TMW Radio
TO TMW Radioduring The Editorialthe journalist intervened Mirko Nicolino.
Which teams are furthest ahead and furthest behind on the market?
“Further ahead I only see Inter, because they start from a consolidated position and have taken three players who complete the squad. They start as the big favourites and it will be difficult for anyone to challenge them, behind I see an open construction site, from Juve to Milan, passing through Napoli and Roma. There is a lot to do, for everyone. At the beginning we will see some surprises, with some small teams that will score unexpected points, I think that then we will get into the thick of things later on”.
Which project fascinates you the most?
“I don’t expect any major upheavals in the balance of power. I expect a lot from Roma, which must confirm itself. There was a change with the arrival of De Rossi, then it dropped towards the end. I expect it to be a surprise, otherwise it means that De Rossi’s changes have had only a limited effect. Juve’s project is interesting, given how the market started. Now it has slowed down a bit due to the difficulty of selling players who must end up outside the squad. For the rest, Milan has won all the summer friendlies but I always take certain results with a pinch of salt. I wouldn’t want the judgments to be overturned with the first official defeat”.
What is Conte thinking now?
“He won’t be happy at all, because the market was all based on the sale of Osimhen, which hasn’t arrived yet. This has messed up the plans. It doesn’t seem like a healthy way to start a new project.”
Juve, several redundancies. Chiesa on social media seems to have sent a message. What does it mean?
“It’s not the first Instagram post he’s made mentioning Juve. It seems to me that he’s sending clear signals to Giuntoli that he won’t leave. And it confirms the rumours that he would have stayed until the end of his contract to then decide what to do. Motta said that he has to find a team, like others, because he won’t have space. In practice he’s out of the squad, but selling 10 players and taking six in a few weeks is a feat. Someone will eventually be reinstated, diplomacy will intervene to mend fences with someone. But from what I know, some people weren’t told that they were out of the squad but that they were only among the transferable ones. I don’t judge Chiesa’s personal strategy, if he does that he has his reasons. But the reality is that Juve had made an offer, which didn’t come to fruition. And today Juve hasn’t made him another offer. He has set some limits for the team where he wants to go, he wants the Champions League or else his salary should be increased. The situation is complicated. My impression is that Chiesa he expected to have greater visibility after the European Championships, but in fact it has also decreased and now he is trying to realign but it is too late”.
Juve who are finding it difficult on the outside:
“There were other plans for the wingers, but Giuntoli had some plan Bs that have just come out. And now he’s trying to pursue them. If this can be done, this is what we take. The important thing is that the coach is satisfied. A new course has begun with total agreement with the coach’s requests and we must continue on this path”.
Milan, if you win the friendlies you drive away the critical voices:
“Today, he must not think he is superior to his other rivals. But it’s true, in Italy we have no sporting culture. If he had lost the friendlies, he would have approached the championship with a lot of criticism”.
Could Szczesny-Napoli be done?
“I wouldn’t see Szczęsny in Napoli as a bad option. For me he still has a couple of seasons at a high level, he would get along well with Conte, but he earns 6.5 million plus bonuses so it doesn’t seem like a viable option to me.”
What do you say about the Chiesa-Frattesi exchange?
“The exchange in my opinion would not have made much sense, in Inzaghi’s 3-5-2 Chiesa should have been Lautaro and with Allegri he has shown that he struggles. Chiesa is a winger who moves inside. Frattesi is a very good midfielder, used little because he has great competition at Inter but I would have struggled to see him even in this Juve, who has focused on Douglas Luiz and Thuram, in addition to Miretti and Locatelli confirmed by Motta”.