Del Piero: Getting close to signing contract

May 21, 1999
Juventus Official Site

The meeting between Juventus and Alessandro Del Piero's managers was brought forward a day - rather than taking place on Friday as originally planned, it took place on Thursday morning in a Milan hotel to put the journalists off the scent. Representing Juventus - Giraudo, Bettega and Moggi. On the other side: the player's managers, Pasqualin and D'Amico.

The meeting lasted approximately three hours, precious minutes in which a definitive compromise wasn't reached but obvious progress was made. After all the cards had been laid on the table and the respective starting positions clarified there was room for a glimmer of hope: "The renewal of the contract remains the common aim. We'll speak again in a week's time having evaluated proposals and counter-proposals. The desire to stay together is still there, but it doesn't mean that you reach a conclusion quickly" Luciano Moggi explained.

The big stumbling block remains Juventus's right to use the image: "a contract could be signed which only concerns the sporting services and not the complete transfer of the image" said the lawyer Pasqualin. Juventus, in fact, want to be able to "administer" Alessandro Del Piero's smile and appeal as well, as it will with other players in the near future. The disagreement comes over the difference between what's being asked and what's being offered. Up until now the two parties have reached agreement on one thing only - the length of the contract - five years. This would mean the attacker staying with Juventus until 30 June 2004.

The sums involved remain unknown, but they can be guessed at based on the entertainer's current situation. It goes without saying that there have been numerous offers from big international clubs - it wasn't by chance that Del Piero mentioned Athletic Madrid on TV on Monday night, but his manager repeated that no other negotiations will be opened unless a split with Juventus happens.

Thursday morning's meeting, which at least clarified the two sides' positions, didn't spoil the feeling of optimism. And this, as Bettega has said in the past few hours, is definitely a good sign.
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