If they bring Cassano in, the timing is justified. As for the price, I also can't believe we couldn't have sold Diego for the same money Wolfsburg offered earlier.
I think that the fault of Marotta in this case was that he was unsure as to whom was going to be available near the end of the campaign.
I honestly believe, and shame on him for doing this if true, that once Pazzini scored that goal away to Werder Bremen, then he probably felt that Sampdoria's CL placement was in the bag.
This is the only reasoning that I can see for the timing for all of this. This just happened way too quickly once they were eliminated. Now, I'm sure that the powers that be are going to state that there is no connection at all.
Just as we were all surprised that Auilani came out of nowhere, if anyone thinks that those negotiations were not ongoing at the same time of the Poulsen transfer are just kidding themselves.
I'm very intrigued as to who is going to come in. I won't be nearly as upset about Diego leaving if they bring someone in of equal or better quality who can play in the system, as antiquated as the system may be.
However, if this signals the end of the transfer campaing, then I will say this.
Andrea Agnelli, he of the "I wanted to give the fans of Juve Edin Dzeko as a gift" comment, will have as much explaining to do as anyone else. If he had the personal financial wherewithall to fund his transfer from his own money, then selling Diego without a suitable replacement is inexcusable.
Sometimes the worst thing that you can do is have a football fan of the team as your president.
Heart and Mind are rarely separated in those instances, and they need to be to run a succesful football team