Bianconeri bag Balzaretti Wednesday 17 August, 2005
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Juventus have signed their second player of the day, as out of contract Torino defender Federico Balzaretti crosses the city divide.
23-year-old left-back Balzaretti was a free agent following the financial collapse of the Granata and has joined their arch rivals in order to stay in Serie A. He was also tracked by Lazio, Roma and Sampdoria and spent the last three seasons at Torino.
“I am happy that Christian Abbiati has arrived and I must say that Milan patron Silvio Berlusconi was very generous,” said Coach Fabio Capello of today’s loan deal for the goalkeeper. “We must thank him for allowing us to find a great shot-stopper free of charge. I am also satisfied with Balzaretti’s signature, as he was one of our transfer objectives.”
Abbiati was loaned to Juventus after Gianluigi Buffon suffered a serious shoulder injury during an accidental clash with Milan star Kaka in Sunday’s Trofeo Berlusconi encounter.
“We players know these things can happen, but I am very upset that it has injured Buffon, someone I admire a great deal,” said Kaka. “I am close to him and hope he’ll be back on the field soon. I didn’t want to hurt him and I think he knows that.”
It was the latest in a long line of setbacks that have hit the reigning Champions of Italy this summer, as Alessandro Birindelli is out for six months with a knee injury.
“Our real regret is the number of injuries we’ve suffered pre-season,” added Capello. “Mauro Camoranesi has barely played at all, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Pavel Nedved are resting after picking up knocks. I only hope we’ve already had our share of bad luck.”
In other transfer news, Napoli have signed Venezia defender Ruben Maldonado. The player was at the centre of controversy this summer as Genoa claimed the £170,000 cash in a suitcase given to Venezia director Giuseppe Pagliara was an advance on Maldonado’s signature – a deal the Paraguayan said he was totally unaware of. The Rossoblu were convicted of fixing their match with Venezia and demoted to Serie C1.
Genoa have captured Messina striker Igor Zaniolo – who spent last season on loan at Salernitana – and taken the Sicilian club’s director of sport Mariano Fabiani.
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