According to recent reports, Chelsea + Real Madrid are always looking to end a cycle and start a new one, which means whole-sale selling off of players and bringing in fresher faces....
Real Madrid, in particular, would be of immense help to us.... Remember Van der Vaart??? He, along with his former Ajax team-mate Sneijder haven't enjoyed a long fruitful campaign in Madrid.... These 2 guys will be front runners to be packed and sold out asap to make way (also in terms of finance) for more "talented" and more "expensive" signings....
One may argue that bringing VdV will stunt Gio's progress, however I disagree....
Next year we will be needing as much quality as we can get.... Remember, we're playing in the Peace Cup + Serie A + Champions League + Coppa Italia.... Objectively, if we want to reach the semis of the CL and launch a great assault for the Scudetto, then we will need Champions.... Imagine this midfield :
Gio ( VdV) ------------- Marchisio ------------ VdV (Gio)
--------------------------- Diego ---------------------------
Such a midfield would be pretty much one of the best midfields in Europe....
Also, if there is no VdV, then we're back to playing 4-3-1-2 with a 2 CMs in Marchisio + Zanetti (Sissoko or Tiago or Poulsen) and Camo or Marchionni.... If Diego's marked out of the game (that's not impossible), then we're left with little or no creativity, considering that Ranieri doesn't allow Gio to play
AT ALL....
My guess is that if we agree to pay around 10-15 M Euros for VdV, Real would be fairly satisfied and would let him go.... And even VdV would love to play with Alex, Diego, Trez, Gigi and Chiellini....
Imagine how lethal Alex and particularly Trez would be, if he finally gets quality service from not only Diego, but also Gio + VdV
If reports are to be believed, then we are also chasing Silva.... That guy will be chased by Madrid and Barcelona, not to mention Chelsea and Inter.... Since we're the penny-pinchers of Italy, spending 35-40 M on him is outta the question....
If we spend 15 M on VdV and then sell faggots like Tiago + Poulsen, then we can get a really good FB (De Silvestri or Lichtsteiner ??? ) and we'd be set, well, at least for the next season....
Of course this is just conjecture, but the realism in this move makes it affable and viable....
Any takers ???