Saturday, March 17, 2012

Del Piero to Arsenal?

Alessandro Del Piero may finally leave Juventus. After two decades at the Turin club, Del Piero, 37, is now looking at ending his career elsewhere and Arsenal is being named as a possible destination.

Unverified reports claim that Arsene Wenger is a fan of Del Piero (who wouldn't be?) and intends to bring the Italian to the Emirates Stadium once his contract at Juventus ends.

According to a report citing the player's agent and brother, Stefano Del Piero, the Italian striker has not been offered a new contract at Juventus and is seeking a move away from  the Serie A.

If it's true that Arsenal have made a bid and a deal works out, Del Piero would be able to offer Wenger's young side a wealth of experience; not many players possess similar technique, vision and creativity as Juventus forward.

Usually deployed as a support striker, Del Piero has scored over 200 goals out of over 500 appearances for Juventus. Del Piero's talents and experience would certainly be welcomed at Arsenal or at any other club, for that matter.

Besides the Gunners, other clubs reported to be in the running for Del Piero is cash-rich Paris Saint-Germain. A move there would reunite him with former Chelsea boss, Carlo Ancelotti, who coached Del Piero when the latter was manager of Juventus from 1999 to 2001.

PSG has been linked with many stars lately including Liverpool's Luis Suarez and Napoli's Edinson Cavani. Even Didier Drogba was rumoured to be interested in a move to Paris. Should PSG go on a shopping spree this summer to strengthen the team, Del Piero may be tempted to be part of the project.

Or, in a third option, Del Piero may choose to end his career earning big bucks at less competitive leagues in the Middle East, the US or China. I just hope he doesn't think of moving to FC Anzhi.

There will be more to come on this in the months ahead. But I'll leave you with one of my favourite Del Piero goals of all time. This beauty was struck in Juventus' Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund in 1997. At 2-0 down, Del Piero was brought in as a second half substitute and the striker scored a sublime back heel goal. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to bring Juve back into the game as the team went to lose the match 3-1.




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