Transfer Talk: Wednesday 29th June

Emiliano Viviano

What I am about to write about is going to sound slightly bizarre, but bear with me. Emiliano Viviano is a 25 year old goalkeeper who has just been signed outright by Inter Milan. Milan paid £3 million to acquire a 50% share in Viviano in January 2009 (part of a co-ownership deal with Serie B team Brescia, where the clubs shared the burden of their financial investment). Bologna then bought Brescia’s 50% over the summer, and he became their first-choice goalkeeper.

Viviano moved to Inter due to a screw-up by the Bologna chairman. As the two clubs could not agree who Viviano should play for the following season, he was put on a “blind auction” for the remaining 50%. Each club bids for the remaining half, and the highest bidder wins. Bologna’s club director Stefano Pedrelli accidently halved their initial valuation of the remaining 50%, bidding less than half of Milan’s valuation.

However, it is now widely believed that Viviano won’t even get to play for Inter. They will be looking to offload him as soon as possible for a full transfer fee, and reports in the Italian press suggest that he had previously been monitored by Arsène Wenger.

Speaking to the media yesterday, Viviano said:

“I have complete trust in Inter as this is a very important step in my career. I am happy and relaxed.

“I didn’t want to talk about this until now and in future I’ll do so only with the Inter directors. I have complete faith in them.”

This transfer isn’t as unlikely as it may seem. I don’t think that Wenger is looking for a new keeper, but it is always a possibility. Viviano has had two seasons playing in Serie A as Bologna’s number 1 keeper & is Italy’s second choice keeper behind Buffon.

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