The Transfer Season: Should Buffon go to Man City?

January 3rd, 2009 | by: Julian |

The Transfer Season

It’s January, and as any footy fan can tell you, it’s also the second worst time of the year for actual news (outside of the summer). The transfer window re-opens now, which means we’re barraged with endless “news stories” about Buffon going to Man City and Roma trading the Trigoria for Lu-Lu-Lu Lukas Podolski. It’s times like these- when Serie A is on a break, and footy “news” is as reliable as an article from TheOnion- that I wish I could be like that bear and just hibernate till it’s all over. But what if the rumors are true?

The Buffon rumor is rather interesting. He’s on a great team right now at Juve, but rumor has it that they want Messi. Badly. And to raise the funds necessary for that, they have to sell a star player to the one club who gives shit all about the state of the economy.

But is it a good idea? For Juve, it might be. Manninger has proven to be a reliable deputy, and I don’t know too many fans of any club who don’t want Messi on their teams. So it might be good for Juve, but for the national team, it might have repercussions. Playing behind Chiellini and Legro means that Buffon can form a solid partnership with part of the back line that makes up the Azzurri. Then again, the EPL is quite physical, and the Man City defense is more porous than… a sponge. Buffon will be tested if he goes over to Man City.

I personally think this is just another rumor, but I’d be very interested to see what happens if it actually goes through. Would Barca even allow it? Would it hurt Buffon’s form? Could it save Man City’s season? What would Lippi think about it all?

Lega Calcio

Thankfully, Serie A returns in a week. It’s been fun and all watching the FA Cup, but I’m itching for some real footy action. The big game next week is going to be Milan-Roma, or “The debut of Beckham vs Roma trying to save their season.” Should be a cracker.

Azzurri: Year in Review

I’m sure you guys all loved my year in review post, but John Silver posted a link to his own review post in the comments section of that post. I highly recommend reading it, in all seriousness. It’s an excellent write up; it’s much more analytical and in depth than mine was. In fact, I think you should read mine first for a more general overview (/shameless self promotion), and then read his.

Tags: Barcelona, Gianluigi Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini, Group E, Italy, Juventus, Lionel Messi, Lukas Podolski, Manninger, Nicola Legrottaglie, Serie A

Italy World Cup Blog RSS Feed

Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 38 comments.

Read the rest of the comments

By sofia | January 3rd, 2009 at 9:38 pm

ok i am realllly over this bullshit rumour about Buffon going to Man City. Holy shit the reporters seriously have no other news. IT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN SO THEY REALLY NEED TO FUCK OFF! BUFFON IS AT JUVE FOR LIFE GET OVER IT! He would never even waste his time with an EPL team because he knows Serie A is a more competitive league anyways. It would be the worst mistake Juve would ever make and as much as I hate Secco and think he is the stupidest person alive next to Sarah Palin and George W., he is not THAT stupid, i mean seriously, c’mon, it’s Buffon we are talking about…it’s not like its…Zebina…

By alessio | January 4th, 2009 at 4:10 am

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Gigi finish out his career at Genoa.

Posted from United States

By Marco P. | January 4th, 2009 at 8:41 am

Or Carrara, who knows…

Posted from Italy

By mele419 | January 4th, 2009 at 9:05 pm

@Sofia “He would never even waste his time with an EPL team because he knows Serie A is a more competitive league anyways.”
As much as I love Serie A, I’m not too sure about that statement. In the Serie A the minnow teams will gladly sit back and play something like a 8-1-1 and go for 1 point. In the EPL those teams press and try to work in an attack. (yes, this is exactly what GF said, but he said it well)
The EPL is a very tough, physical, challenging league, and right now is pretty much on top of the world. Serie A just isn’t as intense.
Yeah, that was all pretty much off topic.
I think that if it actually worked, meaning City bought Buffon for an absurd amount, and Barca would sell Messi, it wouldn’t be bad for Juve. Maninger has definitely been solid, and Juve could definitely use another midfield Maestro. But y’know, crucify me for saying it.
Oh, and bastardo romano non esci da milano!

Posted from United States

By alessio | January 4th, 2009 at 11:59 pm

Really, mele? I see Cagliari and Siena fighting toe-to-toe with the league leaders. Does Blackburn or WBA have a chance against the league leaders? No. They are getting stomped 3-0, 4-0, whatever.

Any team in Italy can beat any other team, no matter of the league standings. (except maybe Chievo) The EPL is not anywhere like that.

Posted from United States

By kqql | January 5th, 2009 at 1:48 am

Summer Transfer:

Well looks like Villarreal have fallen apart this season. Good chance Rossi will be sold by Villarreal if they don’t qualify for CL. Probable destination for him is Serie A.

From 1/4/09
Casillas produced a brilliant stop to deny Rossi’s header (If Rossi header was little wider, it would have gone in.
http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/1933554

By Dick | January 5th, 2009 at 9:53 am

NO!

Posted from Norway

By Dick | January 5th, 2009 at 9:55 am

No i hate city scum come united instead

Posted from Norway

By 9 champs league | January 5th, 2009 at 10:29 am

dear friends, strangely enugh, i would welcome such a move!!It would buy the cash needed to make Juve the real world power which they r not now..i cant see Juve competing with man united or Liverpool or maybe even Chelsea with this squad, they lack a true playmaker.the likes of del piero, nedved and others look good against mickey mouse teams and we all know that Juve were totally outplayed by Madrid over both the legs and were lucky to win by classic Del Piero goals which wont happen 98 out of 100 times..besides, i cant see Juventus score a single goal against man united, Liverpool or maybe even against Chelsea who will be very strong cometh february…The transfer, if it were to happen would also do Buffon a world of good..he will be up against many long balls/physical plays and what not and man city defence is definately not a quality one, so Buffon might be having a great time there!!

Posted from Spain

By Jessica | January 5th, 2009 at 10:43 am

A very interesting “what-if”, indeed. Personally, I would like to see Buffon stay with Juve. I do not think it is about what league is better, the fact that he will be tested more with with Man.City, or even what Juve could buy with all that money. There are too many unknowns here – would any new superstar player(s) integrate perfectly at Juve? Would Buffon become even better for the National team simply because he has to save more? I don’t know…

What I do know is that Juve have some of the best young talents in the country that deserve the patience and reassuarnce of the front office and fans. If they get pushed out because of the new players, what will that do for la nazionale? Maybe I have the wool over my eyes to the business side of the sport these days, or I have Dino Zoff to close in mind to think practical – but Gigi is one of a kind that I hope stays where in my opinion, he truly belongs.

By mele419 | January 5th, 2009 at 7:18 pm

Alessio: I don’t know about that. Milan and Roma are having tough times right now, but Inter and Juve would plow anyone in the table 3 or 4 to nothing (besides say Fiorentina, Napoli etc) The EPL is in roughly the same situation. I mean, look at Hull. They’re in 8th right now, but were sitting pretty in 6th for quite some time. I still stand by what I said about the game types. I watch lots of Serie A and EPL, and the mid/bottom table teams and matches are a lot more attack based. I meant Man City (13th) beat Hull 5-1, with a HT score of 4-0. In pretty much every game i’ve seen minnows play in Serie A they plop down in defense, play on the counter and can put a goal or two away and take some points. It’s the difference in leagues that there’s always been. Serie A (Italian football in general) has always been incredibly defensive, everyone knows this. English has always been fast and hard.

Posted from United States

By matthew | January 5th, 2009 at 7:39 pm

If you take it all for what it’s worth it is indeed very interesting “what-if”/fantasty football.

I think Buffon’s commitment to Juve is clear.

here’s a good read

http://www.juventus.com/site/eng/NEWS_newsseriea_C63880DB061B4F7CBF803E10E9E7CEF7.asp

By Kurdt | January 5th, 2009 at 10:17 pm

For the sake of Azzurri, I don’t want Gigi move to city. That league is crappy and I think we all still want Gigi to take the gloves in 2010WC. Perhaps after that…

Posted from Taiwan

By 9 champs leagues | January 8th, 2009 at 11:27 am

guys, there is sad news for one and all..buffon skipped ed the training session today after just 25 minutes reigniting the rumours that he is a spent force and wont be the player he was before…injuries has finally taken toll on the superman of Football!!i cant see buffon playing international football again, it is time we start groooming Curci, Antonielli and ofcourse there is amelia..but will anyone of these achieve or reach the hieghts of Gigi??no way!!

By Forzafrankie | January 8th, 2009 at 5:26 pm

I agree with some previous statements. Italian football is all about the defense. English is more aggressive, as too Spanish. That is why they get all the hpye in the states. I would love to see an Italian team beat Barcelona, or even better Man U in the finals of the CL to hush some of this American(ESPN) hype! And the depth is the Serie A is far greater than EPL or La Liga also. I want to see an allstar team for the best leagues go head to head.

Posted from United States

By Julian | January 9th, 2009 at 12:47 am

Glad to see you guys still commenting even though I havent posted in a week. There’s been zilch on the Italy front, though I’ll be back soon with some new footy stuff to talk about

By mele419 | January 9th, 2009 at 11:34 am

9 champions leagues…
Because he left practice after 25 minutes means absolutely nothing. He’s still injured, wonderful. That doesn’t mean he’s hanging up his boots and moving to a secluded island to live as a hermit and harvest the blood of children. He’s hurting and he’s being cautious not to overwork himself before he’s ready so he can get back between the posts sooner rather than later.

Posted from United States

By lamagica | January 9th, 2009 at 2:50 pm

http://www.corrieredellosport.it/Notizie/Calcio/54344/Amauri%2C+si+allontana+la+maglia+azzurra

some great news (in italian) on amauri’s azzurri situation. for once i actually applaud italy’s onerous bureaucracy.

Posted from Canada

By mele419 | January 10th, 2009 at 12:25 am

I think eventually Amauri is going to play for Italy. I mean why wouldn’t he? He plays here on a club level with a great team that has a good Italian core. At the same time i don’t know if I like the idea of a Brazilian playing for our national team. I know Camoranesi is “technically” not Italian either, but he has Italian blood, at least. As far as I know Amauri does not, correct?

Posted from United States

By hisen | January 10th, 2009 at 5:34 am

Welcome to “Swissgallory”!

First of all I’d like to introduce our company. We cooperate with the best watch factories in our country. Our factories has it’s own Quality Control and they trying their best to make best watches possible. We definitely check every watch before shipping. We have our own watchsmith, with years and years of experience, and he’s well equipped with all needed tools and testers. And we do not charge for it. We do NOT “dropship”, if we dealing with individuals. Also, we trying to keep out prices as low as possible.

We guarantee almost immediate reply on every email, we guarantee fast shipping, we guarantee providing trucking number, and if something will happened to watches in the shipping process – we’ll gladly fix the problem, or replace the watch. We care our reputation, because good reputation mean good business.

We invite everyone to try our service, and we’ll try our best to fully satisfy your needs. Also we can assemble the watch according to your specifications, for example- dial color, case backs, etc. We also sell bracelets, bands, crowns and other watch parts separately. If we use genuine Swiss movement- we can assure you- it will be 100% Swiss movement. If we use Asian movements – it will be exactly what we advertise.

Again – we trying our best to earn your trust with providing you best replicas and best service possible.

By hisen | January 10th, 2009 at 5:35 am

welcom to sellcopy

Our on-line shop of replica watches & replica handbags(www.sellcopy.com) offers the visitors a wide range of exclusive timepieces of top quality.

We supply watches like Omega,Rolex,Rado,Breitling,Longines,Bvlgari,Patek Philippe,IWC,Tudor,Cartier,A.Lange&Sohne,Oris,Vacheron Constantin,Audemars Piguet,Tag Heuer, Jaeger Lecoultre,Breguet,Panerai,Piaget,Montblanc,Chopard,Chanel,Louis vuitton, Glashutte original.
Here you are sure to discover watches featuring numerous designs, styles,innovative functions and complications.

The modern style of replica watches usually creates a great demand among younger customers. Still, these watches are really appealing for people of any age. They will add to your life style more excitement, the spirit of adventure, and will fill you with unflagging energy flow. A fashionable watch is an easy way to make you look special.

you also will find the handbags are fashionable.

we supply handbags Louis Vuitton handbags,and other designer handbags like Coach, Burberry, Hermes, Chanel, Chloe,Fendi,Prada Gucci and so on are available at our site.All replica handbags sold by sellcopy.com Cheap designer hand bags you can find at our site, although their price is low, but the quality is not low at all. People can afford more than one designer handbags, which is great, especially to the ladies.We are fully confident you will be pleased with your product and quality of customer service.

By John Silver | January 13th, 2009 at 6:07 pm

My first of two articles on understanding italian football. This one overlaps with an old one I wrote about Totti for the roma.theoffside, so some of you may recognise some of the themes. Enjoy! (and discuss?…)
http://www.footballitaliano.co.uk/article.aspx?id=100

By lamagica | January 13th, 2009 at 10:41 pm

well done, andrea (js).

i clicked on your link in search of replica watches and designer handbags and was pleasantly surprised by seeing your article instead.

Posted from Canada

By Forzafrankie | January 14th, 2009 at 10:33 am

I don’t mind Argentine’s playing for our national team, because all of them have Italian blood in them anyways. And I would accept guys like Amauri who play here, and nationalize, move here, learn the culture, etc…They are like an adopted child(who can find the back of the net).

By aristeia | January 15th, 2009 at 4:26 am

Not sure why he’d go when he was considered the best in the world in 2006 (I believe Casillas is listed above him now, although he’s still MY best), had the option of going pretty much anywhere via his contract loophole b/c of the relegation to Serie B and he stuck it out with Juve and wasn’t coming straight off an injury.

Now that Juve are second in the league, why would he want to go to craptastic City who will doubtfully even break the top 4, let alone win the league any time soon?

Also… NEVER NO PLEASE DO NOT WANT.

Posted from United States

Comments are closed