By Anna Italia

What a confusion between Juventus and Torino for the Serie A transfer market of Croatian Defender Dario Knezevic formerly playing for Livorno who were relegated to the Serie B. 

The Serie A transfer market derby between Juventus and Torino is yet to have a final decision by the Lega Calcio.  While Juventus presented today Knezevic as the new Juventus player, Torino President Urbano Cairo submitted a complaint to the Lega Calcio arguing they had already a contract  with Knezevic after trusting Livorno President Also Spinelli.  In other words, Cairo says that a player cannot be sold twice. 

AS Livorno President Aldo Spinelli said that "Cairo wanted Knezevic, but Knezevic signed directly with Juventus and it seems that's the valid contract because the player signed the contract."  Hum... Spinelli is trying to appear the innocent man here.  I don't like his attitude.

                               
 
During the press conference, Knezevic said, «I'm joining the biggest team of them all; I'll have to measure up to players of Del Piero and Trezeguet's stature. For sure I'll learn something every day and in each training session,» said Knezevic at the presentation.

Knezevic on his part said that he preferred to play for Juventus while respecting Torino.  Checking Juventus Official website, their position is that Knezevic is a Juventus player as of today, Monday, June 30, 2008 for the next Serie A Season 2008 - 2009. Knezevic was born in 1982, in Rijeka, Croatia. 

What a mess!  I hope the situation clears as soon as possible.

Here is the situation according to Juventus: Knezevic played for Livorno last season and is here on loan, with an option for Juve to buy out half of his ownership. He'll be joining Ranieri and the others from mid-July, after the holidays needed to recuperate after Euro 2008 and most of all to recover from the injury he picked up against Poland, which forced him to finish his involvement in the tournament early.

According to Alessio Secco, «We started talks with Livorno's president Spinelli about ten days ago and we reached a verbal agreement, taking our time to check Dario's conditions. In the meantime, other Clubs tried to sneak in with their offers, but the player only signed our contract, which is the only one signed by both Juventus and Livorno too. That's why we're perfectly sure it's all legit and we'll be depositing his contract already tomorrow».

End of discussion, as the player himself confirmed: «I respect Torino, but since I was a boy I'd always dreamed of playing for a big club and this is the biggest of them all. In the last few days I never had any doubt about which club to choose».

Big challenge for Knezevic to impress Juventus and earn a starting line up position. 

Knezevic played in the UEFA EURO 2008 with Croatia National Team.  Sadly, Knezevic suffered an injury in the last match of the first round will prevent him from starting off at full speed. Director of Sport Alessio Secco and Dr. Agricola, both in Vinovo today, announced that Knezevic will need to rest for 30/35 days due to the knock he received to his left knee, which in any case is already healing. After 15 days of physiotherapy with no training, he will be able to start a personal regime and then join the others before the end of July to start training normally under Manager Ranieri's supervision. 

 «I'm aware I'm joining a team where a lot of huge stars play and some of these are great defenders. But competition doesn't scare me. I'm here to learn and I'll be able to do so in each and every training session. Over the years I've played in every role in defence, but I'm more at ease as a central defender». 


 

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