First of all, i want to rectify everything i said about Cesare and Corvino going crazy. While i thought they put the money from Melo's transfer into a savings account, they were actually busy trying to sign new players. The thing is Corvino is so secretive, that you will only know something is happening if the deal is imminent.
Big news is we are in advanced negociations, with Benfica and Arsenal respectively, for the transfer of the towering Brazilian central defender Luisao and Arsenal utility man Emmanuel Eboue. Now, a little about each.
Luisao(or Big Louie) is 27 years old, he is Benfica's captain, has been with the club for the last six years, helping them to win the 2004-2005 edition of the Portuguese League and other minor trophies. He has played 34 games for the Brazilian NT. It seems that Benfica is in financial trouble and are willing to sell Luisao at a discount price of around 10-12 mill. euros. Interesting fact is that his younger brother, Alex Silva, is also a central defender, currently playing for Hamburger SV. If my memory doesn't fail me, we chased little bro last summer. Luisao's arrival will end the interest in Roma's central defender Juan, as the Roman club want cash only, and seems unwilling to accept Santana as part of the deal. My dad describes him as a 'control tower', and he knows alot more than me in Portuguese footbal(he resided in Portugal for a while and is a Sporting CP fan). Luisao partenered with Gamberini is quite a combination, as the Brazilian will offer aerial protection and his organizational skills will keep the defence in order.
As for Emmanuel Eboue, he is 26 years old and, since 2005, is playing for Arsenal. We tried to get him, on the cheap, when the clubs were negotiating a potential Melo transfer to Arsenal. Eboue is a versatile player, being capable of playing on the right side of both the midfield and defence. He has CL experience, as Arsenal is playing regularly in the competition. Prandelli publicly spoke about the desire of having him in the squad, and that says that we've been following him for a while. The player is out of favor with the Arsenal fans, and the club seems willing to part ways with him. From what i've read, he will cost us around 9-10 mill. euros. His arrival will mean that Comotto is gonna warm the bench, as i'm sure Eboue will be a starter. Also, our interest in Lazio's young right-back De Silvestri will cool off, at least for now. I've catched him a few times on TV, and i have to say he's quite an athlete, although he seems to have some temper/attitude problems. Anyway, his agent says the deal is close to be finalised.
Also, Lotto released the new jerseys. The only modification from the last one is a horizontal gold arc, wich i find ridiculous. I sugest Lotto to hire new designers, prefferably with imagination.
So what do you think? Do we look like Serie A contenders if we sign Luisao and Eboue? A top 4 finish seems very likely at least. I still have my reserves about the 'Nacho' dude, but maybe he'll win me over(if he scores some goals). Anyway, Forza Viola and i hope you enjoyed reading my post.