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Tag: JUVENTUS

  • Aaron Ramsey signs Juve deal worth £400k-a-week

    Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey has signed a pre-contract agreement to join Juventus in the summer in a deal that will earn him over £400,000 a week.

    The 28-year-old has agreed a four-year contract that will see him join the Italian champions as a free agent, ending his 11-year spell with Arsenal.

    Ramsey passed a two-part medical in January, having picked Juve following talks with a host of European clubs.

    He will be the highest-earning British player ever based on basic salary.

    The Wales international’s Arsenal contract expires on 30 June and the Gunners will receive no fee when he leaves.

    Ramsey, who joined Arsenal from Cardiff City in 2008 for a fee of around £4.8m, held preliminary talks with Barcelona and also received an offer from Paris St-Germain.

    Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and Real Madrid also showed interest, with Real forward Gareth Bale understood to have encouraged his Wales team-mate to link up with him in Spain.

    Arsenal did present Ramsey with the offer of a new deal in September but it was turned down and the club were not prepared to meet his salary demands.

    Head coach Unai Emery had reservations about Ramsey’s role in his squad.

    Ramsey’s desire to play as a number eight, running on to the ball from an advanced central midfield position, clashed with Emery’s vision.

    Emery does not usually deploy a number eight, meaning the Welshman has mainly been used in a strict deeper role without license to roam or in the number 10 position with his back to goal.

    Ramsey has played 259 times for Arsenal, scoring 61 times.

    In his 11 seasons at the club, he has struck double figures in a season three times, with a best mark of 16 in all competitions in 2013-14.

  • Ronaldo scores again as Juventus extend Serie A lead

    Cristiano Ronaldo’s 20th goal for Juventus helped the Italian champions restore an 11-point lead in Serie A with a 3-0 win at Sassuolo on Sunday.

    The Portuguese rose to head in a corner kick after 70 minutes, his 18th league goal.

    It means he has now scored at least 20 times in all competitions in each of the last 13 seasons representing Juve, Real Madrid and Manchester United.

    Juventus dropped points for just the third time this season when they were held by Parma last weekend to allow second-placed Napoli to reduce the gap to nine points.

    But Massimiliano Allegri’s side re-established a comfortable advantage with victory at the Mapei Stadium after Napoli drew with Fiorentina on Saturday.

    The home side started brightly as Filip Djuricic raced clear only for Wojciech Szczesny to get a hand on the ball as the forward attempted to go around him.

    The Pole was called into action again when he palmed away Manuel Locatelli’s shot from distance.

    Sassuolo goalkeeper Andrea Consigli’s sloppy clearance was punished after 23 minutes when Ronaldo pounced on the loose ball.

    He fired a powerful shot at goal which was parried, only for Sami Khedira to knock in the rebound.

    Ronaldo then had a neat finish disallowed for offside before Szczesny took a poor touch near the centre circle to offer Domenico Berardi a clear sight of goal.

    But the Italy international’s long-range effort was just wide of an unguarded net.

    Ronaldo, who leads the Serie A scoring charts, doubled his side’s lead by nodding in from six yards.

    Emre Can came off the substitute’s bench to finish off a flowing team move with a low finish four minutes from time.

    The result leaves unbeaten Juventus on top with 63 points from 23 matches, while Sassuolo remain 11th on 30 points.

  • Juventus Douglas Costa survives auto crash

    Juventus and Brazil winger Douglas Costa on Monday survived a terrible auto accident in Italy.

    The incident occurred on a motorway in northern Italy as Douglas Costa was returning to Turin.

    His Jeep was involved in a collision with a Fiat Punto, and the driver of that car was taken to hospital for minor injuries.

    However, no one has been able to recount how the accident started, as the crash is currently being investigated by the Novara Est traffic police.

    Juventus was not training on Monday as the players had two days off following Saturday’s 3-3 draw against Parma.

    Douglas Costa was substituted at half-time during that match with a muscle injury in his left thigh.

  • Juve coach Allegri praises referee who sent him off

    Juve coach Allegri praises referee who sent him off

    Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri agreed with the referee’s decision to send him off during his side’s shock 3-0 defeat to Atalanta.

    He suggested that there was an air of inevitability about his team’s first domestic defeat of the season.

    Allegri was dismissed in the first half of Wednesday’s Coppa Italia quarter-final for throwing his coat onto the pitch after his side fell 2-0 behind.

    “It was right to remove me from the pitch, I was agitated and the officials were impeccable throughout. Compliments to the referee,” he told reporters.

    Juventus were unbeaten in 22 previous League and Cup matches this season, their only two defeats coming in the UEFA Champions League.

    But Allegri said they had to lose at some time.

    It also ended their run of four successive League and Cup doubles.

    “It was in the air,” he said. “You get bad nights in football. I think we were probably a bit tired mentally.”

    “It’s nothing to get dramatic about, as it was just an off day. It’s disappointing for us to go out, but it was crazy to think Juventus could have won every single match this season.”

    Allegri said the most important thing was to learn from what went wrong.

    “As I’ve said, that’s football. If you react to them in the right way, these nights can do you good and help you to raise your level of focus.”

  • EPL: Higuain chooses cursed Chelsea jersey number

    EPL: Higuain chooses cursed Chelsea jersey number

    New Chelsea striker Gonzalo Higuain has reportedly taken the brave decision to pick the number nine shirt.

    According to SkySports, as cited on social media, the Argentine picked the number that many regard as ‘cursed’ at Stamford Bridge.

    It follows a series of players being unable to perform to the highest level while wearing the number nine.

    Those include Alvaro Morata and Fernando Torres in recent years, while the likes of Mateja Kezman, Hernan Crespo and Steve Sidwell have also failed to impress wearing the number.

    Higuain sealed his loan move to Chelsea today after completing medicals at the club’s Cobham training ground in London.

    Chelsea, who were unable to secure a deal over the line in time for the striker to face Tottenham in their League Cup semi-final on Thursday night, but the 31-year-old could well feature against Bournemouth in the Blues’ next Premier League outing.

  • Giggs backs Ramsey’s move to Juve, says he’ll improve

    Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs has backed fellow welsh man Aaron Ramsey to join Serie A giant Juventus from Arsenal.

    Wales boss, Giggs feels Ramsey will improve as a player by moving to Turin to play alongside with top class players like Cristiano Ronaldo.

    Ramsey is set to end his long spell with Arsenal at the end of the season after agreeing pre-contract agreement with Juventus for next season.

    The 28-year-old has been with Arsenal since 2008 and has made over 300 appearances for the club.

    When asked if the move abroad will benefit one of his key players for the national team.

    “I hope so. You’ve seen the effect it’s had on Gareth Bale. He’s going to a top-class football club, one of the best in the world. That will improve you as a player, Giggs told Sky Sports

    “When you’re an international coach, all you want is your players playing and he’ll be playing at the highest level.”

  • BREAKING: Gonzalo Higuain completes loan move to Chelsea

    Argentina striker Gonzalo Higuain have completed a loan deal to Premier League side Chelsea, till the end of the season.

    Higuain, who flew from Italy earlier today to complete his medical at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground in London will not feature for the Blues in their encounter against Tottenham.

    TNG reports that Chelsea failed to meet the deadline set for midday today(12 noon) to register the 31-year-old, which will mark the new arrival out of the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg tie.

    In 2015-16, at Napoli under Maurizio Sarri, Higuain equalled the Serie A goalscoring record with 36 goals.

    Chelsea are currently fourth in the Premier League, three points ahead of Arsenal who beat them 2-0 at the Emirates on Saturday.

  • Transfer news: Chelsea agree deal to sign Gonzalo Higuain on loan

    Chelsea have agreed a deal with Juventus to sign Gonzalo Higuain on loan until the end of the season, according to Sky in Italy.

    It is understood the loan could then be extended for another 12 months subject to certain conditions.

    Higuain has been on loan at AC Milan from Juventus since the start of the season, with an option to buy at the end of the season.

    Chelsea head coach Maurizio Sarri is understood to be keen on bringing Higuain to Stamford Bridge, despite concerns from the club’s board.

    According to Sky in Italy, Chelsea’s chief-executive Marina Granovskaia remains unconvinced Higuain is the answer to the club’s striker problems.

    Higuain came off the bench for the final 20 minutes of AC Milan’s 1-0 Super Cup defeat to Juventus in Saudi Arabia.

    Over the weekend Gattuso appeared to confirm Higuain was keen to leave the San Siro, saying “when a player makes up his mind it becomes hard to convince them otherwise”.

    However, he has since backtracked on those comments: “He still hasn’t told me he wants to leave, I am still waiting. You know what I mean.”

  • Ronaldo secures Italian Super Cup glory for Juventus

    Ronaldo secures Italian Super Cup glory for Juventus

    Cristiano Ronaldo’s second-half goal secured a record eighth Italian Super Cup victory for Juventus as they beat AC Milan 1-0 in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah on Wednesday.

    The trophy, which was being contested outside of Italy for the 10th time, is traditionally a clash between the Italian league and cup winners.

    But AC Milan qualified as Coppa Italia runners-up after Juve clinched the domestic double last season.

    Striker Gonzalo Higuain was dropped to the AC Milan bench amid media rumours of an imminent move to Chelsea, with some pre-match reports suggesting he was struggling with a fever.

    Yet it was Juve’s Portuguese talisman Ronaldo who again stole the show with a winning goal.

    It sealed the Turin club’s eighth Supercoppa win to make them the competition’s most successful team with one more trophy than Milan.

  • Transfer news: Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey set to join Juventus

    Italian champions Juventus are set to sign Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey at the end of the season on a free transfer, according to reports in the British and Italian media.

    Ramsey has made more than 250 appearances since joining the Gunners from Cardiff City in 2008, but the Wales international has failed to agree on a new deal with the London club in the final year of his contract.

    The impasse has enabled the 28-year-old to negotiate a pre-contract agreement with foreign clubs since Jan. 1.

    The reports added that Juventus were set to pay the player 140,000 pounds (179,074 dollars) per week, a fee that would make Ramsey the club’s second-highest earner behind Cristiano Ronaldo.

    Ramsey has made 18 league appearances this season, scoring twice, including a memorable strike against Fulham in October that was regarded by many as an early contender for goal of the season.

    The reports added that while manager Unai Emery was keen to retain Ramsey, Arsenal need to keep their 200 million pound (255.64 million dollars) wage bill under control, leaving the club’s longest serving player open to leave on a free transfer.

    Ramsey’s signing would be seen as a shrewd piece of business by Juventus, who are nine points clear at the top of the Serie A as they chase an eighth straight title.