Juventus Coach Ciro Ferrara: Inter Are Favourites For The Scudetto

Juventus coach Ciro Ferrara has claimed Inter are the favourites to win next season's Scudetto race, despite the Bianconeri's impressive transfer campaign.

Ferrara has made some good signings this summer with the hope they will pay immediate dividends for the upcoming campaign. Fabio Cannavaro arrived from Real Madrid, Diego was captured from Werder Bremen, and Felipe Melo is on the verge of joining from Fiorentina.

The former defender has been planning for next term, but he is keeping his feet on the ground as he invites Inter to set the standard.

"Mourinho is disappointed? Inter remain the favourites," Ferrara is quoted as saying by Goal.com Italia.

"Sometimes you have to stay away from certain declarations in order to allow others to be on the front pages.

"You can say Inter are the favourites. Milan and Fiorentina are also there. It's better to let the others make the front pages and for us to work in the dark."

The Bianconeri play against Cisco Roma in a friendly later this evening.

Salvatore Landolina, Goal.com

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Juventus Starlet Albin Ekdal Joins Siena On Loan

Siena have added to their ranks ahead of next season with the loan signing of Albin Ekdal from Juventus, according to tuttomercatoweb.com.

The Old Lady were keen for the 19-year-old Swede to garner more first-team experience next season so that he can continue to progress as a footballer, but were unable to give him assurances of regular football in Turin next year.

While other promising players such as Claudio Marchisio, Paolo de Ceglie and Sebastian Giovinco made the step up to the first team last year, Ekdal only made a handful of appearances - despite being highly thought of.

The Swede has only been with Juventus for a year, having joined from Swedish side Brommapojkarna last summer. He is also following in the footsteps of Paolo de Ceglie, who spent a year at Siena as part of a co-ownership deal, while Giovinco and Marchisio were also loaned out prior to being more involved in the Juventus first team.

Ekdal marks another important signing for Siena, who have added quality to their ranks already by way of Michele Paolocci, also from Juventus, and Felipe Gomes.

Anthony Wright, Goal.com

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Deschamps to pick up Poulsen

Christian Poulsen is ready to leave Juventus so he can work with Didier Deschamps at Marseille.

The midfielder has been told in no uncertain terms that he is not a part of new boss Ciro Ferrara’s plans.

He had turned down a move to Turkish side Fenerbhaçe last week and was linked with an unlikely £13m swoop by European Champions Barcelona.

It is reported in Italy and France this afternoon that Juve have reached an agreement with Marseille to hand over the Danish international.

The French club will pay approximately £7m to take Poulsen to Ligue 1 under the guidance of former Juventus Coach Deschamps.

Channel4.com/sport/football_italia

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Juventus To Renegotiate For Napoli's Fabiano Santacroce

Juventus are ready to push forward plans for Napoli defender Fabiano Santacroce after previous negotiations failed.

The Bianconeri have been keen on the stopper for a while and they tried to land him last month. At that time, Napoli wanted €8 million for their man and thus the deal went cold.

However, on Tuesday, the player's agent, Antonio Dell'Aglio, claimed Juve were interested in his client, fuelling speculation that the 22-year-old was on his way.

Tuttosport claim Juve want to take him on a one-year loan as Napoli coach Roberto Donadoni doesn't consider Santacroce as a first team regular. The Bianconeri are now trying to work towards a temporary deal with the option to buy him permanently next season for €4.5m - the figure that was paid for the stopper by the Partenopei.

Initially, the Turin-based side had hoped for a possible swap deal in which Santacroce would have exchanged places with Paolo De Ceglie, but the latter's agent closed the door, claiming his client wanted to remain in Turin.

Salvatore Landolina, Goal.com

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Official: Felipe Melo Joins Juventus

The news is official: Felipe Melo is a Juventus player. The last details of the deal with the player and Fiorentina have been finalised (see press release) and Felipe Melo is in full effect a Juventus player. The Brazilian midfielder, fresh from winning the Confederations Cup will spend a few more days in Brazil on holiday and will arrive in Turin on the 22nd of July to begin training.

Felipe Melo spoke to Juventus Channel on Tuesday, the day of his medical check-up at the Fornaca Clinic and the Centro di Medicina dello Sport:

"I am very happy to have joined Juventus and can’t wait to start working. I believe very much in this team that was reinforced and that can compete with anybody in an attempt to reach all the goals in Italy and in Europe".

Felipe Melo de Carvalho joins a more then ever Brazilian Juventus after the signing of Amauri (last season) and Diego. A central midfielder born in 1983 (in Volta Redonds on the 26th June), he joins Juventus after a good season with Fiorentina and long experiences in Brazil and Spain.

Brought up as a player by Flamengo, before travelling to Europe, Felipe Melo played for two more Brazilian teams: Cruzeiro and Gremio. In 2005 he crossed the ocean to join Maiorca but only spent a few months with the Spanish team. Two seasons with Racing Santander and one with Almeria introduced him to the crowds.

In the summer 2008 he was transferred to Fiorentina with which team he made his debut in the Champions League (in the preliminaries) and in the Serie A during the match against Juventus on the first match day.

The excellent performances with the viola earned him a call-up to Dunga’s national side of which he soon became a strong point. In February of this year he made his debut (against Italy in London) and in July the satisfaction of winning the Confederations Cup as a protagonist in South Africa.

Juventus.com

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Pinzolo Awaits Internationals

One week since the start of the training camp in Pinzolo tomorrow – Thursday 16th July – Ciro Ferrara will be able to count on nearly the whole group. As scheduled, seven bianconeri will arrive in Val Rendena.

The seven players are 5 Italian internationals fresh from the Confederations Cup, that is Gigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Giorgio Chiellini, Mauro German Camoranesi and Vincenzo Iaquinta. They will be joined by Claudio Marchisio who will be cutting his holidays after the Under 21 European Cup two days short and Sergio Almiron who due to influenza could not join the rest of the team immediately.

Only three players will still be missing. For Paolo De Ceglie it is a question of one day since he will return on Friday 17th July. The only players who will not join the team in Trentino are Nicola Legrottaglie and Sebastian Giovinco who will meet the rest of the squad in Turin before the departure to Andalucia for the Peace Cup.

As from tomorrow therefore, the group will be much larger. Up to now only Raffaele Bianco left the training camp just like Massimiliano Maddaloni who left for Coverciano for the coaching course.

Juventus.com

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Technical Work In The Afternoon

Third day of repeats for Juventus: this morning the bianconeri underwent six repeats, always on a distance of 1,200 metres. The aerobic strengthening work is important to fill the tanks with petrol in view of a long and busy season.

Before the athletic part, the bianconeri worked on technical and tactical aspects with the midfielders working with Sormani on ball possession and circulation while the attackers and the defenders worked with Ferrara and Maddaloni on movement during non-possession and re-starting.

Momo Sissoko worked in the gym as scheduled and was later joined by Alessandro Del Piero who did not take part in the repeats but underwent a personalized training programme.

In the afternoon, after the press conference by Ciro Ferrara, the team returned on the field for the second session of the day. The bianconeri first worked in the gym were Diego and Sissoko remained for the rest of the session while the others descended on the field to the joy of the public who like in the past few days filled the stands of the Centro Sportivo Pineta. T

he players were busy in a series of mini-matches divided into sections, first on half the field and then on three-quarters: a task aimed at practicing one-on-one football but also at confronting situations of numerical inferiority or superiority.

On Wednesday the team will play its first seasonal friendly against Cisco Roma (live on Juventus Channel) but the bianconeri will still train in the morning starting at 10:00hrs.

Juventus.com

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Ferrara Before The First Match

Two months later, Ciro Ferrara is ready for his second “debut” of his career as Juventus coach. The team is on the eve of its seasonal debut of Wednesday afternoon in Pinzolo against Cisco Roma. This will be the occasion to see the results of the work done in the first week of the summer camp in Val Rendena and for the team to show itself to all for the first time.

It is a provisional debut, as was underlined by Ciro Ferrara during his first press conference in Trentino:

"In order to evaluate I need to have the complete squad at my disposal. For this reason I am counting on being able to field all the players for one half even though I think that out of precaution Diego and Sissoko will not take part in the match. We will try to have an attacking midfield even though I do not want to focus on numbers and formations. What interests me is leaving a good impression".

Ciro Ferrara will have a complete (or nearly) team in the next few days when all those involved will arrive. It is however a fact that the Juventus 2009/10 that is being born in Pinzolo satisfies the coach’s expectations:

"The club made great efforts and met my requests. The objective is to have two players in each role and putting all on the same level in a healthy competition in order for everyone to have the right motivation. How I am facing the season? I am very motivated, I know my responsibilities but I am not afraid of what awaits me".

While waiting for the season to begin properly with matches worth three points, the bianconeri are preparing themselves with the idea in mind of always being protagonists without too many proclamations:

"I do not say those sort of things – continued Ferrara -, like I never did when I was a player. We decide about our objectives in the dressing room but certainly our intention is to compete for the top. Nobody asked me to win the scudetto but that was not necessary. Many have won it with words but that won’t get anybody far. The gap between us and Inter? Only the pitch will decide whether it was reduced or overcome".

The most unexpected but most welcome bit of news for the supporters was reserved by Ferrara for the end:

"Yesterday I spoke to Nedved and I told him that I would like to have him as my collaborator. Pavel decided to retire from football and needs a few months to rest but I think that he will finally agree perhaps by the beginning of the championship. If he were to accept I’d be very happy".

Juventus.com

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