Juve dismiss Iaquinta claim
Friday 23 September, 2005
Juventus insist they have absolutely nothing to do with Vincenzo Iaquinta’s contract dispute at Udinese.
The striker, widely regarded as the Friuli outfit’s best player, was frozen out of the squad on the eve of Wednesday’s game against the Turin giants.
That has inevitably led to whispers of ‘interference’ from the Old Lady, but they have maintained Iaquinta is of no interest.
"Selfishly speaking, I was happy that he didn’t play against us," said transfer guru Luciano Moggi.
"However, I don’t know what the problem is and I can’t comment on it.
"But I will repeat yet again that we have no need for any more strikers, we already have quite enough."
Udinese decided to freeze out the Italian international after talks over a contract extension collapsed given the player’s wage demands.
The club acted in a similar way with playmaker David Pizarro last season before he was sold to Inter in the summer.
"I understand what he is going through because it is often the player who gets the blame," the Chilean told Sky Italia.
"However, it was odd that it happened on the eve of the game against Juventus. This certainly weakened Udinese.
"I hope that he can resolve his problems because he is a very interesting player. There is also his national team to think about so I hope he is back in the side soon."
channel4.com