Serie A - Cannavaro returns to Juventus

Eurosport - Tue, 19 May 13:39:00 2009

Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro will return to Juventus from Real Madrid on July 1 despite widespread anger over the move from the Serie A club's fans.

FOOTBALL 2008 Italy Fabio Cannavaro - 0

Juve, who are also interested in signing Werder Bremen playmaker Diego, said that 35-year-old centre back Cannavaro, soon out of contract at Real, had signed a one-year deal.

Fans were upset by Cannavaro leaving for Real in 2006 when they were demoted for match-fixing, while other top players such as Alessandro Del Piero and Gianluigi Buffon stuck with the club for their season in the second tier.

A small group of fans have protested at recent matches against Cannavaro's return after club bosses admitted they were in talks with the 2006 European and World Player of the Year.

"I am sure I will be able to convince even the most sceptical fans thanks to my hard work, professionalism and passion with which I will approach this new adventure," the World Cup winner said.

Cannavaro won two league titles in his two years at Juve, but they were both revoked in the match-fixing affair.

"Fabio is a world champion, a Ballon d'Or winner and a great man in the dressing room," Juve sporting director Alessio Secco said in a bid to calm supporter unrest.

"During the summer of 2006 the club had to sell him for urgent economic reasons."

The Turin team, who sacked coach Claudio Ranieri on Monday and are at risk of slipping out of the automatic Champions League spots with two Serie A games left, are also hoping to sign Brazilian playmaker Diego from Werder Bremen.

German media said the deal was worth around £25.5m but the transfer was still up in the air despite weeks of talks, Werder's General Manager Klaus Allofs said.

"There are still open questions that must be discussed thoroughly," Allofs said ahead of the UEFA Cup final on Wednesday against Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk.

Allofs ruled out any decision before the UEFA Cup final, for which the 24-year-old is suspended.

Diego has steered Werder to the UEFA and German Cup finals with some exhilarating performances, which also attracted interest from Bayern Munich before they pulled out of talks last week.

Reuters

Comment 21 - 40 of 40

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  1. The capitano di scouadra azzura has returned, not bad­ for the defence, but his actions when he moved to Real­ Madrid will never forget.

    From vito1897ja, on Tue 7 Jul 10:35AM
  2. great player but he s shot,my dead granny can run­ faster than him

    From michael, on Wed 17 Jun 9:23PM
  3. Spell check last message, should be 3 CL for­ English,hehehe

    From Diehard Italian Fan, on Thu 21 May 11:27AM
  4. Forgot to add to my last comment, since 1985 I believe­ Italian teams have won 7 CL to English teams £, now­ that is more dominating than you English idiots.­ English dominate curry houses,pubs and kebab houses,­ that's all.

    From Diehard Italian Fan, on Thu 21 May 11:26AM
  5. Comment 29 & 33, top comments boys, could not have­ put better myself. Without the foreign players in the­ EPL and the few good English (and I mean a few, like 6)­ EPL clubs would win jack @#$% as the dumb English say.­ They think they have dominated the CL, what jokers!!­ Italian teams were the first to get 3 teams in the­ semis I believe back in 2003 when Milan won the final­ and since English teams have done it twice and they­ still lost a final to an Italian team. Getting teams to­ the latter stages mean s!it if you don't actually­ win, records only say winners and maybe runners-up, no­ mention of how good English teams were to get to the­ semis you idiots. I agree your league is not only­ reflected in the CL but International level too,­ England are very mediaocre and have won NOTHINJG ZERO­ since 1966, so stfu and respect us as World­ Champions..and don't moan how we won it or who we­ played, we played whoever was infront of us and played­ the best semi anybody had seen for years, lots and lots­ and lots of attacking football, not defending like you­ stone age flintstones label us with.
    The only thing­ English are better than us at regarding football is the­ way they police and manage the stadiums and lack of­ violence there is at them, respect from me for that­ just to show I am not biased. We in Italy need to learn­ that to get respect back in the footballing world I­ agree.
    Forza Inter Forza Vale!!!

    From Diehard Italian Fan, on Thu 21 May 11:23AM
  6. Why all the negativity? The man is an employee. He has­ a right to chose his employer. How do you feel if I was­ to tell you where you have to work?

    From elson l, on Thu 21 May 6:40AM
  7. stupid money lover has no loyalty to juve and juve want­ him back? this is a foolish
    decision.. but what do you­ expect from serie A mafias..

    BEL pa zed

    From Brian, on Wed 20 May 11:34AM
  8. To the idiot that said Cannavaro is returning to a club­ for old players. You are too stupid for words, get your­ facts right before you make silly comments.
    Juventus or­ youth-entus have so many young players set to star for­ the Bianconeri in the future such as Lorenzo Ariaudo,­ Paolo De Ceglie, Fausto Rossi, Davide Lanzafame,­ Claudio Marchisio, Dominico Criscito and Sebastian­ Giovinco to name a few !!!! Italian players dont want­ to go anywhere near the S.H.I.T.T.Y premier league with­ the rubbsih training, too many foreign players and the­ diet etc.
    Go ask your beloved Beckham why he paid from­ his own money to stay in Serie A. English fans, and­ players are a joke, fact. Ciao Ciao

    From chrisitalia90, on Tue 19 May 10:41PM
  9. Great, being a Milan supporter. Juve will have an­ "over glamourized un-talented" centerback. Oh­ well...more goals for Milan.

    From AVH, on Tue 19 May 10:23PM
  10. Spot on, student. I for one will be welcoming Cannavaro­ back. Forza Juve!

    From Forza Ferrari, on Tue 19 May 8:54PM
  11. What are all the fans so pissed about: it was­ impossible for juve to keep all their top players,­ certainly with those salaries and without tv-money from­ serie A and CL. I have more respect for players who­ went to clubs abroad than those who chose to join a­ rival like Inter (Viera and Ibrahimovic). Cannavaro had­ every right to leave and the tifosi should welcome him­ as a bianconeri who returns home. No hard feelings!

    From student00606, on Tue 19 May 7:52PM
  12. Yes, Man U has a lot of British players... but who are­ the stars? Look, I'm not trying to disrespect­ British football. I'm actually a fan of the­ Premiership. I just can't stand it when people­ start disrespecting one league or another without­ thinking. The truth is that most Big clubs are loaded­ with foreign players. It's the only way that they­ can compete. Besides, European success goes in cycles.­ A few years ago, it was Spain that had the most­ successful clubs in Europe. Before, it was Italy. Right­ now, it's England. I am sure that things will­ change again in the future. That's just the way­ that it goes. As football fans, we should just enjoy­ the games and the players without throwing dirt at each­ other like a bunch of 5-year olds.

    From Forza Ferrari, on Tue 19 May 5:12PM
  13. Forza Ferrari I dont know if you've noticed but Man­ Utd has a lot of British players.

    From navid_saleh2002, on Tue 19 May 4:56PM
  14. rafascrackingup... just so you can shut your gob,­ Italian clubs are the most successful on a whole in the­ Champions League/European Cup.
    An Italian club has been­ the most successful in the last 5 seasons as well... So­ check your facts before you go on a "we love the­ EPL" crusade.

    From i am a teacup, on Tue 19 May 4:54PM
  15. Italian football may be a joke, but at least most­ Italian teams are filled with Italian players, except­ for Inter of course. Where would British clubs be­ without foreign players? Look at Man U, Arsenal,­ Liverpool and Chelsea. How many of those team's­ stars are actually British?
    The true measure of a­ country's football is at the international level,­ and Italy has done much better than England.

    From Forza Ferrari, on Tue 19 May 4:24PM
  16. ENGLISH PLAYERS:.... NOT IN THE PREMIERSHIP..... NOT IN­ SERIA A.... NOT IN LA LIGA..... NOWHERE TO BE FOUND =­ S.H.I.T.T.Y ENGLISH PLAYERS

    From roderick_gatt, on Tue 19 May 3:33PM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Italian league is a f*cking joke.Can´t even reach the­ quarterfinals of the ch.league HAHAHAHA

    From rafascrackingup, on Tue 19 May 3:33PM
  18. english premiership: ENGLISH STADIUMS + INTERNATIONAL­ OWNERS + INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS............. what so­ english about that?

    From roderick_gatt, on Tue 19 May 3:20PM
  19. paul C you talk B%#@ S#42 up until 2007 an italian side­ took it. since 2000 the italians took it twice, england­ twice and spain 3 times. So the statistics talk to­ themselves ignorant kid. just because there happened to­ be an english team in the final for 3 years in a row it­ doesnt mean ur the best in the world. just rich!!! and­ lucky. wait for next year dummo. english teams are just­ spoilt kids who buy all the toys they want. they dont­ know how to train their own talent. any one in the­ world could do it, given the money you have. so wait­ until ur luck runs out

    From roderick_gatt, on Tue 19 May 3:10PM
  20. nedved stayed, buffon stayed, del pierro stayed and yet­ the mighty cannavaro left. he then returns when things­ have gotten better for juve and wore for him. we dont­ want him back

    From michael m, on Tue 19 May 3:00PM
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