Football transfer news

Antonio Conte has expressed his hope that Juventus will be able to compete financially with Europe’s richest clubs again in the long term.

General manager Giuseppe Marotta has repeatedly stressed that the Bianconeri presently lack the economic resources to sign big names, but their coach is optimistic they will one day regain their spending power in the transfer market.

“I hope that one day we’ll be able to purchase players worth €35, 40, 45 million,” Conte said at a press conference.

“Then we’ll be able to start looking at the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, the two Manchester sides and Bayern Munich.

“This year we dipped into the transfer market without splashing money around, looking to reinforce the foundations we had in place with players such as [Kwadwo] Asamoah and [Mauricio] Isla, bringing [Sebastian] Giovinco back and acquiring free transfers like [Paul] Pogba.

“Now we need to remain calm and continue on this path. It’s important to follow up last year’s Scudetto achievement, whilst maintaining our Champions League run to continue the project started by the club.”

Juventus are currently preparing for Wednesday’s Coppa Italia match against Cagliari.

EXCLUSIVE
By Wayne Veysey | Chief Correspondent

Liverpool have stepped up their chase of English goalkeeper Jack Butland as Arsenal prepare to make an €10 million (£8m) move to sign Pepe Reina.

Goal.com has learned that the Merseysiders have made third-party contact with Birmingham City about buying Butland in January.

Wigan Athletic’s Ali Al-Habsi and Swansea City’s Michel Vorm also feature on Liverpool’s wish-list as they prepare the ground for the increasingly-likely departure of Reina.

The Spaniard is believed to be open to a move to Arsenal in the forthcoming window and is even ready to contemplate a drop in his €150,000 (£120,000)-a-week Liverpool salary to push the deal through.

The firm No.1 choice to succeed Reina is Butland, who is expected to be sold by cash-strapped Birmingham next year should their valuation be met.

The Championship club rejected a €7.5m (£6m) offer from Southampton for the 19-year-old during the summer but are unlikely to stand in the way of a move in January, given the state of their finances.

Liverpool are wary of overpaying for potential, and will not be held to ransom, but club scouts have identified Butland as an outstanding young talent.

Butland, who has represented England at all age-group levels, came to prominence while on loan at Cheltenham Town last season before being selected in the England squad for Euro 2012 following an injury to John Ruddy.

He was also the Great Britain No.1 at the Olympics and then made his senior England debut in the friendly against Italy. 

The teenager’s progress has continued in his first season in the Birmingham team, with West Ham and Manchester City among the other clubs who are closely monitoring his progress.

However, Liverpool are the frontrunners in the race for Butland’s signature and are expected to make a formal move should Arsenal step up their pursuit of Reina.

Goal.com revealed last month that Reina tops Arsenal’s three-man goalkeeper shortlist to challenge established No.1 Wojciech Szczesny, followed by Vorm and Stoke City’s Thomas Sorensen.                                    

Arsene Wenger is a long-time admirer of Reina, who he tried to sign from Anfield in the summer of 2010 for what the goalkeeper claimed in his recent autobiography was €25m (£20m).

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers tried to flatten mounting rumours of Reina’s possible exit last week, claiming that “what is worth putting on record is that I’m not looking for another goalkeeper” and “any areas we will look to improve will be elsewhere”.

Privately, there is a growing acceptance at Anfield that the 30-year-old could be ready for a new challenge.

Reina is contracted at Liverpool until 2016 and it would take an offer of around €12.5m (£10m) to persuade the Merseysiders to part company with their fans’ favourite.

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Santos president Luis Alvaro Ribeiro has confirmed the Brazilian outfit are in talks with AC Milan over a January move for Robinho.

The 28-year-old is believed to be keen on a move back to his former club, with Peixe star Neymar also calling for the Rossoneri star to agree a deal to join him back in Brazil.

“Robinho wants to return to Brazil and for him that means returning to Santos,” Ribeiro told TV O Povo de Fortaleza.

“We have presented a written offer, though there is a difference between what the player and the club are asking for.”

Robinho made over 100 appearances for Santos before moving to Real Madrid in 2005, but despite the player’s love for the club, the president was quick to concede that negotiations are likely to be tough.

“It can be circumvented, but it is not a simple task. It is a battle that must have results by the end of this week.”

Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo has revealed the club does not need the money that has been reported to be a possible transfer fee for attacker Radamel Falcao.

Goal.com revealed that Chelsea have opened talks with the Colombia international over a €60 million transfer, and with Real Madrid also interested in the forward, Cerezo has claimed the club do not need to sell their star player as their financial situation is stable.

“I have 60 million and the truth is that they are very well where they are. Madrid do not know if we have the money, but I know my bills,” he said at the Atletico Madrid rugby team presentation.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez joked that he had passed Falcao a napkin with an offer of moving to the Santiago Bernabeu at a recent awards ceremony in a similar style as to when he proposed Zinedine Zidane’s move to the Spanish capital from Juventus in 2000.

But Cerezo denied that the incident had taken place and was confused as to why Perez would make up such a story.

He added: “I saw no napkin. Furthermore, there were not paper napkins, but cloth.

“I do not know what he is talking about. The napkins are worth what they are worth.”

EXCLUSIVE
By Romeo Agresti

Napoli defender Hugo Campagnaro is hoping to agree a new deal with the club despite rumoured interest from Juventus and Inter.

The Argentina international is out of contract at the end of the season and has been in discussions with the club regarding an extension to his deal, though agent Alejandro Mazzoni has publicly stated that no agreement has yet been reached.

Inter have made it clear that they are interested in bringing the 32-year-old to San Siro, though Juventus’ reported interest is less clear as the Vecchia Signora do not want to comment on other clubs’ players after problems with previous deals such as that for Paul Pogba from Manchester United.

With the January transfer window opening in under three weeks, the former Sampdoria man could be available at a low price, but any interested parties are likely to wait until a decision has been made regarding his future before weighing up their options.