Hamsik is 20, has been tremendous for the last three years. He probably has potential to be better than Diego. I seriously doubt Diego was as good as Hamsik when he was 20. Plus Hamsik already knows Italian football, is cheaper, Nedved recommended him, etc.
Believe me. I watched many of Diego's games when he was 20, 21. I was not very impressed. And this in the Portuguese league, where he should have shined. He had no excuses not to shine there.
Instead, he completely pissed me off. He was frustrating to watch. I was expecting the second coming of Christ from all the Brazilian followers who pumped him up. Instead, I saw two years of lackluster performance and a player who looked lost most of the time.
Just because Diego had a difficult season with Porto doesn't really prove anything with three top years of play in Germany.
Two seasons at Porto. Champions League play included. I lived through all the pre-Porto hype on the guy. He had two full seasons and lived up to none of it. Porto even made him leave town.
Now he's knocking them dead in Germany. All well and good. But that kind of hot vs. cold performance between those two leagues, end-on-end, makes me more than a little suspicious that the guy won't be a slam-dunk export out of Germany to Serie A with success.
Hamsik isn't performing nearly to the level Diego is now, but he's younger and he's doing it in Serie A already. Which is more than I can say for Diego.
Diego will come far more expensive, far more risk of a disappointment in a league transfer and resettlement, and raises far more questions about whether the real Diego was the one at Porto or the one at Werder (think Tiago and Lyon or Juve). And I would argue as a club -- style of play, management, ownership, club culture, city mentality -- Juve are a lot closer to Porto than we are to Werder Bremen.
I dont think its fair to compare Hamsik and Diego.
It is unfair. But if we have to make choices about what's right for the future of Juve, because we sure as hell aren't going to sign both, my money is on Hamsik over Diego. More chance of upside and fewer downside, and making a legitimate bid for Diego right now would be financially irresponsible of our board.