was in. He was in Serie A. Of course, there was Chilini and there was Bonucci and there was Scrinya and all these players. But if you look at it consistently over that longer period, long period of time... It was a monster. It was Koulibaly. And to think that Kim Min Jae came from Fenabachi,
00:30:24
Speaker
his first time in a big big league one of the main teams in Europe and he came in and instantly became the best player in the league and like you said one of if not the best domestically I would say in Europe last season was incredible and he was just yeah he was a monster he was a monster physically he is a monster physically but everything about him I mean even when you know when you look at his numbers last season
00:30:49
Speaker
He was top in the charts or in the top three or five in pretty much every key metric that you measure a defender for, aerially, interceptions, duels one. I mean, he was tackles everything. He was absolutely magnificent. That centre half pairing of Delicht and Kim Min Jae,
00:31:14
Speaker
I mean, I had my question about that because I just think they're both a little bit similar to each other. But you know, I think it depends who plays. I mean, what do you drop with a Meccano? Who's going to play? Is it going to be a three? That's exactly what you do. You drop up on Meccano.
00:31:31
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know. I think that you play those two together, you lack a bit of pace. I don't think you do, because I think Kim more than makes up for that, don't you reckon? I mean, he survives. Again, it depends who you're playing with. It depends how well they put the point. That's my only doubt, is how he fits with two similar players in terms of build, physical build. And he moves better than Dilip, that's for sure. He doesn't move well at all. But they're kind of similar.
00:32:00
Speaker
stature and frames. But, you know, as for Napoli, I mean, he's going to be incredibly hard to replace. They haven't replaced him yet. And some of the players that they've been linked to as replacements, they don't fill me with too much confidence, to be honest. I'm seeing like Max Killman of Wolves, one of the main targets and the Japanese lad, whose name I've forgotten as well. You know, so
00:32:28
Speaker
Yeah, Napoli got a lot of work to do and Napoli haven't done anything in the transfer market yet at all. So they need to get moving as well, Napoli.
00:32:39
Speaker
Right, let's move on to another transfer that is going to be completed in the next hours, or if not days, and that is Matteo Rettaghi, who has travelled to Italy now. He's in Italy for his medical. He's going to join Genoa in a deal that's worth around 13 to 16 million euros.
00:33:02
Speaker
Of course, nobody had heard of Rettaghi up until a few months ago, until Roberto Mangini plucked him out of the Argentine League, out of obscurity, and he was naturalised. Argentina born, of course, but he has an Italian passport, and he made his Italy debut in March, having never, ever
00:33:25
Speaker
I'm not even sure if he'd ever been to Italy. He'd never played in Italy or played in Europe. And he scored two goals in his first three appearances with Italy, scored on his debut against England and then again in the game after against Malta. And he's, yes, he's moving to general. He'll be coached by the ex-Italy striker Alberto di Ladino. What do you think of this transfer?
00:33:46
Speaker
I think it's such an intelligent signing by Genoa. And I think that 10, 15, 16 million euros is exactly what he's worth. Genoa are doing some smart things with South American players. They already started with
00:34:10
Speaker
the young Uruguayan defender, central defender Alan Maturo, who was part of the under-20 Uruguay team that won the World Cup. For under-20, he was also named the defender of the tournament. And this is a player who I think is
00:34:24
Speaker
is going to be the next big thing. No, he's a centre back. He's a centre back. He plays, yeah, he's a centre back. And he's very, very good. He's got physical presence, which is what you want from a defender. He's a good ball-playing defender as well. And this is, you know, Genoa are building interesting things because, you know, they continue to down this path of
00:34:50
Speaker
young South American players who they can buy cheap and then, you know, maybe sell on a profit. And I think Retegi is going to score quite a few goals for them. Because again, you have to remember, this guy is not a dribbler, he's not a superstar, like household, you know, technical guy. He's a goal scorer. And in the Serie A, if you have that killer instinct, you can easily, with a team like Genoa,
00:35:16
Speaker
who will not have teams defending in low blocks against them, he will get his chances, he will have his space, and based on what we've seen so far, he's quite the killer in the box. He'll convert, and that means he can score some 15-20 goals for Genoa.
00:35:36
Speaker
So no, I think it's a really, really smart step up for him, because I think some people will have been a little bit disappointed in the sense that, you know, this is the Italy, the Italy national team striker. He had a good start for it is when he's both referred to games and, you know, he was linked with
00:35:51
Speaker
a lot of big clubs, including Inter, and also some of the other European... He will never... Listen, I'm glad Inter didn't go after this guy, because he's not... Look, in these big clubs, you have to be able to play with your back against the goal, you have to be linked up, you have to hold up.
00:36:13
Speaker
your touch has to be better. This guy isn't that guy. He's more of a penalty area finisher. Do you know what I mean? And I don't think you can play for a Milan or Inter or Juve.
00:36:28
Speaker
or an apoli unless you are the elite. Like if you can do what elite strikers do. So I think this is smart by Genoa. I think it's good for him in the sense that it's not a step that's too high up. He will be guaranteed playing in the seria and Manchini will look at him and I think he'll score lots of goals. I really think so.
00:36:52
Speaker
Yeah, well, let's hope that he can be the next Diego Milito who, of course, when he moved to general, was absolutely magnificent and then became, well, we saw what he did at Inter and he became one of the best strikers in the
Retegui's Move to Genoa and Expectations
00:37:05
Speaker
world. So, yeah, we hope that that is a similar path for Retigee in terms of, well, with Luke Pinkin from the Italy national team, point of view. Staying with South Americans, Arthur Mello,
00:37:18
Speaker
has joined Fiorentina on loan for the coming season, kind of strangely extended his contract with the inventors from 2025 to 2026 and then immediately moved on loan to Fiorentina. Many people will be wondering why he extended his contract. This was an accounting trick to spread out the cost of the amortization over
00:37:45
Speaker
over a longer period. He won't be paying anything extra. I think his wages are also getting extended over that period as well. He won't be losing anything else. They will hopefully be hoping that Arthur does well at Fiorentina so that he can then join them permanently.
00:38:11
Speaker
I'm not sure that will happen because his salary is so high, but they've got an option, I think, for 20 million euros. But I'm sure Juventus would probably end up accepting less if it came to that. So the question is, can Arthur Mello rebuild his career? Because it's been a total disaster for him since Allegri joined Juventus. But even just in general at Juventus, and even if you look at his last season at Barcelona, he was already starting to, yeah, things were starting to go wrong. Can this guy become the player who
00:38:39
Speaker
you know, Xabi himself called him his heir. Can he do that, if you're on Cena? I hope so. I really liked him at Barcelona the first season. I thought he was really good, but I felt bad for him since, you know, injury problems.
00:38:55
Speaker
stuff like that. But he's only 26. So, you know, he's got a good few years. And I think Florence is the right kind of stature in terms of size of club for him to go to. I think he'll do really well there. I hope so anyway. I hope he can play regularly. And I think he will, you know, playing for a position based system in the in the Vincenzo Italiano system is
00:39:16
Speaker
is going to suit him, but the question is can he stay fit and can he try to get some continuity in playing time? That's a big if because he's had horrible, torrid time these last few years.
00:39:28
Speaker
But I mean, if you look at the cost, it's barely, what, two million euros with another two million and something like that. And his wages are mostly being paid by you. I mean, this is virtually zero financial commitment by Ferrantino. So yeah, it's going to be the replacement for Amrabbat, who's going to leave this summer. I mean, they're slightly different players, but yeah, I mean, what I think will definitely help
00:39:54
Speaker
uh Arthur is that you know yeah like you said possession-based system um they like to control and dominate the ball lots of of of short passes uh but also Italiano encourages risk taking and press
00:40:10
Speaker
inviting the press and players being able to get out of that. And Arthur Mello, that was probably his greatest strength, was picking up the ball and then inviting the press and then getting out of trouble and breaking that first line. And, you know, it feels like a long time ago now, but, you know, he really was elite. He was one of the best in the world doing that. There are very few that could do it as well as he could back then. But so, yeah, I mean, I hope that with a coach, the right coach for him, which is Italiano,
00:40:38
Speaker
He can't do that if he can't then it's end of career for him because if you can't do Yeah, we can't do it with a coach who's actually you would think is suited to his to his type of football Then then you have to just say, you know what? He's a failed he's a failure and it's a failed career really. Yeah Okay, so much but delivered so little yeah, yeah talking about careers that are
00:41:05
Speaker
are ended. That promised so much and delivered so little. Well, yeah, maybe that's a little bit unfair on Pogba. He delivered so much at certain points in his career, but he certainly didn't fulfill his very sky-high potential that he had. So the poor Pogba circus goes on. He's going to miss the entire
00:41:26
Speaker
U.S. tour for Juventus. I should say that he is in the United States. He has traveled with Juventus to America. Sinex will say, including me on the Sinex, he's only in the United States for marketing reasons and no other reason at all because he's not going to play. Allegri has actually confirmed that now. He's not going to play any of Juventus' friendlies there. So he's Euro's mascot. He's Euro's American mascot, right?
00:41:53
Speaker
Exactly. He's just there to do the photos on Instagram and things like that. So Pogba will be training individually in the gym on the bike and doing all that kind of stuff. And he's not going to play. The season starts now in what, three and a half weeks, just under a month on the 20th of August away at Udenezer. And he's very unlikely
00:42:17
Speaker
to be to be well certainly isn't going to be fully fit I mean I think we can safely say he's not going to start that game at best he's going to be on the bench and yeah we're in a ridiculous another ridiculous situation with Pogba we saw what happened last season he missed 53 games last season for Juventus six different injuries he played only 161 minutes
00:42:38
Speaker
of football. That's less than two games worth of football. And he only started one match in the entire season and that match he went off injured after 24 minutes and then his season was over. He got one assist, no goals during that time, 10 appearances in total. And the whole
00:43:01
Speaker
plan for Pogba, of course, was to try and prove himself this season, make up for that disastrous season last season. And here we are. And, you know, Allegri's admitted we have no idea when Pogba's going to be back. And so this is all happening amidst an offer from Al-Hilal that is still on the table.
00:43:27
Speaker
And I mean, I don't understand what you are doing. If you can offload him to Al Hilal, then you do it. That would be the equivalent of winning the lottery. They would get rid of his wages. Even if they paid them five million euros, they'd make a five million euro plus valenza or capital gains. And this one would actually be real.
00:43:47
Speaker
So it's just a win-win for them. They get a giant salary off the books. How much more do we need to look at that this guy's body is not going to be able to play again at that level that he did? I mean, he can barely stay fit at any point now, the last few years. How many games has he even played? It's obvious.
00:44:14
Speaker
No, no. And it predates him at Manchester United, as we've said on this pod so much. I mean, look at his injury record for United in the recent seasons before he left. And it's horrendous as well. And yeah, I mean, I think the issue is not Juventus. I think Juventus clearly would be happy to offload him. Probably they would even happily offload him on a free transfer if it meant not paying his wages. It's Pogba. I think Pogba
00:44:41
Speaker
he doesn't want to give up on Juventus and he doesn't want to give up on his European, top level European career. I think he probably still has a night on the Euros for France as well next year and he shouldn't be looking at that at all. He shouldn't even be thinking about that. But I think he's not ready to give up. Some of it might be living in denial. We've seen it with some great players, Cristiano Ronaldo being an example, when great players, it's the end for them and they just
00:45:09
Speaker
can't seem to accept it. Bonucci maybe is another one, also Juventus. But, you know, is absolutely think Juventus would jump at it. But I think it's Pogba. I think Pogba doesn't want to move to Sadio, he wants to still hold on to the hope that he can make it Juventus. But I mean, he's staring everyone in the face, isn't it? No, it's obvious it's sad, but you know, it is what it is. He's not the first player to with incredible potential to have a career ruined by injury.
Juventus' Strategic Move: Signing Kessié?
00:45:37
Speaker
And he wouldn't be the last. I think also it now makes sense also why Juventus are clearly going for Frank Cassier. They see him as a replacement or as the man to replace Pogba. And he would be perfect for Allegri in his system. And look, again, also, if it's true that Antonio Conte is coming in a year's time, I mean, we know how much he loves Frank Cassier too.
00:46:03
Speaker
It makes sense. They're once again doing smart things. I mean, I did see a rumor about Spaletti potentially taking over Juve in a year's time. Not entirely sure about that, but it would be fascinating if Spaletti got his chance at Juve.
00:46:21
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Staying with Frenchman, Kylian Mbappe. Now, if we're talking about outside of Italian football, just football as a whole, it is Kylian Mbappe who has dominated all the football headlines over the last 48 hours, certainly, because PSG have basically exiled Mbappe. They've refused to take him on their summer tour to Japan.
00:46:44
Speaker
They have transfer listed him and they have made it crystal clear that either killing Mbappe signs a new contract or he must leave this summer.
00:46:58
Speaker
so that they don't lose him on a free transfer because his contract runs out in a year's time and Mbappe wants to see out his contract at PSG, he wants to join Real Madrid on a free transfer in a year's from now, at least that's what I understand and the reason for that is because he's due to make an absolute fortune on his PSG contract this season as well as loyalty payment
00:47:20
Speaker
massive loyalty payment for staying at PSG for another season, not to mention the huge signing on fee that he's going to get from joining Real Madrid. So he's been very greedy killing Mbappe. PSG made it clear though that they're prepared to, I mean I'm not sure if this will actually end up happening, but they're prepared to keep him on the bench all season.
00:47:39
Speaker
if he refuses to leave and we know what Al-Qalifi is like when he makes threats. It's such a stupid thing man, they should have sold him to Real Madrid when they had that giant offer. Instead they decided to keep him and now it was obvious they wasn't, I mean he only committed a three-year contract
00:48:00
Speaker
which was like, everyone's like, huh, that's not a commitment. So he was always going to join Real Madrid. It was actually two year contract. Yeah, exactly. But yeah, but I mean, it was it was hardly a commitment. And
00:48:14
Speaker
So why not, you know, they should have just sold them. They should have bit the bullet. I do think the World Cup come into it. I think it would have been bad luck losing Kylian Mbappe, Qatar losing Kylian Mbappe before the Qatar World Cup. I do think that definitely played into it. That's fair. That's true. But it's still... I think that probably could come into it. Plus Ali Kayifi, we know what he's like. You know, he's been going to the court for
00:48:38
Speaker
for charges of capturing, not capturing someone. Kidnapping. Kidnapping someone. So capturing. Capturing. Capturing, kidnapping. I mean, there's being a boomer and then there's using like these middle-aged legal terminology. The pirates captured him, captured Blackbeard, captured him for his ship.
00:49:08
Speaker
So, yeah, I mean, anyway, what does this have to do with Seriat? Well, first of all, absolutely nothing. No, this is such nonsense. We didn't report this on Semperinta for this specific reason that I'm not going to publish something that I know is an absolute nonsense lie that is being put out there by PSG only to try to get Real Madrid to make a move for him.
00:49:32
Speaker
Oh yeah, because Real Madrid are really going to believe it. No, but I mean, it's not just Intel. It's Chelsea. It's Tottenham. It's Man United. I mean, it's just nonsense.
PSG's Ultimatum to Mbappe
00:49:42
Speaker
All of it is nonsense. Who has more chance of signing Kylian Mbappe? Interal Tottenham.
00:49:47
Speaker
I don't think any of them have a chance to sign in, but if any of either of them did, I think... I liked your tweet where you wrote, here is Inter's offer for Kylian Mbappe, and then you posted a... The gif of Michael Corleone, the scene when he speaks to the senator from Nevada saying, here's my offer, nothing.
00:50:07
Speaker
because that's exactly it. They don't have that kind of money. It's not going to happen. The Saudi offer, I think, is pretty enticing. What was it? 200 million euros? Depends who you listen to. There's been one story today that, I mean, it's absolute bonkers that Al-Hilaw are offering
00:50:30
Speaker
PSG 300 million and then they will pay killing Mbappe 700 million for a one-year contract and they will let Real Madrid buy him on a free transfer in a year's time. It sounds absolute bonkers, it sounds like something that absolutely must be fake news and surely it's fake news, surely even the Saudis wouldn't spend a billion just to have Mbappe for a year.
00:50:51
Speaker
I mean, who knows the Saudi League and the money they spent that is absolute madness and everything around Mbappe is madness. But I mean, if we're talking seriously here, there is a domino effect here because, and it is important for Serie A, because if Mbappe leaves PSG and let's say joins Real Madrid this summer, PSG then sign a replacement.
00:51:14
Speaker
We're thinking probably Dusan Blauwitsch. That then unlocks the market for Juventus. It means that they have the money to sign a striker. Maybe it's even Lukaku. Maybe they go back in for Lukaku. They've got the money for Lukaku.
00:51:27
Speaker
who knows, but they sign a striker. They can't sign a striker until they have. If the event has signed Lukaku, then Chelsea, then buy a replacement for Lukaku. Maybe PSG don't go for Blavitch. Maybe they put 200 million on the table for Oseman. And maybe Oseman leaves. Unlikely, you'd think, but, you know, De Laurentiis will sell at a crazy price. So I think the Mbappe transfer is, there is going to be a domino effect there on Serie A. So that is where I think this transfer is important for Serie A.
00:51:58
Speaker
Yeah, it's not going to happen. So I don't, you know, it's never going to happen in a million years because Italian football, no Italian club has that kind of money to be able to afford even six months of his wages. And I think I know, I know. I'm talking about him joining Real Madrid. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Fine. That's fair. But no, I think it's no. I think the Saudi thing, I don't think it could be fake news. I actually think it could happen. It would be the
00:52:26
Speaker
the kind of icing on the cake on this summer where Saudi is building their league. And just for a year would make perfect sense. It's an interesting conundrum for the Qataris, because on a political level and just on a terms of, you know,
00:52:45
Speaker
They can't compete. Yeah, but they can't compete. They can't compete. They can't compete.
00:53:00
Speaker
to humiliation for them to sell to them. And you know the culture there. Yeah, but it's not just that. But things are changing there as well. And it's been, you know, things are not as heightened as they once were. But the thing is, yes, it would be a huge loss in terms of like from it would be the it would be the symbol of Saudi overtaking Qatar as the power from the Middle East.
00:53:27
Speaker
to in football, you know, it would be very symbolic. But that is a, that is definitely the, you know, a huge game changer, just in terms of even if you want to take the Premier League, because you're getting in back pay, you're not getting old players like Kerry Benzema, 35 years old, or, or second, second level. Yeah.
00:53:46
Speaker
players like Ruben Neves, for example, or even Musa Di Abi's contrast to Villanab, you know what, that level player, we're talking about the very elite players, you know, so that is a game changer. But it's just for a year, and then he joined Real Madrid on a free transfer, and it's even if it's just for you, but it opens, it will then open the doors, more people will come because of that. Absolutely. And I think that's what that could happen for sure. Yeah, we'll see. We'll see.
00:54:14
Speaker
Staying on Strikers now, so many transfer stories at the moment. So, Rasmus Hoyland, Manchester United have already agreed personal terms with Hoyland. We know that Hoyland wants to make the move, he's made that very clear.
00:54:30
Speaker
Now, this week is accepted by everyone that Manchester United are going to make an official bid for Heuland this week. So the question is, it seems like it seems like Atalanta have already found their replacement for Heuland as well. And that's El Bilal Tour de Almería, although they face competition from Everton. So it looks like, yeah, Atalanta are, you know,
00:54:58
Speaker
accepting that Hoyland, there's a good chance he is going to leave for Manchester United. The question is though, what should the transfer fee be? How much should Atalanta be asking for? Because we've seen different numbers go around for this. We originally
00:55:19
Speaker
you know, it seemed like United were gonna kind of bid around 35, 40 million. That was deemed way too low and that Atalanta were looking for more around about 60. But then we've seen recently that actually Atalanta are not actually asking for more closer towards 70, 80 million. So, you know, we don't know. We'll see later this week when the bid comes in what they're asking for and what United are prepared to pay.
Hoyland's Potential Transfer to Manchester United
00:55:42
Speaker
But how much do you think that Atalanta, how much do you think he's worth and how much do you think Atalanta should charge United for?
00:55:49
Speaker
I think this is so difficult to talk about because we're talking about a player who's really only had one good season. He's still very young, incredible talent. All of that is true. But, you know, usually based on the transfer window, I mean, I'd say Vlawic for how much he joined you before. That's where I'd probably charge.
00:56:10
Speaker
So you're talking 70 to 80 with add-ons and bonuses. Yeah, something like that. That's where you get, if you go, that's the level you're at if you're trying to, you know, usually for these kind of young strikers, that kind of mode. But I mean, that's, you know, it is a big risk because Vlawic has yet to fulfill his potential.
00:56:36
Speaker
That's what I mean. I mean, the Vallevic is almost like a warning because Vallevic should achieve more and have been playing for much longer than Huyland at this level. I mean,
00:56:48
Speaker
Wlawicz had a whole year where he was second or third top scorer in all of Europe when he went for 80 million to Juventus. Whereas Heuland, I mean you say he had one season, he's really only had half a season because if you look at his numbers, virtually all of his goals, nearly all of his goals, even though you could clearly see there was a big talent there in the first half of the season, all of his actual tangible achievements came
00:57:16
Speaker
in 2023. And he's been on fire in 2023. He scored 15 goals in 2023 for Atalanta and for Denmark. And you can see
00:57:31
Speaker
you know just looking at him physically he's already a man you know he already bullies defenders physically and you know he's so quick we saw that burst of pace that he did against Laxio that time and that was probably his best performance and he has that incredible left foot you know just like the player that he is compared to which is
00:57:50
Speaker
Erling Harland, he's compared to him under 11 seconds. He does the 100 meters in. So, I mean, you can see that he won't have a problem physically with the Premier League, with the intensity and stuff. But yeah, it is a short period of time.
00:58:09
Speaker
And there's always, yeah, there's always a risk also with youngsters as well. Are they ready? Is he going to be ready? Is he going to be, if he's going to be many, it's number nine straight away. Well, the difference is this, and that is that Edicton Harg knows, has worked with young players, you know, is good with young players. We know that he can get players to take the next step. He improves players regardless of how old they are. We've seen that with him, right? So I think that's one thing that I think is
00:58:39
Speaker
is comforting if you're Manchester United. For Atalanta...
00:58:46
Speaker
They know how to skin and fleece Premier League clubs, and they know how to skin and fleece anyone who wants to buy their players, period. But I'm starting to wonder if the jig is up soon, because, you know, between Kouluszewski and the other Swede, whose name eludes me now, you know, when he went to United
00:59:11
Speaker
What's his name? Oh, Elanga, Anthony Elanga. He's being sold. He's on the brink of being sold. Well, exactly. He's not been very, very good, has he? I never rated him, to be honest with you. I never got the fuss of him. He's a classic example of a youth merchant that, just because he's young, everybody suddenly rapes them.
00:59:36
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, we know Atalanta, how well they've done. I mean, if they do sell him for this big money, again, it just shows what an incredible job Atalanta do in scouting these players. And if they get Bill Altore, I mean, who knows, he might be the next one. I mean, they're just so good at discovering these players.
00:59:57
Speaker
Sorry, I meant Amadiello, who played for Atalanta and barely played and then went to Manchester United, not the Swedish Elanga. But Amadiello was sold to United for 40 million.
01:00:08
Speaker
Yeah, and he'd only paid about 270 minutes of seeing this. This is what I mean, like they know how to fleece clubs for talent. It's also, and I was discussing this the other day, separately, is that, you know, Atalanta Gasparini is a system-based coach. Yes. And there is always the risk with system-based coaches that players only play well in their system. In that system. And they don't. I mean, I don't think it'll be the case for Hoyland. We've seen how well he's done for Denmark, and he's been on fire for Denmark as well.
01:00:38
Speaker
He doesn't come across as a system-based player at all, but there have been so many Atalanta players who have gone to other clubs and they haven't performed.
01:00:52
Speaker
haven't fulfilled their potential, you know, once they've left Atalanta. You can go through so many, Galliadini, Robin Gosens. I mean, Ahmed Diallo, I guess, is another one, isn't he? You know, Frank Kesier, even for a while, and even Kesier probably hasn't reached the sky, sky high. I mean, he hasn't done it at Barcelona, okay, did well.
01:01:15
Speaker
with Milan winning the Scaretto with them but even he's... Cristante, Manchino, you know Manchino is only now Gianluca Manchino is only now coming into it. Romero as well I mean he's been he's been decent at Tottenham and he obviously is very well for Argentina but even he he hasn't he hasn't fulfilled as well so I mean it's there's that as well I do think he's an incredible talent though and
01:01:38
Speaker
The fact that, you know, you know, let's not undersell him again. But Atlanta won't know. No, no, they don't. They know how to sell players and they know how to charge for their players and they don't need to sell as well. They're profitable. Yeah, they are. They run really, really well. I mean, I think you said it best when you describe them pound for pound, the best run club in the world. And I think that's that's a very, very good way to describe it. Yeah. Yes, absolutely. Right. OK, where are we at? Right. We're not going to get through everything we've done. We've gone through
01:02:08
Speaker
I do think we should talk a little bit about Skamaka before we move on, because it's a very interesting discussion. Where does he go? Does he stay at West Ham? Does he stay with Roma Inter? Does he go to Roma Inter or Juve, which covers best? It's an interesting discussion.
01:02:25
Speaker
Well the doors are open potentially for Roma who of course are the favourites for him and as was explained by Andrea Di Carlo on our Roma transfer deep dive which came out last Wednesday and I would invite everybody to take a listen to that we go through Nimr and Andrea go through
01:02:46
Speaker
the Roma's transfer market, the players that are potentially coming in, those who are going out. Paolo Di Vala, will he go to Chelsea? Which striker will Roma buy? Which midfielder will they buy? Some fantastic stuff on Jose Mourinho and what actually happened in the parking lot with the referee Anthony Taylor.
01:03:04
Speaker
and he was there, Andrea Di Carlo was there and witnessed all of it. He told us the whole backstory of that. It's fantastic, absolutely fantastic. Andrea Di Carlo, check it out. It's for our patrons only and some amazing, he's brilliant, by the way, in the matter. Absolutely brilliant. Just fantastic.
01:03:20
Speaker
Yeah, these Roma journalists are funny, man. They're good people and they know their shit. The club-specific journalists that we bring on, they really know their crap. They really know their shit. They really do. They really know their stuff. It's something that's been lost in journalism at the moment because I'm seeing it.
01:03:39
Speaker
the corporate media and the mainstream media, partly understandably, because they're under so much financial pressure, because the legacy media is dying, and the advertisement revenue is dying, and they just don't have the money. What they're doing is they're getting rid of club correspondence, club specific correspondence. There are really great experts, so many of them are really fantastic experts, know their clubs inside out, great insight, great contact.
01:04:02
Speaker
great sources, great information, they're brilliant at what they do, they're getting rid of them and they're, and they're instead, they're hiring, instead of hiring, for example, if you're taking an Italian place, if you're taking Italian media, for example, instead of hiring a Juventus, Milan, Inter Roma and Lazio correspondent, five of them, you have to pay for five. They'll hire an aggregator basically, who will cover all five of them. And you get basically paying for one person to cover all five rather than,
01:04:32
Speaker
rather than paying for five separate ones. I think that's sad. Anyway, going on a tangent. Scamaka, the doors are open for Roma, for Inza, for Juve. Which club do you think is best suited for him to rebuild his career? That's a really interesting question because it depends. I think if you're looking
01:04:53
Speaker
for just one, from a perspective of where is he most likely to succeed because the environment is so protective and knows how to handle it and has done it a million times before.
01:05:07
Speaker
It's Juve. He will be completely protected. He'll be able to focus on his football. There won't be any problems unless he creates them. You know, he'll be surrounded. It's an Italian young Juve now. That's the new project. I think Giuntoli knows how to build relationships. So I think that would be for him from that perspective. Does he need to be happy, though? Because people have spoken about Juventus being obviously a very
01:05:38
Speaker
talking about. Corporations, very corporate, very ruthless, cold. Some of these might be stereotypes, but I think they are partly true compared to other clubs.
01:05:53
Speaker
almost like the military, almost like a soldatino. A famous quote by Cassano that I'm not a soldier. Yeah, exactly, without ever wanting to agree with Cassano or anything, but it's true, you know, and Shkimaka does come across as the kind of person that I'm not sure whether he would like that kind of being ordered around and you have to do this and you have to eat shit.
01:06:16
Speaker
do everything at this time. You know, that's exactly what he needs, you know, because I think, you know, being from Rome and Rome being the crazy, beautiful, insane city and Piazza Roma, that they are absolutely batshit. I think maybe a bit of calm would be good for him. You know what I mean? I think you even know how to take players that come from, you know, troubled backgrounds and just need a bit of because I think he strikes me as someone who wants peace and quiet. I don't think he wants
01:06:47
Speaker
chaos around him. I think he would like, I think he would appreciate it. But I do think there's a sensitivity about him that maybe... There is. That would be my question mark over you, but I guess he's had a year's experience with the Scottish allegory, so he's prepared him for the Italian allegory. Oh my God.
01:07:05
Speaker
What about Inter? What about Inter? I would love him at Inter. He's been my first choice to bring in because I think if he came to Inter, he would also, same thing there, he would be given time because, you know, Turam would be the starter at first and he'd be eased in. But so I would welcome him with open arms. I think, you know what I think of this guy. I think he's... The only issue I have with Inter
01:07:30
Speaker
The issue I have with Inter is this. I would like him, just talking from a purely Italy national team point of view, but also thinking about him, where he is the undisputed first choice striker. Well, he would be that at Roma and he would be that at Juva. He wouldn't be that this season. Exactly. I think that's the question what we've been to, you know, will it be him? Will it be Taram? I mean, we know Lattara is going to start and we know that for sure.
01:07:56
Speaker
But then again at Inter, he'd be playing in a front two and, you know, would that suit him in a front two rather than... Oh, I think so. With Lautaro, I think he would... This guy, I... Lautaro could almost be like the Schemaka, the Schemaka, the Raspadori. Yeah, exactly that, exactly that. And I think that that would be the ideal, you know, that would be...
01:08:19
Speaker
the perfect solution for all of them. No, I rate this guy a lot. For me, he is the future of Italian. And then you got Roma. Roma, he would start. He would absolutely start. It's his club. He loves the club.
01:08:36
Speaker
But, you know, he would come into that dressing room and, you know, I think he would fit in quite well. But again, it's the life around everything surrounding it where can it get too intense for him?
01:08:53
Speaker
because as I said, Rome is a crazy city and Roma is a crazy piazza. You can feed off Dibala, Pellegrini, really talented, skillful, creative place, if they can get it working. I'm not sure he's Mourinho's number one choice. No, he's not. It's Morata. It's Alva Morata. As Andrea told us, Roma dream of both of them.
01:09:17
Speaker
They that would be the idea. Who knows? We can get one of them on loan. Maybe that is possible. But but, you know, I do. The other thing I would say, the final thing I would say back to Jamaica is I do feel like he's the kind of player that will play better in a team that plays expressive football. Now, West Ham are not that. Juventus are not that. But even Roma are not that under Mourinho. We know that they're more of a kind of a counter attack. And even though Mourinho has kind of changed his style. I think he has. The numbers, the numbers don't lie. You see the number of goals that the Roma score. No, that was partly down certainly the start of last season down to
01:09:47
Speaker
terrible finishing and the XG was so much higher than the actual goal scored but there's no doubt out of these three teams that the team that create the most chances and the team that play the most attacking football and throw the most men forward is Inter. So I think in that sense I think Inter is the best team for him because he's going to be playing the team that will allow him to express himself that will have more players attacking more players around him
01:10:10
Speaker
And he's got Fratezi there as well, who was like his best friend since they were children. So I think tactically and that aspect, I think, yes, Simon Inzagi's football suits him the best. But if we're talking just off the pitch, I think Juva would be a saint. I think there's pros and cons for all of them. And of course, the romantic choice would be Roma, which would be beautiful, because again, you'd have another Roma team with a dressing room filled with Romanisti from the city.
01:10:37
Speaker
which is a very, you know, it's a very typical Rama Latzian thing. They always want that, don't they? So it's interesting. It's interesting. I just hope he doesn't stay at West Ham. That's all I want. Just leave West Ham. Yeah, yeah. Well, David Moystheil and Divock Origi to replace Schumacher would be the most David Moysting ever. So we will see if that happens. Right, let's finish off with Bad Joe and Prem Face of the Week.
01:11:06
Speaker
Right, Badgio, I've got a couple, so I'll go through them. First of all, I just want to say congratulations to Italy women. They started off the Women's World Cup today with a one-nil win against Argentina, a goal from Cristiano Girelli.
01:11:26
Speaker
late goal. She's had a fantastic career and she's 33 now. She came on as a sub and scored in the 87th minute for Italy to win. So that's a great result for Italy. They've got Sweden and South Africa.
01:11:42
Speaker
in their group as well. Sweden are good, aren't they? Sweden have got a really strong team. So that's a really important result for Italy. They're probably going to play United States in the last 16. So they're not going to get any further than the last 16. But this isn't a great Italy team this year. So just getting out of the groups would be something, I think. So well done to them. Good start for them. But I have to say, Sweden not very good either. And I think Italy could have a chance against Sweden.
01:12:10
Speaker
I was looking at the betting odds to win the World Cup, and Sweden were quite high up on that, I think. Yeah, but it's not one of the better Swedish teams. It's a very fairly anonymous Swedish team. They're a good unit, but they don't... Yeah. I mean, I'm just saying, Italy could surprise, because... They could surprise, yeah. Well, Italy need to somehow...
01:12:32
Speaker
not play United States in the last 16. So they need to try and finish first in the group above Sweden. And Sweden won their first game against South Africa at the death. South Africa 1-0. No, 2-1 at the death. They were 1-1. That was a 2-1. Yeah, they scored at the death.
01:12:48
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So well done on that. The other Bad Joe of the week, I mean, I don't know if Bad Joe is the right word for this, but just wants to say, condolences, rest in peace to Trevor Francis, who sadly I've just seen just while we were recording. Just died, yeah. Has just died at the age of 69, which is really, really sad news.
01:13:10
Speaker
Another one of the 80s superstars in Italy. Another of Roberto Mancini's friends and teammates. Sampdoria, yeah. In Sampdoria, it's this brutal year for Mancini and it's very, very sad. He was a fantastic player. What a player.
01:13:27
Speaker
He played in Italy for Sampdoria in Atalanta. He was brilliant at Sampdoria. He was absolutely brilliant. He was there for four years, but unfortunately, he was injured. He was so injury-prone. He's one of the most injury-prone players there has been, and he missed probably half of his games at Sampdoria during his four years there. But when he did play, he was absolutely brilliant. Some of the goals he scored. I mean, he was the complete striker. He was a very modern striker. He had everything.
01:13:55
Speaker
He was a great dribbler. He was lightening quick. He was both footed. He was technical. He interchanged really, really well. I mean, Mancini Viale always spoke really highly of him and what he taught them. And, you know, that Sampdoria attack line in that time period. I mean, those three altogether, I mean, absolutely fantastic lineup. And he was
Tribute to Trevor Francis at Sampdoria
01:14:22
Speaker
He was pivotal in Sampdoria winning their very first ever trophy, which was the Copper Italia of 1985. That's the first trophy that Sampdoria ever won in their history. And Trevor Francis was the top scorer of Sampdoria that season. He was the top scorer in the Copper Italia that season. Just to put it into perspective for people as well, he was Britain's first £1 million player.
01:14:52
Speaker
He won the European Cup and Champions League with Nottingham Forest twice, two years in a row, 78, 79, 79, 80. We're talking about a Birmingham City legend, isn't he? So we are talking about a top, top player.
01:15:09
Speaker
Oh, no, he was he was in terms of like pure ability, you could almost call him world class because of his injuries, maybe never got never was able to get that type. I mean, he's got the winner in the European Cup Final for Nottingham Forest when they beat in 1979 when they beat Malmo actually in the in the final and when
01:15:30
Speaker
for the famous Brian Clough when he took them up from the second division, won promotion from the second division to the first division, then won the first division in his first season in the first division, and then won the European Cup the season after. Just shows how beautiful Hookwell was.
Legendary Sampdoria Team Discussion
01:15:44
Speaker
But that Sampdoria team that won the Coppertalia was a fantastic team. Francis Mancini, Vialy, Graeme Souness,
01:15:50
Speaker
who actually scored in the final against Milan. They were in Milan in the final. Pietro Viejo was in defence. Becalosi was in that team, Interlegend. So, you know, they were, that was a great team. So yeah, I was shocked actually, because I had no idea that, I don't know how he died, how he passed, but I had no idea that he was ill or anything. And yeah, very, very sad. Very, very kind, gentle guy as well. Yeah, very sad.
Introduction of 'Prem Face of the Week' Segment
01:16:19
Speaker
Okay, um, prim face of the week nima. Do you have anything? Um, no, um, not anything that stands out, but i'm pretty sure you do Yes, I do. Um, I put uh, I put something in here and I don't know whether
Humor and Criticism of Premier League Biases
01:16:38
Speaker
I've got something I've forgotten about, but I know which one I definitely have, and that is Richard Keys. Yeah, that's the one I was referring to to you. Yes. I mean, it's like it literally, of course he was going to say that about André Onána, wasn't he? Yeah, he said André Onána was unproven because he'd never played in the Premier League, which is, again, your classic. You know, if there's one thing that you know, a prem face is always going to say about a player, a foreign player joining the Premier League or a foreign player that hasn't played in the Premier League is they're unproven because they're not playing the Premier League.
01:17:08
Speaker
Yeah. No, no, no. Him saying what it was also about him. You know, I wonder if, you know, how's his shot stopping ability and blah, blah, blah and all that. Yeah. He said that United are going to regret getting rid of, of, of De Gea and De Gea is proven because he's played in the Premier League and on that night is unproven. I mean, yeah.
01:17:32
Speaker
And the fact that it's Richard Keys as well, it's like, of course it is Richard. Of course it's him that he would say that because his Twitter is so funny. I follow him. No, I don't follow him, but I do go and check what he's written every now and again. You've got to, isn't it? And we've got we've got we've got a weekly segment. I mean, it's not just about your best material. No, no, it's the reason why I do it is because I think he's so, so funny in the sense that
01:18:02
Speaker
I always go and see, I always go and check what he's angry about now because it's very, very entertaining. It just felt like when I saw that, I was like, of course it's Richard Keyes. Of course he said that about Onana. It's like you could bet your mortgage that he would say that. Yeah. Death taxes and Richard Keyes being a prim face.
01:18:32
Speaker
right okay right let's leave it horrible feeling this guy will cost this guy not even in name this guy that guy yeah that's yeah that and this this guy will cost united as many points in a season as the hair used to say this is a big call by ten hug i didn't see that i didn't see those quotes actually i just saw the bit where he said he's unproven yeah okay so funny
01:18:58
Speaker
Right. Well, let's leave it at that.
Upcoming Content Preview: Q&A and Lazio Deep Dive
01:19:01
Speaker
Thanks, everybody, for listening. We will be back on Tuesday for the Q&A and then either on Wednesday or Thursday for Lazio deep dive on the on the with who is it with Nima? It's I'm waiting on confirming with with it's Marco Barbalicia. His name is I'm waiting to confirm with him what date it is. But he works on a local TV station in Rome and he's a Lazio.
01:19:28
Speaker
He's covered Lazio for like a long time. So yeah, that's it. Check that out. These Roman journalists are insanely good. It's insane how good they are, how much they know. Right. Okay. Thanks everyone for listening. See you on Tuesday for the Q&A. Until then, ciao ciao.