Today's Latest News 18th Sept: Italian Football

By David Lee Wheatley  @davewh1980  @fluent_football

Juve one step away from Pochettino

Argentine starlet Tomas Pochettino is set to join Juventus in the next transfer window, with an agreement said to be in place and an official announcement set to arrive shortly.

Pochettino, who is yet to make a single first-team appearance for Boca Juniors, was spotted in a youth tournament that took place in June and Juve have kept him under close observation since.

The hope at Juventus was that it’d be possible to continue monitoring his development further before plunging in to buy, but they must act now to ward off rival interest from Verona.

The Italian champions jumped in first before Verona could move on a deal and now it appears only the signatures are missing on the official documents before the signing in pronounced.

A midfielder likened to current Bianconeri star Arturo Vidal because of his grit and technical characteristics, Pochettino is a youngster with a bright future ahead of him.

Efforts are already underway to secure an EU passport for the Boca youth player.

Injury woes for Roma

Juan Manuel Iturbe and Davide Astori both suffered injuries during Roma’s resounding Champions League victory over CSKA Moscow last night.

Argentine Iturbe opened the scoring that eventually led to a 5-1 routing of the Russians, but has incurred a problem with his right quadricep that will require assessment over the coming days.

Additionally, central defender Astori is also headed for the treatment table thanks to a twisted right knee.

The news represents a major headache for Coach Rudi Garcia, who is already without the services of another defender Leandro Castan due to a painful ear infection.

Garcia will need to wait patiently for more clarity from the medical team before he can know for sure how long he’ll be without the pair.

De Jong: ‘We need our fans’

Nigel De Jong has spoken of the challenge facing his side at the San Siro when they meet champions Juventus on Saturday night.

Milan go into the match on the back of an astounding 5-4 away victory at Parma last weekend, which has given them renewed hope of achieving much more than last season’s dismal showing.

“They are the favourites for the title. For us it is important to confront the strongest team,” remarked De Jong.

“We arrive at this game with great confidence. We must believe we can beat them, but to do that, we must focus from the first to the last minute, not to mention that we have in front of us those who have won the last three championships.

“There will be a full stadium and a great atmosphere. For this, we need our fans so much.”

There’s also the small matter of Juve Coach Massimiliano Allegri’s return to his old club to add extra spice to the contest.

Of Juventus, De Jong picked out one particular threat: “My friend Carlitos Tevez. He is a formidable striker.”

Ronaldinho suffers debut nightmare

Former Milan forward Ronaldinho missed a penalty on his debut for Mexican side Queretaro amid great fanfare surrounding his first appearance.

One goal down in the Cup tie with Tigres at home with an hour of the match gone, a foul on the left-hand side of the box resulted in a penalty award for the hosts.

Excitement in the crowd was at fever pitch while the Brazilian legend stood waiting to take the kick.

He ran up with purpose, but ballooned the ball high over the bar to leave his new team still trailing 0-1.

The 34-year-old has certainly seen better days, even if his fitness level is not yet up to the standard required of him and it was indeed an awful penalty attempt.

The scoreline remained the same until the end to send Queretaro crashing out of the competition.

Menez: ‘We want to win’

French forward Jeremy Menez has been talking about his aspirations ahead of the huge Milan-Juve clash this weekend.

Menez, a scorer of three goals in two games including a sublime back-heel at Parma, wants to help Milan recover the Italian title.

Speaking of the challenges ahead, Menez said: “Milan-Juve is a great game where everybody expects.

“We hope to experience a moment like at Parma. It would be nice win again 5-4!

“Juventus? It’s a great team with great defenders.

“It’s up to us find a way to score goals, because three wins out of three would be great.”

Menez then set his sights on his own personal objectives that he would like to achieve.

“I want to score more than ten goals (this season) in Italy,” he stated.

“There is (also) the European Championships in France and it would be nice to play in front of our fans.”

Vidal should make Juve bench

Arturo Vidal is set to make a return to the Juventus squad for Saturday’s crunch meeting with Milan following injury.

Massimilano Allegri stated his belief today that the Chilean box-to-box midfielder should be available to him, if only from the substitutes’ bench in the beginning.

Vidal missed Juve’s 2-0 victory over Udinese and also their win by the same scoreline in the Champions League against Malmo due to a persistent knee injury.

Allegri will hope Vidal doesn’t suffer a recurrence of the problem, which has hampered him throughout pre-season and into the new campaign.

It’s likely that Pereyra, Marchisio and Pogba will start in the middle of the park at the San Siro, with Vidal an option later on in proceedings.

Meanwhile, talisman Andrea Pirlo will continue his rehabilitation from a hamstring injury without featuring on Saturday.

Dani Alves to say his goodbyes

Barcelona right wing-back Dani Alves is reportedly very close to leaving Camp Nou for pastures new in the summer.

The Brazilian international star’s contract with Barca runs out next summer and is unlikely to be renewed, with Head Coach Luis Enrique looking to take the team in another direction.

Alves doesn’t fall into the future plans of the new man in charge and therefore is likely to move on at the expiration of his current deal.

Speaking to Marca, Alves announced: “My contract expires in 2015 and it was a mistake to extend it for another year.”

That pronouncement will alert both Manchester City and long-time suitors Juventus to the possibility of a switch at the end of the campaign.

Of course, talks can official begin from January should a player be out of contract that summer, so expect a rush of offers to begin flooding in for Alves throughout the winter period.

Llorente: ‘We complement each other’

Fernando Llorente believes he and Carlos Tevez are the perfect partnership on and off the pitch for Juventus.

The 29-year-old Spaniard feels they have reached an understanding which means that Juve now have one of the best strike partnerships in Italy.

“Tevez? For our gameplay, we complement each other to the fullest,” said Llorente of his pairing with the Argentine star.

“We both speak Spanish and this helps a lot.

“He doesn’t yet speak Italian very well, and therefore it is an advantage to play with me.”

Both will be looking to continue their good form together when facing Milan on Saturday, on the back of Tevez’s two-goal show in the Champions League against Swedish side Malmo.