Juve Give Up On Alonso

[BrooklynRed]

Great news, IMO. I think he needed to be healthy, and now that he is, he will shine.

LINK

Juventus president Giovanni Cobolli Gigli has called off the Italian club's pursuit of Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso.

Gigli has confirmed the club have finished their activity in the summer transfer market - 'unless something extraordinary happens'.

The Bianconeri signed Christian Poulsen from Sevilla on Monday, making the Denmark midfielder their eighth close-season acquisition.

'Everyone knows that the transfer market ends on August 31,' said Cobolli Gigli.

'But if I have to be honest, unless something extraordinary happens, we can say that we have concluded our transfer activity.'

Juve were unable to lure one of their top summer targets, with Spain international Alonso remaining in the Premier League with Liverpool.

The Old Lady considered other alternatives before bringing in Poulsen - a player Cobolli Gigli is confident will succeed.

'I am convinced that we have made a good choice by acquiring Christian Poulsen,' he said.

'This signing is not a bet made by (Claudio) Ranieri but rather a tactical decision taken by Juventus, knowing that a powerful attack can only be supported by a strong midfield.'

[Kenneth]

Keep Xabi, sack off Barry; save some money and avoid weakening our 1st team. Good news.

[Kev_81]

Keep Xabi, sack off Barry; save some money and avoid weakening our 1st team. Good news.

[-V-]

Hopefully Xabi stays whatever happens with Barry.

Think he's been given a kick up the backside and judging by his super performance when he captained Spain in the euro's i think this will spur him on into having a top notch season. Hopefully he will come out firing

[Mike]

So long as he plays like he did for spain in the Euros, every week, i am happy.
Although would still love us to get Barry.

[Darth Marty]

And Barry is back training with Villa tomorrow....happy days!

[rage]

best news all day. now as long as this downing stuff is **** i'm a happy man

[EST_1892]

This could be a blessing in disguise, but only if the real Xabi is going to stand up this season and put in the good performances he is capable of. If he still fails to impress, we can still be in for Barry next season at a more realistic price.......maybe!

[Roboklopp]

This could be a blessing in disguise, but only if the real Xabi is going to stand up this season and put in the good performances he is capable of. If he still fails to impress, we can still be in for Barry next season at a more realistic price.......maybe!

Aye, Id thought that. I think Xabi deserves an injury-free season to regain his form & if that doesnt work out, Bazza can be got at a more reasonable price but Xabi will still have a while left on his contract, so we wont lose as much on him.

[El Jefecito]

Aye, Id thought that. I think Xabi deserves an injury-free season to regain his form & if that doesnt work out, Bazza can be got at a more reasonable price but Xabi will still have a while left on his contract, so we wont lose as much on him.

If Xabi underperforms again though, either Lucas and El Jefecito are going to get a lot of games (I don't Plessis will be a regular next year, one more year of development to go IMO) or we will move SG back into CM. Both of those would be bad things as far as I can see.

[EST_1892]

Aye, Id thought that. I think Xabi deserves an injury-free season to regain his form & if that doesnt work out, Bazza can be got at a more reasonable price but Xabi will still have a while left on his contract, so we wont lose as much on him.

Aye, it will definatley be a make or break season for Xabi. The thing in our favour is that Xabi (from what I can tell) Isn't a want-away player like Barry. This will at least keep his value along with the length of his contract. But although Barry will be a year older, he should be a damn sight cheaper next season if we are still in for him.

I can't see the Arse taking a gamble on him either.

I just wonder who our next target is after Barry (if we still don't get him of course)?

[Parm]

Keep Xabi, sack off Barry; save some money and avoid weakening our 1st team. Good news.

exactly mate

[Sarb]

Hope he stays. But didnt the echo say he is still off?

[El Jefecito]

Hope he stays. But didnt the echo say he is still off?

They did, but there was no substantiation for that. There are still too many variables in play to be able to say for certain either way IMO.

[Sarb]

Hope Xabi stays and we get Keane and a winger. Think we'll be well set for a title assault then. Barry makes very little difference IMo