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At the start of next year, a dazzling array of Serie A talent are free to commence transfer negotiations that will see them leaving their current employers on a free transfer and it will be giving Presidents all around the peninsula sleepless nights.
A total of 65 players are up for contract renewal at the end of the current campaign and as we start 2010, agents will be scurrying around to try and get their men the best deals available.
In the capital, Roma chief Rosella Sensi looks to have most to lose as Simone Perrotta, Rodrigo Taddei and David Pizarro head a list of 10 players able to leave on free transfers if new contracts are not forthcoming.
There is also the small matter of one Francesco Totti, who has still not put pen to paper on a new deal thought to be worth a king’s ransom that would see him finish his career with his beloved hometown club.
Lazio, already resigned to losing Goran Pandev, will be only too aware that defender Sebastiano Siviglia and midfielder Ousmane Dabo are free to go at the conclusion of the current campaign.
At Milan, Super Pippo Inzaghi could jump ship to pastures new if the Rossoneri follow the advice of President Silvio Berlusconi and search for new talent under the age of 23. Should Inzaghi be deemed surplus to requirements at San Siro, there will surely be a whole host of clubs queuing up to secure his signature.
It seems inevitable that Inter are going to offload Patrick Vieira, with the Premiership probably his next destination, a return to London with Chelsea are the latest mutterings to be coming out of the Italian Press.
Current Serie A table-toppers Sampdoria could see their outstanding goalkeeper Luca Castellazzi and midfield maestro Daniele Franceschini depart the club whilst neighbours Genoa may have to say arrivederci to defender Giuseppe Biava.
Down in Sicily, Walter Zenga may have to concede that his mercurial Brazilian Fabio Simplicio and Australian Mark Bresciano will be plying their trade elsewhere at the start of next year’s campaign.
There could be a Scandinavian exodus from Fiorentina as Per Kroldrup and Martin Jorgensen seek new challenges, and Bologna tifosi will be praying their team can stay in the top flight as 10 of the squad will surely depart if the Rossoblu slip through the trap door.
In the current economic climate, free transfers are music to the ears of clubs unable to compete with the big powerhouses of Italian football as they seek to pick up outstanding talent for a minimal outlay.
From January 2010, a flurry of wheeling and dealing looks set to envelope the peninsula as rumours, rumours and more rumours dominate the sports pages of Italy’s most prestigious publications. Watch this space!
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