Parma President Giampietro Manenti confused reporters with enigmatic answers. “Am I just bluffing? Probably yes, probably no.”

The financial crisis means nobody at the club has been paid since July, while Manenti is the third owner in the last four months after Tommaso Ghirardi and Rezart Taci.

“The money is there and over the next few days the first payments will be made,” insisted Manenti on Sky Sport Italia today.

Parma President Giampietro Manenti confused reporters with enigmatic answers. “Am I just bluffing? Probably yes, probably no.”

The financial crisis means nobody at the club has been paid since July, while Manenti is the third owner in the last four months after Tommaso Ghirardi and Rezart Taci.

“The money is there and over the next few days the first payments will be made,” insisted Manenti on Sky Sport Italia today.

“We are preparing the documents for the authorities to prove there is a credible and long-term plan in place.

“I always spoke of the necessary time it takes to clear red tape, which was also needed to see how big the debt really is and what payments have to be made.

“Next week we will certainly attend the hearing with payments already made, because otherwise none of this would make sense. We’d be able to pay the remaining sums by June 30.

“The money has always been there, otherwise I wouldn’t have started an adventure like this. I can say with precision that what we have right now enables us to work more calmly.

“The money hasn’t arrived on the accounts of Parma Calcio, but has been here for some time. We proved beforehand that the money is ready and are working to accelerate the payments. We will work with many sponsors and people who intend to invest in Italy.”

Manenti has been criticised and considered “not credible” by everyone from the players to Mayor of Parma Federico Pizzarotti.
“I don’t care,” he replied. “For 24 years I have been working in Eastern Europe and you can count on one hand the number of people who have made things to say about me. I think my rapport with the players is good. I spoke to the Coach and captain Alessandro Lucarelli many times.

“My reassurances remain the ones I said many times, unfortunately there is extreme confusion because people come along and say what they want.

“Where does this money come from? A bit from Italy, from Europe and from outside the EU. Is there a risk Parma could fail? It depends on what people want.

“In my view there is a concrete, real and demonstrable plan to ensure Parma will not fail.”

There was a bizarre final answer to the question of whether Manenti’s whole persona was just one big bluff.

“Probably yes, probably no, we’ll see. Are you frightened by my response? Everyone can say what they want to and it happens only in Italy.

“These words said somewhere else would have a different effect.”

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