A stroll through Italy and the Serie A
by Paul Visca, SerieA.tv
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Juventus lead the way in Italy's quest for Olympic success with three players in the Azzurri squad.
The Italy Under-21 coach Pierluigi Casiraghi has named the 22 players who will represent their country at the Games in Beijing with the Bianconeri providing more players than any other single club.
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Paolo De Ceglie, Sebastian Giovinco and Claudio Marchisio form the Juve trio, with Domenico Criscito on loan to Genoa and with the recently departed Antonio Nocerino also called up, the Turin side's youth project has received a massive compliment.
The inclusion of Riccardo Montolivo will mean that Fiorentina will have to prepare for the Champions League preliminary round without the gifted midfielder.
Tommaso Rocchi from Lazio is confirmed as the only over-age member in the Under-23 competition while Villareal forward Giuseppe Rossi is the only player who plays outside of Italy.
Obinna ready to surprise
Victor Obinna has no intention of becoming a makeweight for Inter.
The striker has recently been bought back by the Italian champions, who had sold half of the player's contract to Serie B champions Chievo.
His return to the San Siro prompted suggestions that the 21-year-old would be used to close the deal for AS Roma winger Amantino Mancini.
However, the player's agent Gaetano Paolillo explained otherwise when he said: "Inter have never spoken to me about the intention to let Victor go to the Giallorossi.
"There had been contact with [AS] Roma last season, which was blocked by Chievo. The Nigeria international was also on the wanted list of Napoli, but the forward's representative revealed he was willing to fight for his chance at the Nerazzurri.
He said: "Also Napoli made an attempt to assure themselves the services of my client, who will go to Inter to stay.
"There is little space in all the big teams, it is down to the players to be ready to grab the chance when called upon and I'm convinced Obinna will be able to prove himself useful to the Nerazzurri cause."
AS Roma trail strikers
AS Roma have broadened their search for a striker to Spain and Holland.
Last year's runners-up are trailing Julio Baptista of Real Madrid, who appears interested in a possible switch to the Italian capital.
He said: "I'm a Real Madrid player, but my future is still to be decided. I've heard of [AS] Roma's interest, which can only be a pleasure to me because the Giallorossi is a great team and it's enough to go to the city once to fall in love with it."
However, the Spanish champions have still not received an offer for the Brazilian striker and according to Spanish newspaper "Marca" the Blancos have set an asking price of 25million euro.
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The second transfer target is reportedly Ajax youngster Klaas Jan Huntelaar, but for the player's Italian agent the same asking price puts him out of the capital side's reach. Vincenzo Morabito said: "Considering that Juventus, Inter and [AC] Milan have already made their move on the market or have other objectives in attack, I regard it highly unlikely that Huntelaar will arrive in Italy.
"The only team which may be interested is [AS] Roma but they don't have the means to meet the request of Ajax, who are asking at least 25million euro."
Prandelli plans Viola showtime
Cesare Prandelli is determined that Fiorentina produce even more attractive football next season.
The highly-respected tactician, although admitting his Viola are not yet title contenders, revealed his aim is to make his side everybody's second favourites.
He said: "We are not in the race for the title but we are in the group chasing a Champions League place.
"My personal challenge, however, goes beyond the standings. I have a dream that Fiorentina may become the friendly team, the second team for every football supporter and it pushes me towards making Fiorentina's football even more spectacular."
The winner of Coach of the Year in 2006 and 2007 put the big four sides as favourites to wear the crown as champions of Italy next season, adding that Juventus had taken a step towards Inter with their transfer campaign.
He said :"For the title, I see Inter and Juve, who have have performed well on the transfer front and could become a goal machine, on the front row followed by [AS] Roma then [AC] Milan and keep an eye on Napoli, they are going down the same road as us."
The club from Florence has already invested heavily in the summer transfer market, bringing in talent such as Alberto Gilardino from AC Milan and Stevan Jovetic from Sebian side FK Partizan while awaiting the formality of the signature of Juan Vargas from Catania.
A stronger squad leaves the 50-year-old an opportunity to alter the playing system and the former Parma coach is in fact contemplating fielding the talented Serbian teenager, who Prandelli likened to a young Francesco Totti.
He said: "I'm considering a 4-3-1-2 tactical set-up with Jovetic in front of the midfield with Gilardino and [Adrian] Mutu as out-and-out strikers. I don't want to experiment too much because the two preliminary matches are going to be the two most important matches of the season. We are not yet in the Champions League."
Paul Visca is a writer and match commentator for SerieA.TV and contributes Italian soccer news for FoxSoccer.com.
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