Serie A Transfer Rumors: Mirko Vucinic To Join Juventus

Hamsik pledged his loyalty to Napoli and said he was never going to make a move anywhere else. That’s good news for a club that will be venturing into the Champions League this season and is a potentially dangerous team at that with Hamsik in the attack alongside Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi.

“I never thought about leaving Napoli,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “Over the last two months I was at home in Slovakia and didn’t even have the internet at my disposal. I stayed away from everything.

“We are working to close the differences,” Stekelenburg’s agent Franco Parisi told Romanews.eu. “The matter must be sorted within the next 24 hours. If it isn’t an agreement may never arrive.”

For more on this story, visit Villareal USA.

Should any other club wish to make such a proposal, it will need to be more than €40m. De Laurentiis has said that Hamsik is an investment, and that he’s spent more than that on the player. Perhaps Marek’s hair gel bill has contributed to his costs? Whatever it is, the price being paid doesn’t seem to matter: Napoli have said Hamsik will remain an azzurri player into next season.

Palermo have received a €50m bid for their shining star, Javier Pastore. It’s been assumed that the Argentine would likely not be with the club next season, and with Palermo president Mauizio Zamparini stating today that there’s only a 10% chance that Pastore will stay, fans of the rosanero might want to consider investing in new kits.

Of course, Zamparini refused to reveal which club place the bid — when asked about their nationality, he answered “Icelandic.” Which seems probable, really. He also mentioned that no Italian clubs had come calling, probably as they don’t have that much cash to splash around.

Like always, nothing to do but wait and see.

Well, at the moment, things have stayed exactly as they are, although such stillness might be the calm before the storm rather than the pleasant tranquility after the thunder stops. It’s well known that Leonardo wasn’t fond of being a coach -- he’d rather have a bit more of a desk job, and sporting director seemed to suit him better. So why the reversal? Is it because talks with Marcelo Bielsa didn’t go as expected? It appeared before that Biesla was being courted as a replacement, but perhaps it was Leo being nudged out the door in favor of the Chilean.

Or perhaps it’s just that the coaching/sporting director merry-go-round is moving on Italian time, and things will click into place shortly.

When you draw up a list of the best central midfielders in the world who don’t play for Barcelona, Bayern Munich’s Bastian Schweinsteiger’s name comes in near the top. The German international might not be plying his trade in the Bundesliga for much longer, however.

Although Palermo looked to be a legitimate challenger for a European position -- possibly even a Champions League spot -- they ended up finishing eighth in Serie A. Making it to the final of the Coppa Italia brought the club into the Europa League, but such an enticement is apparently not enough for Pastore, who wants to move on to bigger and better things. And possibly a kit featuring less pink.

So what’s the delay on Napoli’s end? They could still be discussing personal terms or something, but Inler’s reportedly very keen on a Napoli switch and i can’t imagine that it would present much of a problem for him to be moving. Chairman Aurelio de Laurentiis has previously said that whenever player a comes in, he’ll announce it, and according to Pazzo he’s the man with whom the deal’s been conducted.

I don’t think I’ll ever work out Serie A transfer rumours.

It may seem like an exaggeration to say, but for the bianconeri to have any hope of advancing out of the qualifying stages of the Champions League, they’ll need to keep Sanchez. The Chilean was instrumental in creating chances (and scoring them himself), helping to make Udinese one of the most formidable attacks in Serie A last season. There’s a reason he’s sought after, certainly, but keeping him at Udinese for another season could enhance his abilities and drive his price up even higher.

The papers in Italy this week have been filled with rumors of the rossoneri desire for the Napoli star, but Berlusconi’s words were meant to soothe the crowd:

“I promise that I will not sign Hamsik. Milan don’t go to steal the symbols of other clubs.”

The statement could be read to say that the Napoli owner simply wants Inter to keep their grubby little hands away from Hamšík. Or it could be interpreted more broadly: this is a club looking not to simply make it out of the group stages of the Champions League, but to be a genuine competitor. To make a run at the scudetto. Despite the histrionics, ADL managed to put aside his issues and keep coach Walter Mazzarri at the club. There’s a five year plan in place.

And that plan doesn’t involve selling the likes of Hamšík. So hands off, all you dreamers. De Laurentiis plans to buy four Gokhan Inlers instead.