A stroll through Italy and the Serie A
by Paul Visca, SerieA.tv
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Giorgio Chiellini has sent out an invitation to Alberto Aquilani to join him at Juventus.
The uncompromising defender revealed he has become good friends with the AS Roma midfielder and has attempted to persuade him to leave the capital club in favor of the Bianconeri.
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He said: "Alberto and I have played together at all levels of the national team, since we were 15 years old and our parents have become good friends.
"We have spoken often and I've been telling him to come to Turin. Joking, I spoke well about the club and the city, then it will be up to him to make his decision.
"His situation is not simple as he has grown up at [AS] Roma and he's closely tied to the Roman setup."
The Turin giants are on the look-out for a midfielder with the talented Roman vying in top spot on the wanted list alongside Xabi Alonso of Liverpool.
The 23-year old stopper has no doubts that the Spain international is capable of adding the extra quality in the center of the field to push Juve's challenge for top honors.
He said: "There are no doubts that Xabi Alonso is a great player who could give us a hand. There are others like him, but I'm sure the club would be bringing another champion who must help us make that leap of quality to put us up there with [AS] Roma, AC Milan and Inter."
Toldo aims to impress Mourinho
Francseco Toldo is preparing to reclaim his position as first-choice goalkeeper at Inter.
The 36-year old has turned down a move to Chievo and is determined to cause Julio Cesar problems as starting goalkeeper now that Jose Mourinho has arrived as Nerazzurri boss.
He said: "I still regard myself as a goalkeeper with a capital G and I want to give it a go to return as Inter's number 1 seeing as there has been a change of coach.
"It's an important possibilty for me and I repeat I want to win back a starting place in an Inter shirt."
The former Fiorentina player has had to be content with Italian Cup matches and the occasional Serie A appearance over the last three seasons due to the outstanding form of the Brazil international keeper.
Meanwhile, the transfer of Amantino Mancini to the Italian champions from AS Roma has taken a step forward now that the San Siro side have secured complete ownership of Victor Obinna from Chievo.
The Nigerian is highly regarded by Giallorossi coach Luciano Spalletti and the 21-year-old is being lined up as a makewieght to entice the capital club to part ways with the Brazilian winger.
Milan consider weighty question
Adriano Galliani is keeping an eye on the developments of Ronaldinho and Ronaldo as he forms AC Milan's transfer strategy.
Having been priced out of the chase for Emmanuel Adebayor by Arsenal, the managing director of the San Siro outfit admitted that Ronaldinho had returned in vogue.
He said: "Ronaldinho is an important player, now we have to see what Bercelona are requesting.
"It's not my role to judge his fitness, I'm not a coach. I've seen him and he appeared slightly overweight but he'll always have his talent."
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Another former World Player of the Year, Ronaldo, became a free agent on Tuesday when his contract with the World Club champions expired.
The centre forward is recovering from surgery in Brazil and Galliani maintained that the 31-year old was still part of the plans at the Rossoneri.
He said "Ronaldo is highly considered by everybody at [AC] Milan, but he too must lose weight. He must train, do some preperation and if the conditions are right, we'll see what can be done.
"I hope Ronaldo can return to being the great player he was and although he's out of contract, we're keeping tabs on his recovery."
Meanwhile, Ignazio Abate has been loaned to Torino for a year following an impressive season at Empoli which provoked the Milan giants to buy back the remaining part of the 21-year-old's contract.
Three unveiled at Napoli
Napoli have paraded the three players brought in to push the southern club into the Serie A big time.
Christian Maggio, Leandro Rinaudo and Gustavo Denis have put pen to paper at the San Paolo and were unveiled together on Wednesday.
Maggio completed his transfer from Sampdoria for €8 million and the attacking midfielder admitted he is aiming to find last season's form that took him to the fringes of the Italy team.
The 26-year old said: "I'm eager to get going, I'm highly motivated. I'm happy to be here and hope to repeat what I achieved last season at Samp."
Arriving from his local side Palermo, Rinaudo pledged to give his all for his new club.
The central defender said: "I want to thank the club, which has shown a desire to bring me, spending a lot of money. The Napoli shirt is fascinating for any player and I can't wait for the chance to wear it."
Meanwhile Denis caught the attention of the Azzurri when he scored 17 goals in 16 games for Independiente in Argentina and cost around €9 million.
The 26-year old forward returns to Italy after a disappointing spell with Cesena in season 2002/03 aiming to win the league title.
He said: "I want to do well at Napoli. My aim is to score plenty of goals as I did in Argentina and I want to win a scudetto here."
Napoli finished eighth last season, qualifying for the Intertoto cup and will be one of the first teams back training after the summer break.
Paul Visca is a writer and match commentator for SerieA.TV and contributes Italian soccer news for FoxSoccer.com.
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