Unsettled Isaksson Scotches Malmo Talk
Saturday 2nd December 2000
Juventus No 3 goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson has denied he is poised to move back to Sweden with Malmo, even though his future is probably away from the Stadio delle Alpi.
The 19-year-old's agent, Roger Ljung, scotched Italian press reports that a deal with the 1979 European Cup finalists had been signed.
Ljung told Dagens Nyheter: "Nothing is decided about Isaksson's future, but we haven't even had talks with Malmo. However, there are a few other interested clubs."
Isaksson was 17 and had played only a handful of Swedish premier league games for Trelleborg when, in June 1999, he was surprisingly signed by Juve for �800,000.
After one and a half years in Turin, Isaksson still hasn't made it on to the Juventus bench and has had to be content to wait behind Holland international Edwin van der Saar and experienced Michelangelo Rampulla.
The Swedish Under-21 keeper only plays in the junior leagues and he explained: "Of course it has been hard to leave behind my family and all my friends back home. But I was a given a chance that was too good to miss."
Isaksson also thinks that he has made great progress since joining Juve. "Van der Saar has been helping me in practise and given me some advice. I think that I have developed my game, above all my technical capacity," he said.
