Bologna Star Reluctant To Join Juve
Monday 19th March 2001
With three goals in his last four games, Giacomo Cipriani is the toast of Bologna. Word has it that the striker is bound for Juventus in the summer, but the 21-year-old is desperate to stay at the club he has supported since childhood.
Cipriani burst onto the scene with a memorable brace in his side's 3-3 draw away to AC Milan in February and is one of the main reasons Bologna are still in contention for a European place.
The smart money is on the powerful forward moving to Juventus at the end of the season, as the Turin giants half-own the striker's registration.
But, although most young players would jump at the chance to move to the Delle Alpi, Bologna's great white hope wants to set his own pace.
"The fact that Juventus own half my registration is an important factor even though it's a normal co-ownership," he said. "But I'd like to stay at Bologna a while longer and I'm sure president [Giuseppe] Gazzoni will do everything he can to keep me."
"I was born and bred in Bologna and I want to stay. I'm still young and I need to improve, especially in one-on-one situations. I often stay behind after training with [coach Francesco] Guidolin to work on it."
Cipriani came through the youth ranks at Bologna and enjoyed a spell on loan Lecce, but it is only recently that he has started to attract attention with some impressive performances that have prompted comparisons to the great Marco Van Basten.
And he puts his improved form down to his manager, who has invested a great deal of time and effort into coaching him individually.
"[Italy Under-21s] Coach Gentile complimented me for my goal against Fiorentina. I'm happy, for Bologna, and for myself, because I played well despite not feeling totally fit."
"And beating [Francesco] Toldo in goal is always a great satisfaction. Even though he mistimed his sortie, he's a great goalie."
"In my brief spell at Lecce I couldn't settle in. But back at Bologna, I regained some self-confidence and began to feature more in Guidolin's thinking.
"Then there was that magic night at the San Siro, when I paid the coach back for his faith in me with two goals. I have a good relationship with my team-mates, especially Maresca. We play well together, he's very good in his role.
Cipriani would appear to prefer playing alongside his team captain rather than the other striker in competition for a place in the front line, Julio Ricardo Cruz.
But, while the affable �13-million-rated youngster clearly revels in the chance to learn from former Serie A 'capocannoniere' and Italy striker Signori, he also has words of encouragement for the former Feyenoord star.
"With [Giuseppe] Signori I feel great. I try to create space for him, and even take some knocks for him. He's 32, but he's like a kid, whenever he has the goal in his sights, he shoots, and scores.
"[Cruz] is a great striker, but he's just come from Holland and hasn't settled in yet."
The centre-forward's meteoric rise from relative obscurity has also taken in success with Italy's Under-21 side - for whom he scored twice on his debut against Austria recently.
Under-21 coach Claudio Gentile has recalled him for his side's World Cup qualifiers against Romania and Lithuania, and Cipriani is enjoying the whole experience, although remains with his feet firmly on the ground.
"With the Under-21s we'll be playing the decisive games for qualification in these next two games. Romania will be an especially hard game.
"I don't know if I'll play, there's not much room for me in attack. There are players with more experience than me, and, besides, this is only my second cap."
