Australia's Carl Valeri tries to maintain control of the ball after stumbling as China's Zhang Yaokun and Gao Lin move in during their World Cup qualifier match at ANZ Stadium, Sydney, Sunday, June 22, 2008. AAP Image/Dean Lewins
Socceroo Carl Valeri’s Italian club Grosseto have been tight-lipped since his contract row with the Serie B side emerged in early October. But this week Italian football website TuttoMercatoWeb landed an exclusive interview with Grosseto sporting director Andrea Iaconi and quizzed him on the situation which appears as footballing blackmail.
Valeri’s World Cup hopes have been threatened by the dispute which has seen him not play for Grosseto since October 3, missing their last seven fixtures. And we know Socceroos boss Pim Verbeek’s stance on regular game-time.
It is believed the row began when Grosseto asked Valeri to commit to signing a new contract with the club with his current deal set to expire at the end of this season.
But before all this began the Socceroo had freely admitted in the Australian press his desire to move to a bigger club next season.
There had been reported interest from Serie A pair Chievo Verona and Cagliari last European summer, although any move at that time would’ve seen Grosseto demand a transfer fee as Valeri obviously was still under contract.
So with Valeri declining the prospect of a new deal at Grosseto the club responded by enforcing a ban on him that he doesn’t play until he signs.
And it is that sanction which has been met with criticism, with some journalists labeling it blackmail.
It’s hard to fathom a club could do this to a player who has spent four years with the side, playing over 100 games for them and even captained them in the past, but that is exactly what Grosseto have done.
It is understandable that if Valeri wants to leave that the club would like to make a profit out of his sale, but dropping him from the team rather than trying to make a sale in January whilst he’s still contracted is rather unprofessional.
So after weeks of tight-lipped public relations and the same old lines being repeated by Grosseto staff, Iaconi fronted TuttoMercatoWeb to enlighten us on Valeri’s situation.
And Iaconi began with the typical line of the last few weeks, stating, “We are negotiating the renewal of his contract and he is expected to sign in a few days.”
Therefore, the interviewer asked ‘so now he’ll be reinstated to the team then?’ with Iaconi responding, “No, he is not out of the red.” Clearly indicating the situation is no closer to being resolved.
The interviewer then pondered ‘so until he renews, he won’t play?’ with Iaconi steadfastly responding, “Yes.”
Valeri’s national team predicament was then raised with it asked if his club situation was detrimental to his Socceroos hopes and Iaconi replied, “I think so. So I say that sooner or later he must sign.”
The interviewer then posed to Iaconi, ‘isn’t that a form of blackmail?’
Iaconi replied, “No, we own many young people and we prefer them to play. If a player is to go, we seek to enhance our own. It is not malice, it is the policy of the club.”
Indeed, whatever the spin Iaconi and Grosseto want to put on it, this is clearly a very complicated and unprofessional matter of business. It’s a situation unheard of in other places of the world.
For Valeri, it is an unfortunate turn of events after serving Grosseto so well. The Canberra-born midfielder’s World Cup hopes really do depend on the outcome of this situation.
Valeri is probably battling Turkey-based Mile Jedinak for a spot in the 23-man squad and the latter continues to impress at Antalyaspor with two goals last weekend.
But it is not only the 2010 World Cup which Valeri must worry about, but also his career in the game as he’s stated he wants to go to the next level and doesn’t believe that’s possible at Grosseto.
But with Grosseto holding him to ransom and not offering him a game he desperately needs to find a club, and fast for the sake of his World Cup hopes, putting his bid to find the ‘ideal’ club at risk.
The January transfer window could be his chance to escape Grosseto and a permanent move here would suit both parties.
Iaconi did admit that if there was interest in Valeri in January, Grosseto would take a look at it. But judging by their recent behaviour there’s no guarantees.
On the other hand, if Valeri was to sign a new deal at Grosseto it would put at risk his hopes of finding a club next summer when he might’ve been available as a free agent.
For Valeri, these are matters he hardly wants to be worrying about right now.
The best thing for him would surely be to get away from the complicated mess at Grosseto and find a new club in January (perhaps on loan like Jedinak has) so he can focus on what he does best, playing football.
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