Return Ticket For Esnaider
Monday 4th December 2000
Struggling Real Zaragoza are close to bringing Argentinian striker Juan Esnaider back to La Romareda on loan from Juventus until the end of the season.
The 27-year-old had two successful seasons with the club in the mid-90's, hitting 29 goals for the Pikolines before leaving for Oviedo in 1995.
He is currently surplus to requirements at the Stadium delle Alpi and Zaragoza have set up a loan agreement with Juve where Esnaider will play out the rest of the season with them in return for a �1 million fee.
In 16th place in La Liga and yet to replace the departed Savo Milosevic, Real will also have first option to sign the former Atletico Madrid player for �4 million.
Yet club president Alfonso Solans is warning fans that there could still be a last-minute hitch to the deal. "We are still waiting for Luciano Moggi�s decision but he could come up now with new conditions we wouldn�t accept," Solans said.
The big, bustling centre-forward joined Juventus from Espanyol for �2.5 million in November 1998. Widely seen as a panic buy by former coach Marcello Lippi, he has hardly featured in the first team in the last 18 months.
