PAPER TALK - De Boer- Ajax? Italy's defeat! Pogba isn't going anywhere! Juve - Batshuayi?
The Gazzetta is more negative, lamenting last night's 1-0 defeat to Ireland with “GIVE US BACK ITALY!”, whilst the more upbeat Corriere goes with “LET'S BEAT SPAIN!”, and compares the defeat to Italy's win against Sweden.
Almost everyone believes that Federico Bernardeschi was the most disappointing Azzurro. Given a starting berth, he showed little of what we saw in Florence, whilst Lorenzo Insigne earned rave reviews. Among the other red flags, we find Zaza, Immobile (the Corriere was rather scathing), Bonucci (too timid) and Sirigu, guilty for Robbie Brady's winner despite two good saves. Oh, and the Gazzetta gives Darren Randolph no mark, 'a provocation'. Frankly, we think it's perfectly appropriate. He didn't have to make a save, barring Insigne's chance which smacked the post.
The Gazzetta pick up Andres Iniesta's concerns, the Barca playmaker claiming that Italy have improved, and that it'll be hard to beat them. The Pink Paper is worried about the midfield, which keeps making a heap of mistakes in possession, something we saw against Sweden and Belgium, too.
Tuttosport worry about the ten Azzurri who would risk suspension in Monday's game with Spain. This includes the likes of De Rossi, Eder, Buffon and Bonucci.
Antonio Conte bemoans the draw, but also compliments Ireland for a 'manly' performance. The Corriere emphasizes that Spain could be weak on the wings, and hopes that Lazio star can make the difference, provided he recovers from his injury.
The Roman paper also goes with Lorenzo Insigne, who complained about the pitch in Lille, but also encouraged Italy to beat Spain.
Tuttosport and the Corriere move onto Gomez, who could well have won a starting place in Jogi Low's Germany. Fiorentina are happy either way, it seems, as his price will increase with every performance.
Back to Tuttosport's exclusive: it appears that Juventus are to do a Pjanic on Michy Batshuayi. The Marseille talent scored 17 Ligue 1 goals last season (all from inside the box), and belongs to a club that apparently needs €30 million by next week to balance the books. The Ligue 1 side is asking for 38m, but Giuseppe Marotta is reported to be confident, and waiting for OM to crack.
More Juve rumours: the search for a striker continues, with Alexis Sanchez, Arkadiusz Milik and Graziano Pelle' being linked to the Bianconeri.
The big news is on the Pogba front: Tuttosport specify that no offers have actually been made for Pogba, and that Johann Elkann has confirmed that Juventus won't sell, and don't need to, either.
Coach Allegri, in the meanwhile, is pushing for Juventus to keep negotiating for Alvaro Morata.
More news on the Paulo Dybala front, with the Bianconeri ready to offer him a contract renewal until 2021, raising his salary to €4m plus bonuses.
Meanwhile, Barca and Chelsea are connected to Inter talent Ivan Perisic.
The Corriere, on the other hand, publishes an interview with Sassuolo director Andrea Carnevali, who denies that Juventus interfered with the breaking down of the Inter-Berardi negotiations. It appears that Carnevali was allowed to say what he wanted without any form of cross-examination, and he seems to contradict himself a little. First he claimed that the club considered Berardi to be indispensable, but then that the striker had changed his mind and wanted to stay. What about a month ago, when it seemed that Sassuolo were ready to part with him and seemed to be rushing Juventus?
Meanwhile, a fascinating Corriere piece asks big questions of the Yaya Toure situation: next year, the Ivorian would have to play in the African Cup of Nations. Remember when Roma had to deal with Doumbia and Gervinho after that?
It appears, however, that Manchester City are willing to give Toure' away on a free, but that the Ivorian wants a salary that is considered too high by Inter. He is such a priority for the Milanese side, however, that the Corriere claims that no other midfield options are being countenanced.
Meanwhile, former Roma manager Rudi Garcia is reported as saying that coaching Milan would be “an interesting and stimulating experience”, though he's said similar things before.
Milan Badelj's agent is touting his client again, claiming that Fiorentina don't invest, that the Croatian has a 50% chance of leaving, and that he likes Roma. Think the Viola will stand for that? The Corriere has them stonewalling the deal: they prefer selling players overseas, and hardly like Roma at the moment following the Salah controversy.
Back to Croatia: the Gazzetta claims that Marko Pjaca (who shone in his side's 2-1 win over Spain) is worth €20m, and that Inter, Fiorentina and Roma are chasing him.
There's a fascinating series of pieces on the Gazzetta, beginning with Ozil's role with Germany, as well as a link between Brexit... and the fact that every single British team (plus the Republic of Ireland) has made it to the Round of 16.
Roma are also rumoured to be after Pablo Zabaleta, not just Inter defender Juan Jesus.
Finally, the pink 'un claims that Frank De Boer is the Chinese Consortium's first choice for the AC Milan bench, and writes about his favoured formation (4-3-3) and all his work at Ajax.
@EdoDalmonte
