These rumors were compiled over a year and a half period. The most recent rumors are the ones on the highest page number. Some of these things have happened already and some will never happen! Have fun reading!

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New Juve coach Marcello Lippi has stressed he is not prepared to sacrifice Alessio Tacchinardi in an attempt to lure Christian Vieri to the club. Lippi has practically begged Juventus officials to find an alternative to bringing Vieri back to the Stadio delle Alpi, without the need to lose one of La Signora's most influential players. Nevertheless, Tacchinardi himself does not appear to be that keen on the idea of staying at Juventus now that his demands for a wage rise have not been met. Tacchinardi, who has another four years of his contract with The Bianconeri to run, is one of the lowest-paid players at the club although he earns $US 1.5m a season. Moggi however has once again confirmed that none of the players under contract will receive raises. He explained: "In the last five months we have set a new trend for our team. All of the existing contracts will not change or be altered so no raises will be given."

Despite the persistent rumours coming from Spain, Alain Migliaccio, Zinedine Zidane's agent, says that his client is going nowhere. Zidane and now Migliaccio have for the second time in a month denied that they have ever released any statement to the Spanish press saying that the player wants to leave. Migliaccio says that the quotes reported by the Spanish daily Marca are nothing but a fabrication by the Spanish media. In an exclusive interview to Gazzetta dello Sport, Migliaccio has stated that Zizou is set to stay at Juve, saying: "Yes, it's true that Zidane has left Turin, but he only packed a few suitcases to go on vacation with his family in the Caribbean. The rest is just a fantasy. "As for myself, I must say that I have never said to Marca or to any other newspaper that Zidane wants to leave Juve. The only thing I have declared to a Spanish radio station is that Zidane has a four-year deal with Juve, that he loves playing for this team and that he has no intention to leave."

Paolo Montero is a target for Olympiakos, and their Yugoslav midfielder Pedrag Djordjevic could move to Italy in a swap deal. Julio Montero, father as well as manager of Juventus defender Paolo, is in Greece to hold talks with Olympiakos about his son's future. Uruguayan central defender Montero, 29, was a target for Olympiakos last year and the Greek champions have renewed their interest in him. Montero is one of the favourite players of new Juventus coach Marcello Lippi. The experienced manager wanted to take him to Inter Milan when he went to the Neroazzurri two years ago, but the transfer was never completed. Lippi was happy to meet Montero again upon his arrival back at the Stadio Delle Alpi, but Lippi is interested in signing Yugoslav left-sided midfielder Djordjevic from Olympiakos, and he could sacrifice Montero in exchange. Julio Montero and Olympiakos president Sokratis Kokkalis are set to meet on Sunday to discuss a possible deal.

Juventus are looking for an experienced striker who would agree to be the team's number four frontman. With Darko Kovacevic's future still undecided and Daniel Fonseca's contract expiring soon, Juve need somebody who would willingly accept a spot on the bench and fill in for Alessandro Del Piero and David Trezeguet when needed. While Bologna's Giuseppe Signori said he wouldn't mind ending his career at Juve, Atalanta's seasoned striker Maurizio Ganz is also a possible solution. The fact that the striker's contract with the Bergamo side is about to expire is an advantage for Juve, since it would mean that they would only have to negotiate with the player himself. The player's agent Claudio Pasqualin has, however, said that no real negotiations have started yet.

Lippi set for Juventus job Marcello Lippi now looks set to succeed Carlo Ancelotti as Juventus coach next season, according to reports in Italy. The Italian Daily "Gazzetta dello Sport" has reported that was the reason why the team's Honorary President Umberto Agnelli and the lawyer and Presdient of the Bianconeri, Vittorio Chiusano paid the former Inter Milan manager a visit the other day. Gianni Agnelli, Umberto's older brother and head of the influential Italian family, had also visited the team and said that he wouldn't at all mind if Lippi were to come back to coach the team. Obviously, until it is 100 per cent sure that AS Roma will win the title, no announcement will be made since the team needs to stay focused on these last two games. Marcello Lippi in the meantime, admits that he will probably work in Italy next year but refuses to admit anything on the speculation. As for Ancelotti, even though his new contract signed two months ago it still isn't legally effective, although Juve's management will respect it in any case. However, if Ancelotti wanted to coach another team before the end of the next season in 2002, he will have to surrender his agreement with the Bianconeri.

Juventus and Inter Milan are both believed to be chasing Fiorentina's Enrico Chiesa who has been in fine form this season. The 30-year-old is coming to the end of one of his best Serie A seasons ever and is fighting for the title of 'Golden Boot' with Andreij Schevcehnko and Hernan Crespo. Because of his leading role among the Serie A strikers, the former Parma and Sampdoria frontman has asked for a substantial raise at Fiorentina, a raise that The Viola aren't believed to be willing to give him. Chiesa, who currently earns $US 2.5milion a year, is rumoured to have received a $US 4.5million offer from both Juve and Inter. The player himself has also admitted he's far from reaching an agreement with his current club and said: "We are far from reaching a deal with Fiorentina, so my future at the moment is very uncertain." Mario Sconcerti, the team's Vice-President, has said that Chiesa will go nowhere however and added: "Chiesa still has a deal with us and I'm not selling him!"

Reports in the French press state that there are only two clubs in with a chance of signing Parma defender Lillian Thuram. pite interest from Sergio Cragnotti, it seems unlikely that the French international will join Lazio - largely because of the prevailing racist attitude amongst many of the club's supporters. Manchester United and Juventus are said to be leading the race, with Juve having supposedly proposed an offer of �18 million, although Parma are thought to be looking for at least another �5 million on top of that sum. It is suggested that Thuram and Patrick Vieira are prime targets of the Turin-based club, as they look ahead to securing the Scudetto next season. Manchester United are also rumoured to have made a bid for Thuram, although it is believed to have been inferior to that of Juventus.

Rumours suggesting Juve boss Carlo Ancelotti is heading for Bologna this summer have drawn silence from the Turin giants. The management refuses to comment on it, the players keep on saying they know nothing, and still the rumour about Marcello Lippi's possible return to Juve is spreading like a wildfire through the forest. Not only do the Italian Media seem for the most part ready to believe that there's some truth in these speculations, but some are also suggesting a series of possible future destinations for Carlo Ancelotti after his likely sacking from Juve. A popular Italian paper reports today that "Carletto" could end up in Bologna to replace Francesco Guidolin who seems to be headed for Venezia. According to this paper Ancelotti could also move to AC Milan, the team of his biggest victories as a player, even though the deal with former Galatasaray and Fiorentina coach Fatih Terim seems to be already done. As for Marcello Lippi, the former Inter Milan coach keeps on sending out cryptic messages. After stating that he had turned down a bid from Barcelona because he already had a job in Italy the coach said today that we will learn about his future in the next few days: "Trust me! A few more days and everything will become clear." The only sure thing is that till then the speculations won't stop.

Juventus have once again made a bid for Perugia playmaker Fabio Liverani, who has been the revelation of the Serie A season. The 25-year-old, who used to play in the Serie C1 (Italy's third division) up until last season has proven to be an exhilarating discovery, so much so that coach Giovanni Trapattoni decided to call him up to the Italian national side two months ago. Now Juve have offered Perugia's president Luciano Gaucci $12.5 million (US) plus one player among Michele Paramatti, Alssandro Birindelli or Jonathan Bachini. In order to convince Perugia to surrender the player, who is rated at around $US20 million, the management of the "Old Lady" is also ready to surrender also Marco Zanchi, a defender Gaucci seems to be very interested in, and it is expected the two sides will meet again in the coming days in order to try to negotiate a deal. Liverani, who was also the first black player born in Italy to have donned the jersey of the Azzuri, could then also become the first black-Italian player to sign for a major Serie A team.

Udinese midfielder Martin Jorgensen is ready to abandon a sinking ship as he has admitted he would love a move to Juventus. The player has confessed that he has no wish to play in the Serie B and with Udinese dangerously close to the relegation zone, that possibility seems very real. Jorgensen admits he would love to move to Juve, but only if he would be guaranteed a place in the first team, saying: "I would love to play for Juve next year, but only if they would consider me as a first choice. It's much better to be number 12 at Inter Milan or 14 at Parma rather than 26 at Juve. I have no rescission clause in my contract with Udinese but surely if the team would be relegated to the Serie B the management wouldn't be able to afford to pay the same salaries they do now. The passport scandal is also another reason why I'd like to leave this club and in that case Italy would certainly be my first choice. I could also move to AC Milan where my old friend and ex-team mate Thomas Helveg players, but somehow I just can't seem myself with the red and black jersey."

Gianni Agnelli has broken his usual silence on such matters to slam rumours of Zinedine Zidane leaving Juve before his contract expires. Unlike Sergio Cragnotti of Lazio and Franco Sensi of AS Roma, Agnelli, the Italian car tycoon whose family owns Juventus, likes to keep to himself, leaving the team's general manager Luciano Moggi in the spotlight. However, this time Agnelli has spoken out loud and clear to say that, despite all of the gossip created by the Spanish and English media, Zidane is set to stay at Juve. "I am absolutely and totally against selling Zidane, he's untouchable," said Agnelli on Tuesday. Agnelli has also confirmed that Filippo Inzaghi, who is also rumoured to be about to leave Juve, will probably go nowhere. "He's a great player and we really do care about him. If he stays it's because he is indeed one of the best. Should we find someone better we could consider the possibility of letting him go. However, I believe that the chances of this happening are very, very slim since I believe that finding someone better than him is an almost impossible task." Agnelli has also denied all rumours about Marcello Lippi's possible return to Juve, at least for next season, confirming that Carlo Ancelotti will be Juve's coach for the 2001/2002 campaign, saying: "He signed a two-year deal with us so he will certainly stay."

Zinedine Zidane has ruled out a move to Manchester United, saying he would rather play in Spain than the Premiership. The inspirational French midfielder and current World Footballer of the Year has been the subject of interest from Manchester United on three separate occasions during his career. And, over the weekend, Sir Alex Ferguson revealed that he recently made a further enquiry to Juventus in an attempt to bring Zidane to Old Trafford, although reports suggested he was also the subject of interest from newly-crowned Spanish champions Real Madrid. Zidane said: "I never say never, but at the moment my thinking is that a move to England would not be right. "I feel like I want to get to see the Spanish League - so if there's the possibility of going there I would choose it over England."

In a report published by TgCom (www.tgcom.it) who took it from a news agency, Juventus would offer Paolo Montero plus either Brighi and Maresca or money for Lilian Thuram.

According to reports from Italy, Serie A outfit Juventus are looking into making a bid for Real Madrid frontman Kily Gonzalez. Italian daily, 'Corriere dello Sport Stadio' claim that Juve are willing to part with $30m to put Kliy alongside Zidane, Davids and Del Piero next season. The Italians see the Argentine winger as a suitable replacement if they fail to tempt Lazio's Pavel Nedved during the close season. Juventus would pay the huge sum over two years and may even throw in ex-Real Sociedad striker Darko Kovacevic for good measure. But acquiring Kily won't be an easy task since he only recently renewed his contract with Valencia, where his buy-out fee stands at over $20m.

Juve have entered the competition for Olof Melberg the 24-year old Swedish defender currently at Racing Santander. Melberg who is worth approximately $10m has said that he wants to leave his club and believes that the management will let him go since their impending relegation from the Primera Liga will probably force them to part from their best players. As Roma, Barcelona and Tottenham are also rumoured to be after Melberg.

Juventus are reportedly attempting to sign PSV Eindhoven striker Mateja Kezman, despite interest from Spanish giants Real Madrid. Newspapers reported that the 'Bianconeri' are trying to negotiate a deal with the Dutch club for the Yugoslav who is valued in the US$23 million bracket. If the Turin giants are successful in bringing the 22-year old to Italy, they will probably be forced into selling one of their other strikers.

According to the calciatori website, Juventus made a 60 billion lira offer for Thuram. Another player we're interested in is the Argentinean Kily Gonzalez, who we may swap with Kovacevic. And it seems we're still interested in Anelka. According to the CanaleSport site, Juve and Milan are in a bidding war over the French star.

According to reports, there has been a new meeting between Juve and Bari to discuss a possible deal for Bari's Antonio Cassano. Juve, who have been chasing the player since last spring seem to be determined not to let him slip through their fingers and in order to beat AS Roma's tough competition, have added another player to their already rich offer to Bari. The Turin giants, it seems, have offered Nicola Amoruso who is currently playing for Napoli as a bonus to add to the already existing offer. 20 million dollars plus Simone Perrotta who is now only lent to the Southern Italian Team and who would be signed away to Bari. It also seems that Juve might also obtain two players of the youth team, Bellavista and La Fortezza.

Marko Rehmer's manager,Jorg Neubauer has denied reports that his player has signed any type of agreement with Juventus. Reports in the German Daily "Berliner Zeitung" claimed Rehmer has already been sold to Juve for a fee of $8million and should join the club in June. In an interview published by an Italian Website, Neubauer has said that even though the Hertha Berlin defender has had a number of offers, for the moment he hasn't signed any deal: He said: "This news isn't true at all. Marko has spoken with quite a few Clubs sos far but for the moment he didn't sign for any other team."

Juve are set to continue their policy of finding young and promising talents all over the world and could look rather close to home next. This time Luciano Moggi has targeted Gugliemo Stendardo, central defender of Serie-B team Sampdoria. The Genoa side is however asking for at least 10 million dollars to let the 20-year-old player go, so Juve's always money-wise management might vote against the deal. Still the Italian Vice-Champions are not the only team to have set their eyes on the young player. According to rumours coming from Spain, Barcelona could also be interested in the player.

Luciano Moggi has sent talent scouts all over the world and are said to be interested in Brazilian, Adriano and Nigerian Emmanuel Olisadebe. Adriano, who despite being just 20-years-old has already been nicknamed the "South American Vieri" and also, Nigerian striker from Warsaw Poland Emmanuel Olisadebe, who according to Juve's Polish player turned manager Zibi Boniek has a great potential.

Arsenal are set to step up their interest in Juventus midfielder Edgar Davids. The Dutch international was outstanding during Euro 2000 and Arsene Wenger sees him as the ideal partner for Patrick Vieira in the heart of the Gunners midfield. Davids has suggested in the past that he would like to play in the Premiership and was linked with a move to Manchester United last summer.

Juve's management has firmly denied that their midfielder Gianluca Zambrotta is about to go to Lazio in exchange for defender Paolo Negro. Lazio's management was reported to be interested in the young U-21 European Champion, but Juve has always firmly stated their desire to keeper the player who only came back to the team recently after a meniscus surgery for an injury during the Summer Olympics that kept him out for a couple of months.

It seems that Jonathan Bachini of Juventus is about to move on loan to Roberto Baggio's team Brescia. The 25-year-old player, who was purchased by Juventus from Udinese last summer, will probably play the rest of the season for Brescia before going back to Juve.

Jean Luis Campora, president of French Champions Monaco, has made a bid for Juve's Ciro Ferrara. Campora is said to be on very good terms with Juve's General Manager Luciano Moggi, to whom he sold David Trezeguet last summer. However, he was disappointed by Juve's reply. In fact, it seems that the Turin club have said that Ferrara is irreplaceable. The player himself had recently stated his desire to end his career at Juve.

It is reported that Juve's Uruguayan striker, Daniel Fonseca, might be headed for Brescia. It seems that Brescia manager Carlo Mazzone, who used to coach Fonseca when they were both at AS Roma, wants the striker to try to improve the team's situation in the battle to avoid relegation. At Juve, Fonseca has been a reserve for the last three seasons, not helped by a serious injury that has kept him out for a long time, so the management of the Turin club might be more than willing to let him join Roberto Baggio's team in exchange for a good offer or a worthwhile swap.

Marko Rehmer of Hertha Berlin might be a last-minute addition to Carlo Ancelotti's squad at Juventus. According to reports it seems that the Turin club has made a bid to the German club to sign the 28-year old defender. The deal might be done if Hertha are able to snap up Yugoslavian player Nisa Savelijc who is currently playing for French Club Bordeaux. Savelijc and Rehmer are very similar and do play in the same role, that's why the Turin squad are hoping that if Savelijc will go to Hertha then Rehmer will be free to go to Juve.

Luciano Moggi has firmly denied the rumour started this morning that Sampdoria's keeper Matteo Sereni will join Juventus in January. The idea was bandied around by some of the Italian media but Juve's General Manager was very forthright when asked where Juve stood on the matter. He said: "This is absolutely not true. This news was completely made up. We never even thought about getting the player. "If Sampdoria wants to sell him, then we are the wrong team to offer him to. We already have Carini and Van der Saar, what could we possibly do with Sereni ?"

According to a new rumour circulating in Italy, Juve have tried contacting former Italy and AC Milan coach turned TV commentator, Arrigo Sacchi. It seems that the Turin club's management have started to seriously look for and even reject the possible candidates to replace Carlo Ancelotti from the next season. But it seems Juve's destiny is linked with the fate of other great Italian teams. Should Alberto Zaccheroni leave AC Milan for Lazio and if Milan soul decide to call on Carlo Ancelotti, then Juve might be willing to hire Sacchi as replacement.

Lazio and Juve have finalized an agreement for the January transfer of Marchegiani, Peruzzi reserve at Lazio. The former Torino goalie to Juventus for 7 billion lira. Marchegiani will be Carini's backup and Van der Sar will be sold to Barcelona.

Juventus seems active in the Spanish market. Finally realizing the need for an experienced defender, Juve is close to signing Espanol's Pochettino. Pochettino, 28 year old, is an Argentinean central defender and he's expected to join our team in December.

Another news coming from Spain is about Real Madrid's Flavio Conceicao. He's rumored to arrive in January.

According to Tuttosport, "Alex says, I'm going!" The Juventus star, Alex Del Piero, considers a dramatic resolution to his current problems. Were he not to re-discover his form he may take up the seductive offers coming from Real Madrid or Barcelona, the only clubs - aside from Milan - prepared to fork out the considerable amounts of money that signing the Juve number 10 would involve!

Arsenal are believed to have completed the signing of the Juventus midfielder Edgar Davids, for a fee of around �9m. The transfer is not expected to be made official until the end of the month, however, because the Turin club will be needing the player in the next two weeks. The Italian transfer window closes from 27 October until January and Juventus are reluctant to release Davids until they are sure they have found a replacement for him.

Spanish paper reports that Gaspart, in dire straits for Barcelona's poor performances, is trying to convince Juventus to swap Rivaldo and Zidane.

Corriere dello Sport says that Reggina is asking Juventus Birindelli and Bachini.

Tuttosport reports that Brescia owner Corioni is willing to sell Diana only for a very high offer. Juventus' last offer seems to be money + 1 year loan of Maresca.

Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani admitted that there is a negotiation with Juventus for 26-year old defender Taribo West. The agreed sum is said to be around Lit 7 billion [$3.2 million].

Del Piero - Recoba swap ??
It seems that Juve are making up their mind about keeping Alessandro Del Piero. There's an insistent rumor in Milan that the Italian vice-champions are reday to swap their famous yet quite unlucky player with Inter Milan's Uruguayan player Alvaro Recoba. As a matter of fact the South American striker is still waiting to sign a new contract with Inter Milan and despite the fact that he's one of Moratti's favourites he knows he'll never have a fixed spot in the team's line-up. In the meantime Juve seem to have gotten tired of paying 5 million dollars a year for a striker whose problems scoring have lasted well over one season. However this might not be the only bad news for Del Piero as it seems that Giovanni Trapattoni has abandoned him too. Italy's new coach who was behind Del Piero in these last few months but can no longer afford to jeopardize Italy's path in the World Cup qualifiers and is ready to call up Simone Inzaghi insted of Alex for the next two games. This means that the two Inzaghi brothers might be paired up as Italy's striking duo.

According to reports from Turin, Gianluca Vialli would be ready to make his come back in Turin as Juve's new coach. The fans have repeatedly asked fro him to take Ancelotti's place in the last few weeks (especially after his departure from England) and it seems that he'd be glad to go back to his old team. Nobody in Turin has forgotten the man that gave Juve their last Champion's League Title in 1996 as well as the first Serie A Title in 8 years in 1995 and Vialli himself has always said that he has retained excellent relations with the management of the team and that his dream was to coach an Italian squad. So if Carlo Ancelotti won't find a cure for this Juve we might also witness surprise comeback in the next few months.

Juventus have been linked with an unlikely move for Inter's frustrated striker Alvaro Recoba. According to some media reports, Juve boss Carlo Ancelotti is a big fan of the Uruguayan and the Turin club could be ready to make a surprise bid. This is not the first time that Juve have supposedly been ready to snap up the light footed forward but it is unlikely that Inter would release the player to their close rivals on the eve of the new season. Recoba is certainly not one of Marcello Lippi's favourites and will be disappointed to see Hakan Sukur and Robbie Keane leap ahead of him in the striker's pecking order at the San Siro. But Recoba, who has previously been linked with Real Madrid and Manchester United has recently stated his desire to see things through with Inter.

Bari's Italian U-21 international Antonio Cassano has denied that a deal has already been done that will see him move to Juventus in the near future. The young striker said: "Those who think I'm already at Juve are making a big mistake. If somebody is interested in me they should act now while I'm still free." Cassano also confirmed that the new experience with the national team was thrilling but because of his late arrival into the squad he had no chance of going to Sydney.

Juventus has optioned 20-year old Uruguayan midfielder Pablo Garcia [Atletico Madrid] who has already been dubbed the new Fernando Redondo by the Spanish press. Juve wants the player to develop, but it can't keep him because of his non-EU status. Juve might loan him to either Lecce or Monaco.

Juventus has presented the necessary documentation to the Italian Embassy in Rio de Janeiro to obtain the Italian citizenship for Athirson. Athirson's mother's maiden's name is Mazzoli and her grandparents emigrated from Calabria to Brazil.

Primavera coach Gian Piero Gasperini (who scouted him during the UEFA Under 18 Championship) and Zinedine Zidane have asked Luciano Moggi to take a serious look at 18-year old defender Philippe Mexes [Auxerre]. Manchester United and Roma have already made an offer of Lit 15 billion ($7 million), but the player has already stated that he plans to stay with his current club for one or two more years before moving to a bigger team.

Zidane, meanwhile, is expected to sign a contract extension to 2005.

After After Zinedine Zidane�s refusal to join the Spanish giants, Alessandro Del Piero is Barcelona�s renewed target according to the Italian media. They claim Gaspart has talked with Andrea d�Amico, Del Piero�s agent, to assess the player�s attitude towards leaving Juventus and joining Bar�a.

Juventus have just refused a �43 million ($72m) offer from Barcelona for Zinedine Zidane but they could accept a Del Piero bid for next season or the 2001-2002 campaign. Gaspart wants the world�s best players at Barcelona, regardless of the price, and if Del Piero does not return to his best, Juventus may accept a �36 million.

Bayern Munich have targeted Juventus' Croatian wonderkid Igor Tudor as the man to strengthen their defence for the coming season. The German Champions are looking to replace Markus Babbel, who moved to Premiership side Liverpool in the summer, and the 22-year-old full back appears to be at the top of their wanted list. The Munich side are believed to have offered around �4.75 million for the player, although Juventus rate the youngster very highly and may seek more recompense. The powerful defender, who has a reputation of being unbeatable in the air, has had limited opportunities at the Turin club since his move from Hadjuk Split and could welcome a transfer to a club of Bayern's size to resurrect his career.

According to a rumor coming from Holland, where Nesta agents are based, Nesta and Juve are very close to agreeing to a move in 2001.

Juventus is trying to get Barcelona's young midfielder Xavi as the 20-year old player is no longer a number one choice now that Gerard has arrived from Valencia. The Turin squad is hoping to convince the Spanish club to sell them the player and Juve is ready and open to negotiate. But in any case the player's rescission clause is so small - only 6 million dollars - that the Italian squad might also decide to pay it and get the player anyway.

Even though he promised President Moratti he would stay at Inter Milan it is increasingly likely that Alvaro Recoba is set to leave the club, and Juve are in the hunt. The Uruguayan international was supposed to sign a new deal that would have linked him to Inter till 2004, at the beginning of the summer, but even though he's currently training with Lippi's team , El Cino has not signed a new deal. It seems that the player has reached an agreement with Juve and is therefore waiting for his current contract to expire in 2001, so that then he'd be free to move to Turin.

Despite persistent press reports linking Zinedine Zidane with a move to Spain, Luciano Moggi, the general manager of Juventus, has insisted the Frenchman is staying in Turin. "Zidane is untouchable," said Moggi, whose absence from the Juve retreat in Chantillion on Tuesday sparked speculation in Italy that he was in talks with Real Madrid, something he also denied. Reports in the Italian press have suggested that Real would be prepared to pay �33 million plus Brazilian midfielder Flavio Conceicao for the former world player of the year. Zidane joined Juventus from Bordeaux in 1996, since when reports have regularly surfaced that his wife is unhappy with life in Turin and would favour a move. Spain has always seemed the most likely destination for the Frenchman, and candidates in both the Real Madrid and Barcelona presidential elections in July expressed an interest in signing him.

Turin city council have finally agreed to grant Juventus the property rights to the Delle Alpi stadium and the surrounding area. The stadium has belonged to the council ever since it was first built but a debate over increased rent prices has been raging between the club and the council for some time, with Juventus threatening to abandon their expensive home ground. But an agreement was made on Tuesday granting the club complete control over the Delle Alpi stadium as well as property rights over the surrounding Continassa area. The Bianconeri will now be able to go ahead with plans to build a new commercial area - 20,000 square metres in size - and a concert arena on the grounds.

AEK Athens have flatly denied that they are set to strengthen their defence with the audacious signing of Italian international Ciro Ferrara on loan from Juventus. The Eagles became the second Greek club in a week to be heavily linked with a Juve defender as speculation mounted in the Greek press that the veteran centre-half could be on his way to Athens in a loan deal. Earlier this week Paulo Montero was rumoured to be on on the verge of a move to Greek champions Olympiakos.

La Repubblica and RaiSport websites report that Salas high salary request to Parma (10 billion lira/season) may start an attacker musical chair game. Salas would go to Turin replacing Filippo Inzaghi, Pippo would move to Lazio, and his brother Simone to Parma.

Esnaider is adamant about his will to stay at Juve, having turned down possible move to Celta vigo, the Argentine player has also refused Benfica's offer. The Portuguese club is actively looking for a replecement of Nuno Gomes who'll play at Fiorentina next season, and Jupp Heynckes, the team's manager, thought that Esnaider would be the perfect candidate. However, the former Real Zaragoza striker has no intention of leaving Juve even though coach Ancelotti has made it very clear that with Del Piero, Inzaghi, Trezeguet and Kovacevic he has very little chance of stepping on the field.

According to kwsport, Juve has acquired attacker Di Michele from Salernitana for 30 billion liras. Juve is expected to loan Di Michele to Napoli. So now Napoli's attack duo, Di Michele & Amoruso, are both on loan from Juventus. And Napoli's new goalie could very likely be Carini, another loan from Juventus.

Olympiakos are looking to Serie A in Italy to strengthen their defence for the coming season, and Juventus stalwart Paolo Montero is top of their shopping list. Montero is highly rated by the Olympiakos supremo, although prizing him away from the Turin giants could prove a fruitless task.

Former Barcelona winger Txiki Beguiristain has claimed that Zinedine Zidane is interested in a move to the Catalan giants, with Johan Cruyff working on the transfer behind the scenes. Beguiristain is the running mate of presidential candidate Lluis Bassat, and will be in charge of transfers at the Nou Camp if his man triumphs in the club's elections on Sunday. Bassat has put the purchase of Zidane at the top of his manifesto to convince Barca's fans of his ambitions and Beguiristain claims the deal is moving closer. "The player has shown willingness to come and he likes Barca," Beguiristain told Catalan sports daily Mundo Deportivo. "We have talked to Zidane and there will be more meetings if we win. Besides, Cruyff is helping and that could accelerate things."

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