Palermo ready for another Invasion

By: Marco Stucazzo | March 9th, 2010

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Sicily has been conquered so many times in its history that even Genghis Khan can’t keep count. The Capital, Palermo , has seen so many invasions that only Jerusalem and Ho Chi Minh City could understand. Probably explains why Palermitani are hardcore people and they probably invented the ”never say die ” attitude by pure necessity. This Sicilian style of life has clearly rubbed off on Palermo’s Calcio squad.

Now in 2010, it’s time for Palermo to start conquering Europe on the football field. The Rosanero’s play so far this season has kept them in the hunt for 4th place in Serie A. But before the boys in pink can go show off in the Champions League they’ll have to fight off another invasion ; Big European chequebooks are preparing an assault on Palermo’s many footballing treasures.

The Rosanero have a young squad full of talent. Palermo’s borderline psychotic president Maurizio Zamparini is smart with his transfer budget. Buying young, relatively unknown, high potential talent and developing them into solid Serie A players or better like Simon Kjaer from Midtjylland of Denmark for 4M € and the young Uruguayans Cavani (8-9?) and Abel Hernandez (3.7 M €). Add to that Javier Pastore who probably has close to doubled his 8 M € fee and semi-homegrown Salvatore Sirigu, Andrea Raggi being the exception to the rule.

However, Palermo have just about finished paying their Calcio dues and want Europe to take notice. To do so, the Rosanero know they need to keep the core of their roster intact to turn this 4th spot into a perennial happening.

Zamparini spoke to the media today reiterating his desire to keep his squad intact ;

” I’ll do everything in my power to keep our best players here, especially Cavani and Kjaer. It’s relatively easy to convince them to stay when they are young but when they become mature and strong it becomes harder.

Kjaer is such an important player for us. I’d buy him again just to not make him go away but there’s always a few Big European clubs willing to invest big\stupid money.”

Palermo aren’t scared to cash in when the time\money seems right. Luca Toni to Fiorentina for Molto Euros and Fabio Grosso to Inter for around 7-8 M €. Simone Barone to Torino for too much money and the package deal Andrea Barzagli and Cristian Zaccardo sent to Wolfsburg for 20 M € while Amauri amounted to about 13 M €, Antonio Nocerino and 50% of Davide Lanzafame.

It’s no secret Abel Hernandez and Javier Pastore are attracting a lot of interest. Arsenal are inquiring about Hernandez while Milan and Inter are asking Zamparini if they can ”option” the young midfielder for the future. Edison Cavani’s name has always bounced around the mercato pages in the past but if ever Palermo decided to kill off a lamb Simon Kjaer will likely be sacrificed.

England’s fetish with Nordic Scandinavians is no secret. Half the squads in the Premiership have been courting Mr. Kjaer. Both Manchester outfits are interested while Tottenham’s been sending awkward mix tapes on a weekly basis since early 2009. However, Kjaer, who’ll turn 21 later this month, really likes the Beatles but not in an Everton kind of way ;

“I will take a step towards the dream or I will stay in Palermo. I would prefer to have it sorted out before the World Cup. I am ready for a new challenge, but is has to be an attractive club.

The Premier League is the best league in the world and then there is Barcelona and Real Madrid in Spain.

England and the physical playing style would probably suit me better. In case the right offers come, it would be exciting to form a partnership with Daniel Agger at Liverpool”

Danish football fans would love nothing more to see a Kjaer\Agger duo at Anfield Road

The bleach blonde defender seemingly has a 12 Million buy out clause which would mean an 8 Million profit in 2 years ! Pretty decent but I’m sure Zamparini will manage to squeeze some more pounds out of a Premiership auction. Even if Kjaer would like his future to be decided pre – South Africa, Palermo will calmly wait in the sun sucking a lemonade in the hopes of seeing Denmark do well enough in the World Cup to drive Kjaer’s price even higher.