Inter Milan were the busiest team on transfer deadline as they brought in three players and let two leave.

Inter signed both Fredy Guarin and Angelo Palombo to reinforce their midfield and also Juan to help out with their defence.

The additions of Guarin and Palombo allowed Inter to finally allow Thiago Motta to join Paris Saint-Germain for around €10m.

Inter coach Claudio Ranieri had said on Monday he had “no fear” that Motta would be departing the club he joined from Genoa in 2009.

However, Motta leaves Inter having made 83 appearances for the Nerazzurri, famously winning the treble in 2010.

A number of other deals were completed just as the transfer window shut in Italy.

Roma sent Chilean midfielder David Pizarro to Manchester City on loan until the end of the season. Pizarro shone on occasions for Roberto Mancini’s Inter Milan in 2005-06 but after three good seasons at Roma, injury and fallouts with managers started to cut his appearances.

“Pizarro, I know him very well, he is a good player and a good midfielder,” Mancini told Sky Sports after the 1-0 league defeat at Everton.

Serie A leaders Juventus moved to strengthen their midfield on transfer deadline day by signing Simone Padoin from Atalanta and also let Vincenzo Iaquinta and Ciro Immobile leave.

Toni signed for Dubai’s Al Nasr and now fellow World Cup winner Iaquinta moved to relegation-battling Cesena until the end of the campaign.

Elsewhere, Lazio loaned Antonio Candreva from Cesena and sent Simone Del Nero the other way. Cesena also signed Mario Santana from Napoli.

Meanwhile, Albania international Erjon Bogdani joined Siena on a four-and-a-half year deal, also from Cesena.

Not many surprises arrives on week 20 in Serie A beside Inter Milan’s seven winning streak end in the hands of Lecce after Guillermo Giacomazzi netted the only goal that clinched the victory.

The Nerazzurri did actually put the ball in the net twice in the second half but all of those goals were correctly disallowed by the referee because of offside.

Claudio Ranieri didn’t really commented much about the disallowed goals as he was more concerned with his team’s performance against Lecce, something that should’ve been seen earlier since Inter last couple of games were pretty poor despite getting the three point. The defeat brought the Nerazzurri back to fifth place as Lazio dethroned Ranieri’s team previous fourth spot, making things much more interesting in the coming weeks.

For the moment the Scudetto race leaves Juventus and Ac Milan getting toe to toe as the one point margin stands until this upcoming midweek where the league starts again. This weekend, the Turin giant successfully defeated Udinese 2-1 with goals from Alessandro Matri, while Milan destroyed their visitor, Cagliari 3-0 at San Siro, thanks to the contribution of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Antonio Nocerino and also Massimo Ambrosini.

Week 20 also seen Lazio and Genoa being successful as the Biancocelesti stormed Chievo 3-0 with goals coming from Hernanes and also Miroslav Klose’s double in the final minutes of the match. Meanwhile, the Marassi outfit managed to stun Napoli, beating Walter Mazzarri’s team 3-2 with Rodrigo Palacio’s brace and Alberto Gilardino’s strike. The Partenopei did made things interesting though after Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi scoring within just two minutes, giving the last 10 minutes a difficult time for Genoa.

Complete Serie A result for Week 20:
Catani a v Parma 1-1; Juventus v Udinese 2-1; Fiorentina v Siena 2-1; Cesena v Atalanta 0-1; Chievo v Lazio 0-3; Genoa v Napoli 3-2; Lecce v Inter 1-0; Palermo v Novara 2-0; Roma v Bologna 1-1; Ac Milan v Cagliari 3-0

photo credit: .a_dit.

Juventus’ director general, Beppe Marotta confirmed recent rumors about their interest on Cagliari’s midfielder, Radja Nainggolan, revealing that the Turin giant are working on a way to bring the player this January.

However, the director isn’t promissing anything to the fans since negotiation in acquiring the Belgium international is still at an every early stage and they are yet to figure out whether Cagliari are set to sell or not.

Marotta also revealed that Juventus will have to consider lots of things before adding more reinforcement this January, including in bringing Nainggolan as if the deal isn’t profitable, they might not do it. The former Sampdoria director stated that at the moment they already have a pretty strong squad which is good enough to challenge for domestic glory especially with the arrival of Marco Borriello and also Martin Caceres.

“Nainggolan is a player who interests us. We have talked with their President Massimo Cellino, but there isn’t what I’d call a real negotiation.We will try to bring Nainggolan to Turin in January, but there are many things to consider and above all whether Cagliari want to sell,” Marotta stated. “We’ll look to take any good opportunities that arise, but at the moment I don’t see any, especially as we strengthened an already excellent squad with the arrival of Martin Caceres and Marco Borriello.”

Nainggolan has been one of the hot stuffs in Serie A at the moment as aside from Juventus, there are also strong interest from other big clubs such as Ac Milan and Manchester City. The Turin giant however, reportedly have been the one taking things seriously as they are willing to give an interesting proposal to Cagliari which is giving some players along with cash for the Sardinian outfit.

Meanwhile, aside from confirming Juve’s interest on Nainggolan, Marotta also revealed the future of their unwanted striker, Luca Toni, who according to director would be leaving the club this winter. The former Sampdoria director said that Toni is very close to accept UAE’s club, Al Nasr’s offer, although nothing official has been made but it’s just a matter of time before the veteran striker depart.

“Toni’s move to Al Nasr is not yet official, but we believe it will be completed tomorrow,” Marotta added

photo credit: _bianconero

Unwanted Juventus winger, Milos Krasic, has not hidden his intention in leaving the Turin giant since he is not being considered as part of the first team since pretty much the early part of this season.

Despite admitting his willingness to leave, Krasic apparently is being pretty picky in his decision as according to the player’s agent, the Serbian international will only consider another top club as his next destination, scrapping the recent strong interest from Lazio.

According to Football-Italia, Krasic’s agent revealed that his client most likely would be choosing top premier league clubs such as Manchester United or Chelsea instead of answering to Lazio’s call, who have been reportedly interested on the winger. Seeing the current situation, the Serbian might ends up staying with the Turin giant until the season ends considering there haven’t been any serious proposals coming from teams that the winger preferred.

“There is no news to report, Milos wants a change of team, but will only move to a top club, preferably in England. With all due respect for Lazio, they are not a side in Milos’ thoughts,” Krasic agent’s was quoted saying.

This answer would probably makes Lazio focus their transfer plan in bringing in Keisuke Honda from CSKA Moskow, since the Japanese was actually their main target this January but the negotiation with the Russian club is still ongoing. Krasic himself was actually being touted as an alternative target for the Biancocelesti as they think that getting the winger could be easier and cheaper, but apparently if what his agent said is true, the capital club would rather forget their idea.

Krasic himself has really been suffering this season as he fails to grab Conte’s trust despite being one of Juventus’ top performers in previous seasons. The Bianconeri’s new coach seems more interested in fielding work horse type of players instead of a technical speed runner such as the Serbian international.

Juventus succesfully widen the point margin with one of their close title rival, Udinese, after beating Francesco Guidolin’s side 2-1, in the direct clash on Saturday evening, which saw the Turin giant gather a six points lead.

Antonio Conte’s team must be thanking their Italian international striker, Alessandro Matri, who bagged all of the “Old Lady” goals on the match, edging the game as the visitor only managed to pull one back from Antonio Floro Flores’ strike.

Playing in a heavy snow, Juventus didn’t stop their usual game plan in providing a high pressure to search for a first goal, which would give them comfort on the pitch. However, it wasn’t that easy in breaking down Guidolin’s boys, who despite losing several important players for the African Cup still manage to perform bravely against the yet to be beaten league leader.

After series of intense pressure, Juventus finally managed to brake the away team’s resistence as Matri pounced on Fabio Quagliarella blocked header, beating Samir Handanovic on Udinese’s goal without much trouble. The 1-0 scoreline closed the first period, forcing the visitor to change their game plan a bit in the second half by putting in Floro Flores as they were chasing the game and eying for the equalizer.

Guidolin’s offensive strategy worked out well early in the second period as it was the substitue forward, Flor Flores , who got the highly anticipated equalizer after recieving a fine pass from Mauricio Isla. The goal lifted Udinese’s confidence as they started to take the attacking inniative more than the home side, looking for the second goal that would give a rare victory against the current league leader.

However, it was Juventus instead who proved their worth once again after Matri managed to snooke his shot passed Handanovic for the second time in the match. The goal made things became difficult again for the visitor as they have to chase ball around since the Turin giant decided to keep hold of the ball longer, only making occasional attacking moves as Conte’s team doesn’t want to lose their lead again.

The Turin giant’s tactics worked out well as their opponent simply got tired out in the last few minutes since they don’t really have more quality substitutes players with their limited resources. Juventus extended their unbeaten record this season an obviously mantained their lead in the table for another Serie A week since whatever happens on Sunday, Juventus would still maintain at least a point lead from their closest rival.

Match Reports:
Juventus v Udinese 2-1
Goals: Matri 42, 62 (Juventus); Floro Flores 56 (Udinese)
Juventus: Buffon; Bonucci, Barzagli, Chiellini; Lichtsteiner (De Ceglie 82), Vidal, Pirlo, Giaccherini, Estigarribia (Pepe 64); Matri, Quagliarella (Marchisio 61)
Udinese: Handanovic; Ferronetti, Danilo, Domizzi (Battocchio 73); Basta, Isla (Pereyra 85), Fernandes, Armero, Pasquale; Abdi (Floro Flores 46), Di Natale

photo credit: _bianconero

Juventus reportedly are very close in enforcing their back line as they prepare to secure Sevilla’s Martin Caceres and also considering a move for Lyon’s left back, Aly Cissokho.

The Caceres deal is the one whose looking imminent as various reports from media in Spain and Italy suggested that the negotiation is already at finishing state with only medical left to conclude things.

The talks with Sevilla has reportedly been done with the Turin giant obliged to pay around 1,5 million Euro for a six month loan along with a buy out option in the summer for a fee worth about 8 million Euro. Caceres’ return to Juve is somewhat of a surprise since his season loan stint from Barcelona in the 2009-2010 isn’t actually convincing enough but apparently new coach, Antonio Conte, believes that the Uruguayan international’s characteristic would suit the Bianconeri’s new style.

Rumors in the media also claimed that Caceres’ deal could be officially announced on Thursday when all the paperworks between both clubs are concluded. Should this deal eventually done, the Turin giant will most likely gave up their chase for Freddy Guarin, since along with the former, the latter are also a non EU player.

Meanwhile, regarding Cissokho, the player’s agent, Ali Barat, was the one who confirmed to the media that he has booked a meeting with Juventus management next Friday for the potential purchasing of the left back. Barat revealed that his client is looking for a new scenery and the Turin giant becomes the most likely destination should he immediately move this January since the Bianconeri have more financial power compared to other candidates such as Newcastle United and As Roma.

“Cissokho has a contract until 2014. Lyon proposed a two-year renewal, but we did not accept because he wants a change of scenery. At the same time, Lyon have to sell, because they need fresh funds. I am here in Italy because I will meet with Juve on Friday. If Cissokho leaves in January, then it will be only for Juventus,” Barat told Calciomercato. “We recently received a €7m offer from Newcastle, but Lyon value him at €9m and we know Juve have more of a budget to spend. “

The agent also stated that Cissokho’s style would very much compatible with Juventus since the Italian club have been playing some nice attacking football this season, something that the ex-Fc Porto man liked. However, the representative also warned the Turin giant that if they don’t take his client this winter, there will be bigger competition in the summer with Manchester United potentially could also be on the run.

“Juventus are a great team who play attacking football and Aly wants to play in the Champions League next season. In the summer we can open the doors to Manchester United, thanks to Evra’s injury,” Barat added.

photo credit: _bianconero

Juventus continue their fine showing in the league at Italian Cup after successfully demolishing As Roma 3-0 on Wednesday, giving Antonio Conte’s side a ticket to the semi final where they’re scheduled to meet the winner of Ac Milan-Lazio game.

Bianconeri’s legend, Alessandro Del Piero showed sparks of his glory days after scoring a wonderful goal on the match, while other goals were scored by Emanuele Giaccherini and also Simon Kjaer’s own goal.

Despite not having any European football, Juventus wisely opting to give some reserves their chaces while Roma fielded a pretty strong team although they’re obviously missing Daniele De Rossi along with Pablo Osvaldo. The high confidence running down the Juve players are pretty much visible as it took them only six minutes to break the dead lock when Giaccherini broke through the offside trap before coolly beating Maarten Stekelenburg.

Roma tried to reach immediately after going down but Miralem Pjanic and Simon Kjaer failed to convert their chances into goals and after 30 minutes it was Juve who managed to double their lead through Del Piero. The veteran captain scored what is called to be his trade mark move, rushing trough defenders, cutting back and released a wonderful curling right footed shot which simply beat Stekelenburg all ends down.

Going two goals down isn’t actually encouraging for Roma but they kept on working to get back into the game and crafter several goal scoring opportunities until the second half period but nothing seems to go right for them. Things eventually gotten worse for the visitor as in around the 68 minute, Eric Lamela received a red card from the referee after being judged to kick out Giorgio Chiellini in an off the ball incident spotted by the linesman.

Playing with only 10 men obviously made things harder for Roma and in the end they eventually surrendered another goal right in the final minute when Kjaer attempted clearance from Quagliarella’s cross strolled into Stekelenburg’s net. The scoreline pretty much summed up the Giallorossi’s poor defensive display on the match, showing how much they were missing De Rossi’s presence as their defensive midfielder.

Match Report:

Juventus v Roma 3-0
Goals: Giaccherini 6, Del Piero 30, Kjaer (og) 90 (Juventus)
Juventus: Storari; Lichtsteiner, Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini; Estigarribia, Marrone, Pirlo, Giaccherini (Krasic 88); Del Piero (Quagliarella 77), Borriello (Matri 63)
Roma: Stekelenburg; Taddei, Kjaer, Heinze, Jose Angel; Simplicio (Greco 67), Gago, Pjanic; Lamela, Totti (Perrotta 72), Bojan (Borini 58)

photo credit: _bianconero

Juventus managed to keep their place in the half way of the Serie A season after picking up a solid 2-0 victory over Atalanta with goals from Stephan Lichtsteiner and Emanuele Giaccherini.

This result puts the Turin giant one point above Ac Milan in the standing and maintain their excellent form in the halfway of the new season as the are still unbeaten so far, despite not leading by much points with the teams below them.

Meanwhile, Milan also kept their runners up place after bouncing back from the Derby defeat by beating Novara 3-0 with Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s brace and also Robinho’s tap in from Stephan El Shaarawy’s low shot. An important result for the Rossoneri as not only they keeps up their pace with league leader, Juventus, but also maintaining their points gap with third place, Udinese, who also won on the weekend.

Playing at Friuli, Udinese edged passed Catania with goals from Pablo Armero and also Antonio Di Natale, while their visitor only managed to pull a goal back from Lodi’s late minute penalty kick. Despite winning, Francesco Guidolin’s team must not let their guard down as Inter Milan are starting to cause danger after Claudio Ranieri’s team successfully dethroned Lazio in fourth place.

Inter’s success in leapfrogging the capital team arrived after they beaten Lazio last Sunday in a very hard fought match, which once again forced the Nerazzurri picking up a rather “lucky” win as just like in the Derby, they were forced to defend for the most part of the match. Despite going down first through Tomasso Rochi’s goal, Diego Milito and Giampaolo Pazzini managed to overturn the scoreline with a little bit help from the Biancocelesti’s defends’ poor defending.

Complete Result of Serie A week 19:

Atalanta v Juventus 0-2; Roma v Cesena 5-1; Bologna v Parma 0-0; Novara v Milan 0-3; Cagliari v Fiorentina 0-0; Lecce v Chievo 2-2; Palermo v Genoa 5-3; Siena v Napoli 1-1; Udinese v Catania 2-1; Inter v Lazio 2-1

photo credit: _bianconero

Being linked with a move to several clubs already this winter, Juventus’ unwanted striker, Carvalho Amauri, apparently already set his mind in playing for Fiorentina for the remaining of the season.

The striker himself revealed that ambition to the press, adding his hope that his move to Florence could be done as soon as possible as he can’t wait to play again.

Amauri, who hasn’t been given much playing time in the first part of this season revealed that despite not seeing the pitch that much, he is still training regularly to get himself on shape for his new club. The ex-Palermo striker would definitely be perfect for Fiorentina as the Florence based club are really dying to add new center forward this January after losing Alberto Gilardino to Genoa since the start of this month.

You all know full well what is happening, I hope it can be done as soon as possible. I am continuing to train so I can be ready to step on to the field. I am awaiting a response and we’ll see what happens,” Amauri told Lady Radio.

The Brazilian born striker hasn’t been included as part of Juventus’ first team since last season and actually spent a pretty good six months at Parma, where he scored several important goals for the Gialloblu. However, early this summer, Amauri failed to reach any agreement with other clubs, so he stayed with the Turin giant and faced the risk of being frozen from the first team since the club’s coach, Antonio Conte, also doesn’t want the ex-Palermo striker on his squad.

photo credit: _bianconero

Juventus are looking close to add another fire power this season as the latest reports revealed that Fc Porto’s midfield player, Freddy Guarin, could be heading to Turin in this winter transfer market.

This news was apparently stated by Guarin himself who revealed that should he leave Porto this January, moving to the Bianconeri would be the player’s most likely destination.

“It will all be decided between now and Thursday, Either I continue playing with Porto or I will leave. If I do go, then I will leave only to join Juventus.” Guarin supposedly told Colombian Radio Catena Nacional.

The current Serie A leader, has been pursuing the player for quite sometime now and apparently this time they might really take things seriously as the Bianconeri are ready to offer 2 million Euro for a six month loan deal added with 9 million mandatory buy out clause. Meanwhile, reports claimed that Porto themselves are ‘only’ asking around 13 million for Guarin, but there’s still questions whether the Portuguese club would accept Juventus transfer method.

Guarin himself has been catching many people eyes after performing well for FC Porto under Andre Villas-Boas’ guidance last season and also in the Copa America with Colombia. The Colombian international apparently is considering a move in order to step his career up and of course being one of the most popular clubs in the world, Juventus would be a good destination, especially since there are several South American players already arriving there this summer.

However, should Juventus snapped Guarin, they must forget their chance in taking Martin Caceres from Sevilla, as both the Colombian midfielder and Uruguayan defender are all non-EU players. Since the Bianconeri only have one non-EU slot left this winter, they must picked one of those two targets for this January and maybe grabbed the other on the summer market.

photo credit: _bianconero