Tardelli warns Trez Sunday 13 August, 2006
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Juventus director Marco Tardelli has urged Mauro Camoranesi and David Trezeguet to follow Pavel Nedved’s example in sticking with the troubled club.
Many of their top stars have already walked out after the demotion to Serie B as a result of the Calciopoli scandal, including Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluca Zambrotta, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Patrick Vieira, Emerson and Lilian Thuram.
It wasn’t a complete overhaul, though, as it’s claimed that ahead of the Trofeo Moretti win over Inter champions Alessandro Del Piero, Nedved, Gianluigi Buffon and Mauro Camoranesi went into the locker room to assure the younger members of the side they would stay and fight in Serie B.
“Pavel pointed the way forward right from the start and he’s a model professional who should inspire his teammates,” noted Tardelli. “It can’t be easy for a Ballon d’Or winner to find himself in Serie B, yet he immediately gave his unconditional consent to remain.”
The fans have criticised these sales, suggesting the new Bianconeri Board of Directors has weakened the team too much this summer.
“There are very highly paid players who demanded a wage increase to stay here,” revealed the former Under-21 Coach in ‘La Stampa’ newspaper.
“If someone doesn’t want to remain, unless of course he gets paid more, then he doesn’t represent my ideal player. The verdicts took a lot out of the club, as we lost revenue from the Champions League and Serie A.”
There are reports that Trezeguet’s contract negotiations this week are focused on a wage increase from the current £3.3m per season to £4m if he is to extend until 2010.
“I’m not naming names, it’s just the general attitude I don’t like. Camoranesi said it wasn’t so much an issue of money as one of motivation. I respect everyone’s ideas. If they haven’t got the enthusiasm for this adventure, then they’ll find other clubs and we’ll look for different solutions. If those two stay, then we won’t need further reinforcements, as that would be a very good squad for Serie B.”
Merely gaining promotion – albeit with a 17-point penalty to overcome – isn’t their only objective for this season.
Juventus could find themselves back in Europe within the year, as they’ll aim to conquer the Coppa Italia, a competition often snubbed by the big clubs. Victory would qualify them for the UEFA Cup in 2007-08.
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