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A stroll through Italy and the Serie A
by Paul Visca, SerieA.tv
Catch all the Italian league action on SerieA.tv.com!
Andriy Shevchenko is set finally to return to AC Milan after a two year absence, according to reports.
The Ukranian forward is in his home country preparing for a friendly international with Poland in the knowledge that his current club Chelsea have agreed to a loan deal with his former team following the Blues president Roman Abramovich's recent trip in Italy where he was hosted by his AC Milan counterpart Silvio Berlusconi in Sardinia.
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An agreement between the two entrepreneurs was reached whereby the Rossoneri will cover the 31-year-old's salary without any further outlay for a player who found himself watching the London side's Premier League debut this season from the stands after being overlooked by new coach Felipe Scolari.
Sheva will look to kick start his career at the San Siro, where he claimed almost all major honours at club level and amassed 173 goals in seven seasons, placing him second in the all-time scorers chart at the Milan giants and coach Carlo Ancelotti revealed that he foresaw no problem at reintegrating the prodigal son in the squad.
He said: "There is nothing official about Shevchenko, he is still a Chelsea player. We are used to facing challenges when recovering players, sometimes it has gone well, other times less so.
"It all depends on the motivation the player brings here because at Milan there has never been any problem looking after the players."
The former Dinamo Kiev man arrived at the Rossoneri in 1999 for €22 million and immediately made an impact becoming top scorer in his debut season in Serie A with 29 goals before going on to win the Champions League in 2003 and the league title the following year, which was capped off with the award of the European Player of the Year.
After requesting a transfer, Shevchenko was sold to the English Premier League outfit in the summer of 2006 for €45 million but failed to make an impression at Stamford Bridge despite the backing of Abramovich.
Mutu fall agony
Adrian Mutu risks missing Fiorentina's crunch Serie A opener against Juventus with a dislocated elbow.
The Romania international admitted that despite falling awkwardly on his elbow on the training ground while preparing for Wednesday's international friendly with Lithuania, he failed to appreciate immediately the damage to his arm.
He said: "I got injured without even realising it, in fact I kept on training as if nothing had happened then the pain suddenly hit me.
"This kind of thing is part and parcel of the life of a professional footballer. I have dislocated my elbow and now I have to wear a cast."
The full extent of the damage to the talismanic striker will become known only after further tests in Florence but an initial estimate is that the 29-year-old will sit out the return leg of the Champions League preliminary round match against Slavia Prague next week.
However, the former Juventus player could still return to action in time for the final match of the opening week's action in Serie A on August 31 when the Bianconeri visit Florence.
Also in doubt for Cesare Prandelli's side for the most intriguing match of Game Day 1 is midfielder Riccardo Montolivo who returned from Italy's disappointing Olympic adventure nursing a thigh strain.
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Meanwhile, Alberto Gilardino is determined to get one over his national team-mate Gianluigi Buffon as the Viola newcomer has managed to score only once in his career against the Juve goalkeeper.
The 26-year-old forward said: "Buffon is immense, he's the best but it's time I got my own back."
Juve young guns aim for success
Sebastian Giovinco has returned from Beijing 2008 determined to make up for his disappointment by bursting on the scene at Juventus.
The pocket-sized attacking midfielder took part in his first training session with the Bianconeri since Italy crashed out of the Olympic Games at the quarter finals against Belgium and the player who is nicknamed the Atomic Ant admitted his focus is now set on breaking into the Juve first-team.
He said: "I'm disappointed at how the Olympic adventure ended but now I hold only my adventure with Juventus close to heart: I'll try to prove myself here.
"I know I've got a long difficult season ahead of me, but I'm setting off charged up to try and cut out some space for me in this team made up of great champions.
" It's not new that the competition is tough at Juventus, it's normal for a big club but I'll do all I can to find space."
Another Juve youngster who participated for the Azzurri in China, Paolo De Ceglie, revealed how impressed he was by how the Turin giants disposed of Artmedia Bratislava in the first-leg of the Champions League preliminary round.
He said: "I managed to catch the impressive win of my team-mates over Artmedia from China. Now I'll launch myself with great enthusiasm and desire to do well with Juve."
In the week that Claudio Ranieri lost defender Giorgio Chiellini until October with a knee ligament injury, the experienced coach has one worry less with the news that midfielder Mauro Camoranesi will not be risked by Marcello Lippi in Italy's friendly match against Austria because of a muscle problem.
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Mourinho backs Ibra rest
Jose Mourinho has supported the decision to allow Zlatan Ibrahimovic recovery time.
The Swedish international has been allowed to return to Milan by national coach Lars Lagerbak following the Inter star complaining of continuing pain in his left knee ahead of Sweden's friendly international against France.
The Inter coach said: "We know that after many difficult months for him we have to pay close attention. I think that Laggerbak is thinking along the same lines as me.
"Here at Inter we have a lot of important games to play and the same is true for Sweden who face Portugal and Denmark, I think we both want a special player for Inter and Sweden."
"So I think this is the best solution for the player right now not to play two matches in one week."
However, the new Nerazzurri trainer refused to be drawn on the question whether the former Ajax and Juventus player would be risked at the weekend in the Italian Supercup between the Italian champions and fierce rivals AS Roma, the 45-year-old's first competitive match in charge for eight months.
He replied: "We'll see later."
Should the 26-year-old not make it for the season's curtain raiser teenager Mario Balotelli is in line to fill the centre forward role, supported by Luis Figo and Amantino Mancini on the flanks.
Paul Visca is a writer and match commentator for SerieA.TV and contributes Italian soccer news for FoxSoccer.com.
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