Reuters Soccer Blog

Would Juve not be better off selling Buffon?

Juventus need a striker desperately but don’t want to bust their budget and yet have two top goalkeepers.

The answer? Why not sell one of the goalkeepers and use part of the proceeds to recruit a world-class forward?

The only problem is the most obvious and lucrative keeper to offload is Italy number one Gianluigi Buffon, widely recognised as one of the best if not best in the game.

Many Juve fans though would agree with the idea of letting Buffon go and entrusting the keeper jersey to the ever reliable Marco Storari if it meant the likes of Diego Forlan or Luis Fabiano could ease their injury and confidence crisis upfront.

Injury-prone Buffon has only just returned after over six months out with a back problem, during which time Storari has been superb.

The spectre of Buffon leaving Turin looked quite possible at the start of January with the likes of Manchester United linked in the media but he has now committed himself to Juve as the days run down in the transfer window.

Juve though still need that striker and having missed out on lesser lights like Antonio Floro Flores, who chose Genoa over the Old Lady, it’s all looking a bit desperate.

Real’s search for a striker — who fits the bill?

Jose Mourinho’s constant pressuring of Real Madrid for another striker has finally paid off, with director general Jorge Valdano saying they were in the market for a number nine.

In the past, many top clubs would have been worried that the world’s richest club by income according to the Deloitte’s Football Money League, would be turning the heads of their prize assets.

This time, however, Real have set themselves an even tougher task. They only want to borrow a striker on loan until the end of the season when Gonzalo Higuain should have recovered from the back surgery he underwent on Tuesday.

Their only other recognised striker, Karim Benzema, “lacks a hunger for goals,” Mourinho said after another disappointing display from the Frenchman in the King’s Cup on Thursday. He has only scored once in La Liga this season.

The Spanish media quickly cranked into gear with a shopping list of possible targets.

1. Manchester City’s Emmanuel Adebayor leads the betting at present, ticking all the right boxes. A powerful target man in the mould of former Mourinho favourites Didier Drogba and Diego Milito, he is surplus to requirements at City and eligible to play in the Champions League.

2. Bayern Munich’s Miroslav Klose is out of contract with the German club at the end of the season and spending most of his time warming the bench. He is an experienced goalscorer, but he would not be able to play in Europe.

Would Gilardino really suit Juventus?

The January transfer window is up and running with Serie A appearing to be ahead of other leagues for early deals.

Sampdoria forward Antonio Cassano has joined AC Milan, meaning Ronaldinho is all set to leave, and Genoa’s Italy defender Andrea Ranocchia has headed to Inter Milan.

The other Italian giants Juventus are keen on a new striker given Amauri’s form and fitness problems and Alessandro Del Piero’s advancing years.

Media reports have continually linked the Turin club with Fiorentina’s Alberto Gilardino, despite both clubs playing the speculation down.

Juve seem to just be trying to collect every Italy striker they can. They already have Vincenzo Iaquinta (the latest of their players to suffer an injury) and Fabio Quagliarella, who arrived from Napoli in the close season after Juve’s bid for Udinese striker Antonio Di Natale broke down.

Lugi Del Neri’s side pondered a bid for Cassano but decided against it but have longed been linked with Samp’s Giampaolo Pazzini.

I know Juventus were close to appointing now Italy boss Cesare Prandelli when he was at Fiorentina but trying to copy his entire strike force is going a bit far, especially as Gilardino is so similar to Quagliarella and may be past his best.

Who will be Mourinho’s Milito this year?

Should Real Madrid have stepped in and taken Zlatan Ibrahimovic off Barcelona’s hands instead of AC Milan?

Perhaps a preposterous idea, but after the opening round of matches in La Liga, Real may be concerned they did not heed coach Jose Mourinho’s warnings about the need for a third striker.

Mourinho’s league debut ended with an uninspiring 0-0 draw away to Real Mallorca on Sunday, which was in sharp contrast to Barcelona’s supremely confident 3-0 victory at Racing Santander.

Argentina’s Gonzalo Higuain, Real’s top scorer last season, led the line and blew the best of his side’s chances, perpetuating the idea that he is sometimes profligate in front of goal.

Karim Benzema did little to change the story when he came on as a substitute. The France striker still has much to prove at the Bernabeu after a discrete first season in Spain.

Cristiano Ronaldo huffed and puffed, and shot when perhaps he could have passed, but Mourinho has already said he doesn’t want to play his Portuguese compatriot as a number nine.

Overtaking Baggio could solve Inzaghi’s image problem

After bagging his 300th career goal last month, AC Milan’s Filippo Inzaghi has set his sights on Roberto Baggio’s tally of 318.

The 35-year-old hit a hat-trick in Sunday’s 5-1 thrashing of Torino in Serie A to take his total up to 304 and he looks good to achieve his target next season.

This got me wondering whether reaching a milestone set by a universally recognised great of the modern game will win over those still sceptical about Inzaghi’s talents.

Inzaghi’s goal feats often fail to receive the enthusiastic greeting they get in Italy outside his homeland, especially with British fans and journalists.

“English colleagues have often suggested that ‘SuperPippo’ was nothing more than a ‘poacher’ and a ‘six-yard merchant’, with a marked penchant for taking a ‘dive’ to boot,” Irish Times correspondent Paddy Agnew wrote in his book Forza Italia.

Agnew, who has covered Serie A since the 1980s, argues that Inzaghi is no more of a diver than his colleagues who have played in the Premier League “Saint Michael Owen, Ruud Van Nistelrooy or Wayne Rooney included”.

But the accusation that he is little more than a goal-hanger may be harder to shake off. His first goal of the 2007 Champions League final against Liverpool, which he deflected in with his arm, is seen by many as a typical Inzaghi effort.

Is there any way back for Owen?

Quite how far Michael Owen’s career has nosedived was underlined at the weekend when the Newcastle United striker was again overlooked for his country despite the lack of attacking options for coach Fabio Capello.

Capello watched three of his squad strikers hobble off at Wembley on Saturday during the 4-0 friendly victory over Slovakia with Emile Heskey and Carlton Cole both ruled out of Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier against Ukraine.

With Peter Crouch also carrying a knock, surely the time had come for Capello to get on the telephone to Owen, a player with 40 goals in 89 appearances for his country and who was voted Europe’s best player in 2001.

Instead, Capello bluntly dismissed the case for Owen, saying he felt the striker was not playing well enough for his club. Capello turned to the much-maligned Darren Bent, a willing runner but hardly a finisher in the same class as Owen.

It is hard to see where Owen now fits into Capello’s plans. The Italian appears to favour a big target man playing in tandem with the versatile Wayne Rooney. Owen’s penalty area prowess is clearly not enough for Capello.

At 29, and after a series of injuries, Owen does not have the explosive pace that was once his trademark and he can look hesitant in front of goal. He has scored just once in his last 10 matches for relegation-haunted Newcastle and it is a year since he last played for England.

So is there any hope of an international return for the former Liverpool man? A move away from St James’ Park would be a first step but any journey back to the top of European football looks like being a long and painstaking one.