Blog: Why Diego?
Juventus are apparently interested in signing Diego. Antonio Labbate offers a theory or two behind the Old Lady’s courtship of the Brazilian
Werder Bremen’s Diego wouldn’t look out of place in a Juventus jersey. A Brazilian international, he’s demonstrated that he’s matured into a fine talent after his infamous failed bid to join Internazionale resulted in a Bundesliga switch.
Nevertheless, rumours that the Turin giants met with the No 10’s agent father on Tuesday don’t sit comfortably with those of us with suspicious minds. A swoop for the South American, no matter how good he is, undoubtedly provides more questions than answers.
The biggest doubt surrounds the fact that Diego doesn’t seem to be the kind of player that this Juventus can field. For starters, they already have Alex Del Piero who is still getting a regular first team jersey that he silently demands. The club have also recently dug deep into their pockets to secure the services of Sebastian Giovinco who won’t be used on the flank for that much longer.
Additionally, where would Diego fit into Claudio Ranieri’s 4-4-2 formation? A fantasista by nature, his inclusion in the side would surely force the Coach to use a 4-3-1-2 system. That would be a significant change of direction for a team which has been constructed, at his own requests, with a midfield that is high on quantity but low on quality.
As a result, we inevitably have to take into consideration the fact that Diego may be being recruited for someone else. Although the club have constantly confirmed that Ranieri will continue to lead a long-term project at Vinovo, the pressure is still very much on The Tinkerman.
Is it coincidence that President Giovanni Cobolli Gigli, on the day that the Diego talks supposedly took place, insisted that the Scudetto is still a target this season? Sounds like a good excuse to axe Claudio should he fail to deliver come next May.
Pure conjecture? Possibly, but let’s throw in another hypothesis while we’re here. Could Diego primarily be a signing for the board, rather than the team? Market moves since the introduction of the Cobolli Gigli-Blanc-Secco triad have, after all, been rather hit and miss.
Amauri has been stellar so far, but it’ll take more than one Brazilian to make amends for the likes of Sergio Almiron, Tiago Mendes and Christian Poulsen. And with a Tuttosport poll showing that 80 per cent of those surveyed feel that the Werder star is the right man for Juventus, Diego would at the very least be a popular buy. Whether he would be a good one remains to be seen.
Source:
http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/blogs/al65.html