It will be a mid-August of only partial relaxation for the sports director Dominic Romecommitted to close the negotiations for the three certain grafts, necessary to complete the Messina “puzzle”.. Some of the cards on the table, the rest still face down.
The full back
Let’s start from the negotiation closest to closing, the one that leads to the starting left-handed winger. We are in fact down to the details for Giorgio Brogni, born in 2001 with a good amount of experience already behind him, both in the Atalanta youth team and in Serie C. The footballer played the pre-season with the Under 23 team of the Goddess who will make his debut in the third series, but now all the parties seem convinced of concluding the operation. And the boy originally from Calcinate should land in Sicily in the next few days to join the Giallorossi group.
The midfielder
Francesco Ardizzone, a 31-year-old from Palermo, became target number one. Protagonist with the Lecco shirt in the climb to Serie B, he is now considered out of the project. Messina likes it a lot and there would be an agreement with the other party, awaiting the ok also from the player who hoped to stay after having done well in Lombardy, but could accept the court of the Acr. More will be known about him in the next few hours, with the management hoping to have the athlete available as early as this week, when work resumes at the “Marullo”. Other solutions have not been abandoned, such as the one that leads to Nana Welbeck, leaving Catanzaro, who risks remaining out of the Serie B list. Another alternative name is that of Luis Maldonado, 27, from Turris. Evaluations are also underway on the type of profile on which to sink, considering the pawns already on the staff and where to deploy them (see Florence).
Attacking chapter
We will probably talk about it after August 15th. This is the slot for which Messina has chosen to wait for the “right” moment, this does not mean that the talks have not started. There are continuous contacts with three profiles, all compatible with the requests of the technical staff and fit with the type of game you want to play. One stands out slightly from the others, we can speak of a dream or an ideal profile, in terms of characteristics but also because it could inflame the environment as a name. He’s coming out of Serie B (he’s not Magrassi, for whom the Acr made an attempt but the Citadel won’t let him leave). Messina has waited up to here, they will do it for a while longer: they have an agreement in principle with the club that owns them but the competition, which exists, must be beaten. For this reason, other leads continue to be kept alive: one is the one that leads to Vincenzo Plescia, 25 years old. Relations with the athlete and his attorney are good and recent, he expected to know the will of Avellino who seems to be willing to let the Palermo striker leave. In short, compared to what has emerged in recent days, the road is not blocked at all, nor would the footballer have expressed himself negatively on the Messina destination.
The fourth way
It’s the one that leads to right-back. The first name on the list was Baldovino Cimino, born in 2004 for whom there was already an agreement with Cosenza for a loan with enhancement. However, the talent literally exploded during the training camp with coach Fabio Caserta, who tried him in all defensive roles, obtaining answers that were in some ways even unexpected. And therefore, after making him make his debut in the Italian Cup against Sassuolo, he would like to keep him in midfield as well. It would not have been possible to register him as “technical training” coming from a professional category. The same goes for Giuseppe Salvo, born in 2003 (therefore out of age), who arrived last January but still has zero appearances for the biancoscudata, now free. In retreat in Sila with the team, he could be registered but a slot will have to be freed up in the Lega Pro “plank”, therefore an exit will be necessary.
Output
Carmine Iannone, born in 2001, seems close to saying goodbye to the group. The reasons are more “numerical” than technical. Counting on Brogni, Buffa and Zunno, Messina would already have a choice for the two 2001 players to line up to access playing time, which they will aim to reach also in the 2023/24 season. A strategy, rather than a rejection.
The strategy
It is clear from a large part of the fans that something more was probably expected in terms of interpreters, but the message filtered through the management’s work is clear: beyond the quality of the individuals, they are trying to build a path made up of choices, of pawns placed, of reasoning, of points to join. Now the last lines are missing, then the ball will pass to the field, still the sovereign judge who will have to say if the club has done the right thing.