There are two market operations that hold the table on this Monday at the end of July. The first does not concern Italy but the bench of one of the strongest clubs in the world, Barcelona, who orphaned the heir of Pep Guardiola, that Tito Villanova winner of a Liga last year but now again forced to forfeit for the same health reasons that had stopped him during the last season, will seat a surprise name on the bench, that of the Argentine coach and former footballer Gerardo "Tata" Martino, former coach of Paraguay (who eliminated Italy at the World Cup 2010) and up to yesterday manager of Newell's Old Boys.
With the Rossoneri, "Tata" won an Argentine Final (ex Clausura) and came close to the final of the Copa Libertadores, being eliminated in extremis in the semifinal by Ronaldinho's Atletico Mineiro. But beyond the curriculum, discreet but objectively modest for a club like Barça, to give Martino an advantage on the most coveted bench in the world, making him preferable to the various internal hypotheses (Tito's deputy, Roura, or the B team coach Eusebio ), was perhaps the deep friendship and esteem that binds him to Leo Messi, of which he is a fellow citizen of Rosario (city where Newell's Old Boys plays).
While Tata Martino is practically official, another major operation is still taking shape in Spain, but this time on the axis with Italy. Napoli would in fact have reached an agreement (yet another…) with Real Madrid for the striker Gonzalo Higuain, over 100 goals with the merengue shirt and requested by half of Europe, Arsenal in primis. However, while the offer from the English remained below 30 million, and therefore too far from the 40 requested by the Madrid management, the Neapolitan club, strengthened by the sale of Edinson Cavani to PSG, was able to almost completely satisfy Perez and his associates, increasing the offer for the Argentine international for 37 million + bonuses.
The obstacle now is represented by the will of the player, who would be hesitating due to problems with the sponsor and with image rights, even if Napoli still offers him a million net a year more than Madrid. If he were to go through, this would be a great blow that would absolutely not make Cavani regret and indeed would project Napoli in pursuit of Juventus and increasingly competitive even at an international level. Alternatively, or in addition to this possible deal, Chicharito Hernandez of Manchester United (who asks for 18 million or offers him on loan) and Alessandro Matri of Juventus, who could be included in the deal as a counterpart, are also being talked about for the blue attack who is about to bring Zuniga to black and white.
