What the papers say

February 16, 2001
Juventus Official Site

The Gazzetta dello Sport leads with Edgar David's comments on the rumours linking Juve with Bari's striker, Cassano. Davids states that at Juve, Cassano would only be a star like many others. The Dutch midfielder, due to return at Bari on Sunday, explains that:"Whilst Cassano is certainly very talented, it is necessary to see how he will mature, for at the moment he is still very young. If he arrived at a great team like Juve, how would he react to no longer being clearly the best player?"

Meanwhile, Davids commented that watching the Champions league games on the television, has only made him more determined to do well in the championship, and therefore play in the Champions league next year. Zambrotta has railed against so-called bad luck, saying that: " the antidote is called the Scudetto". Finally, it is rumoured that next year Juve will wear a kit that is more in keeping with their traditional style.

The Corriere dello Sport states that in the game with Bari, Ancelotti will prefer Kovacevic to Del Piero, notwithstanding that Kovacevic has a broken nose. Del Piero will be on the bench, entering only in the second half, even though the Serb has trained little during the week, after the operation on his septum.

For Ancelotti, the club has offered him a new contract, with a basic wage of two billion lire, and bonuses tied to the club's progress in the Scudetto and the Champions league.

Tuttosport focuses on transfer rumours, claiming that Juve are ready to offer Parma 20 billion lire and Tacchinardi, in return for Cannavaro. Juve are also interested in Real Madrid defender Helguera, who the club watched this week playing against Lazio. On the subject of Cassano, Davids muses on Cassano's reaction to being surrounded by great players, whilst Zambrotta States: "I would like to play alongside him". Carini, Montero and O'Neill may all be involved in the friendly against Uruguay, on the 7th of March.

Del Piero, in mourning over the death of his father, is receiving support from everyone at the club.

Finally, the paper states that the fans have won, as the current grey shirt will be replaced by a more traditional blue.
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