Roma nearing agreement with Verona for Ghilardi
Negotiations have entered the advanced stages, with an agreement likely to be reached for approximately €10 million plus €2 million in bonuses.
The Giallorossi are determined to close as quickly as possible to bring another strategic addition to Trigoria ahead of the new season.
Sporting director Frederic Massara, after extensive work on multiple fronts, is now focused on completing a first four-man incoming transfer, which will give a clear identity to Roma's new direction.
Ghilardi's arrival would follow those already finalized for Ferguson, El Aynaoui, and Wesley, and would strengthen a defensive unit that is gaining size, physical strength, and versatility—key characteristics for Gian Piero Gasperini's style of play, reports Gazzetta dello Sport.
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The mountain retreat - upholding an Italian tradition
The wheels on Josh Doig's plane had barely kissed Italian tarmac before he was whisked off to the Alps for a lung-pumping, leg-burning pre-season training camp with his new team-mates. "They said to me if you sign, you can go home, pack a bag, come back," laughs the Scotsman, reflecting on his arrival at Hellas Verona in July 2022. "I was expecting to be drip fed into it. "But literally I signed, then two hours [drive] straight up to the mountains, not speaking the language - it was terrifying, but after a few days I loved it." The ritiro pre-campionato - translated as pre-season retreat - is something of an Italian tradition. Clubs have long swapped hot and humid summers for fresh mountain air and picturesque surroundings in the north of the country, spending weeks preparing for the new season at high-altitude camps. "You have almost six weeks off with your family and then 17 days away," adds left-back Doig, now with Sassuolo in Serie A and speaking from his fourth such retreat, this one in the quiet Alpine village of Ronzone. "When you're in the mountains it's just head down and work hard. You feel dead on your feet every day but it is good because you know you are getting something out of it. "It is a shock to the system but it gets you right back in the swing of things with your fitness and the football way of mind." While many clubs, particularly those in the Premier League, now opt for lucrative global tours, the 'ritiro' remains relatively unscathed heritage in Serie A. "Every player has grown up with this kind of tradition," explains Genoa sporting director Marco Ottolini. "Maybe we have more mountains than other nations!" This summer, only AC Milan ventured outside Europe, playing in Hong Kong and Australia, with several clubs setting up retreats at their own training bases and 12 still making a trip to the slopes. Antonio Conte's Napoli are even doing it twice. "You have better air, oxygen," says Gokhan Inler, technical director at Udinese, who have made a short hop across the border to Austria. "You are more controlled with food and sleep. It helps build the group, new players come in faster." Italian disciplinarian Fabio Capello recreated a similar retreat with England before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, grilling the squad away from friends and family in the small village of Irdning, tucked away in the Austrian Alps. Others, Italian football journalist Daniele Verri explains, would use the remote camps to control their players' behaviour or stop them partying in pre-season. "Fans wouldn't even know where their clubs would go," adds Verri. "Now you get full houses." Over time, the culture has changed - as well as open training sessions for fans, most clubs allow players' families to visit, the camps have become shorter and there are more team-building activities. Genoa's players, for example, have spent time rafting and on mountain walks. "In the past it was much longer," explains Ottolini from Genoa's base at Moena, in Val di Fassa, where they spent 11 days. "There were clubs that stayed in the mountains for three weeks and for me that was something that was damaging the mental health of the players. Now you have to manage the breaks, give some free time to do different activities." Training methods have evolved too, of course. "When I was younger it was more mountain runs, up and downs, more physical, 1,000m runs back and forth," says former Switzerland midfielder Inler, who spent eight seasons in Serie A with Udinese and Napoli. "Then slowly it changed. Some coaches, like Rafael Benitez, liked to run but on the pitch with a ball. 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"We always do running or gym in the morning and always ball work in the afternoon. The gaffer is good with that. "Now it is getting more tactical. Tactics, games in the afternoon - it gives you something to look forward to after the hard session in the morning." Of course, there is still always time for golf. "There is a beautiful course, Dolomiti Golf Course, five minutes' drive away," smiles Doig. "Whenever we get an afternoon off, we're straight there for like five hours." 'It's an event' - why Napoli have two camps As well as friendlies and open training sessions, clubs lay on events for visiting fans - Genoa boss Vieira spoke in the square at nearby Alpine resort Canazei and players took part in a table football tournament. "It is traditional for the supporters," adds Ottolini. "They like to come with families to watch games and training, to stay a bit closer to the team compared to what they can do during the season." So popular are the retreats among Napoli fans, they have put on two this summer. "In the 1980s, all Italian teams went to the mountains - fresh air, to build team spirit. It was really just between team-mates," says Naples-based journalist Vincenzo Credendino. "Now the retreat of Napoli is an event. They train during the day and then in the night there is always an event. "One night cinema, another night the presentation of the team, another there is Conte with his staff answering questions from people, another with four players, a disco night - it's a holiday village, really!" But there is also an economic incentive for clubs. Conte's side spent 11 days in Dimaro Folgarida, in Trentino's Val di Sole, before heading for two weeks in Castel di Sangro, in the Apennine Mountains in Abruzzo. "For the regions, it is good to have Napoli because Napoli bring a lot of fans who go to hotels, restaurants, they kayak, mountain bike," explains Credendino. "It's a lot of money - it's like a real business for the regions for Trentino and Abruzzo. They pay Napoli to come but they earn much more." Verri adds: "For a mountain resort looking for visibility, it can mean a lot to host a top club's pre-season training camp. It attracts publicity and above all fans, lots of fans. "That is why it can be worth attracting teams for the retreat with sponsorships, free accommodation and various benefits." It begs the question - would clubs consider ditching the traditional retreats for more lucrative overseas options in future? "For the player it is hard," says Inler of that option. "After a long season, you go to a tour and it is a big fatigue, especially mentally. Smaller clubs, you are here in Europe, then it is less fatigue. "If you are higher, if you are a better player, everybody wants something from you, the club needs to promote you, needs to promote the club - the higher you go the more you have to do." 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Yahoo
9 minutes ago
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Stanley will embrace the challenge insists Doolan
John Doolan is happy to keep on proving the doubters wrong as Accrington Stanley prepare to kick off their League Two campaign at home to Gillingham this afternoon. The Reds flirted with relegation for most of last season before eventually finishing in 21st place - eight points above the drop zone. While many are predicting another tough campaign, Doolan says he and his players will embrace the underdog tag. 'I don't pay any attention,' Doolan told the club website when asked about his side being tipped for the drop. 'The only thing I get influenced by is the players and I want to influence them in the right way and we all want to do our jobs to the best of our ability. 'If you don't, you lose your job it's as simple as that. We have all got to succeed. We have always been the underdogs. 'All it does is challenge us more to prove people wrong. I have been proving people wrong all my life and we have all got something to prove together.' Stanley completed their pre-season with an impressive 4-1 win against League One side Rotherham United last weekend and Doolan says there is a real buzz around the club as they prepare for the challenge ahead. 'It's really exciting,' he said. 'All your hard work has been done in pre-season and we now can't wait for the challenge. 'We have shown some really good signs of what we have been working on, on the training ground in the games we have had. We have had some good tests so we can't wait. He added: 'It's great when the Wham Stadium is bouncing at both ends. I love playing at home - the players do as well -and we are looking forward to the challenge.' While Doolan says he does not listen to outside noise, he acknowledges that Stanley have to do better this side - although he revealed targets remain firmly in house. 'You have to improve everywhere,' he said. 'Last season is in the past so we are not looking back, it what's we are going to do next which is the important thing. 'Since we came back in June, we have been preparing for Gillingham. We set our own goals and targets as individuals and as a squad. We are definitely going to be better than last season. We set targets on the first day of pre-season and we all agreed on it. That will remain in-house but we want to do better than what we did last season.' Stanley have brought in Ollie Wright, Freddie Sass and Isaac Sinclair during the summer and Doolan says he is hoping to add to that total. He said: 'We will get more in, that's ongoing, but it is about getting the right people in. 'We have a good foundation going forward this year. We have brought three quality players in who have added to the squad and people have seen the evidence of that in pre-season games.' The will be a familiar face in the opponent's dugout this afternoon when Blackburn-born Gareth Ainsworth returns to his native East Lancashire. Doolan is looking forward to sharing a drink with Ainsworth - but only after picking up three points. 'Gareth Ainsworth is a top manager and a top fella,' said Doolan. 'Richard Dobson his assistant as well. We did our LMA Diploma together. They have done a good job at Wycombe. 'Gareth is so knowledgeable, he sets his team up right, they are hard-working and fully committed. They have some good players and we know what we are going to get. 'Come Saturday at 3pm we want to beat each other and after you have a drink together.'
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😰 When Instagram backfires: players who used socials to get sold 📲
Ademola Lookman had a strong reaction at the exact moment Atalanta rejected the offer of 42 million euros plus 3 million in bonuses advanced by Inter. The striker removed from his Instagram profile every single photo that linked him to the Orobici, deleting the Goddess from his bio and also removing the profile picture. An unmistakable signal to ask for a transfer, the "respect" of the pact according to which in case of a suitable offer the Nigerian would have left. Now the company must decide how to proceed, cornered by the player who is doing everything to force the transfer. It is not the first time in recent years that we see social media, and IG in particular, become a tool in the hands of players to break with clubs and ask to leave. It is not the first and will not be the last time that such an attitude is adopted by a player. Just today, Dutch winger Xavi Simons, targeted by Chelsea, also decided to remove from his Instagram bio any reference to Chelsea. Below we remember the various precedents. Viktor Gyokeres with Sporting The most recent case is that of Viktor Gyokeres who, in an attempt to force the then successful transfer to Arsenal, did not show up for the training scheduled by Sporting Lisbon and to accentuate his choice had removed from his Instagram bio any reference to the Portuguese club. This greatly soured the relationship, prompting President Frederico Varandas to threaten to keep him in Portugal for years if an adequate offer did not arrive. In the end, the 63.5 million euros plus 10 bonus put on the table by the Gunners were enough to unlock the situation and bring the striker back to the Premier League. Memphis Depay with Manchester United Going back in time we find perhaps one of the first cases. It's 2016 and Memphis Depay, at the end of an extremely disappointing season at Manchester United, removes every single Instagram image that portrays him with the club's colors. So far it seems like a fairly standard story, but there's a twist. In addition to acting in this way towards the Red Devils, the Dutchman who had been criticized several times by then-coach Louis van Gaal and did not plausibly have a good relationship with the rest of the locker room also involved his teammates. He unfollowed all the players who were part of the squad. A dramatic gesture, which led him to play just 4 games in the second half of the season. He was then sold to Lyon at the beginning of 2017. Matheus Cunha with Wolverhampton Returning to modern times, here is another of the most expensive purchases in the Premier League involved. Matheus Cunha 4 months ago used social media to send a warning to Wolverhampton ahead of the summer. "It's time to be happy, I'll follow my dreams and not yours." Time has proven the Brazilian striker right, who achieved the goal of playing with Manchester United. United involved again, this time for Sancho Following one of the many arguments with Erik ten Hag that effectively marked the end of his relationship with Manchester United, Jadon Sancho also had an extreme social reaction. In this case, the English striker's choice was to delete all content from his Instagram profile, a tool to express discontent. Same case but different, Nunez with Liverpool Then there is another case to tell, where the gesture was the same but the motivation is a bit broader and deeper than a simple transfer request. We are talking about Darwin Nunez. That his relationship with Liverpool was not idyllic is true now and was true more than a year ago, when the incident occurred. But the reason is not so immediate. Following the match with Tottenham, after being heavily criticized by the environment for a series of missed goals, the Uruguayan reacted by removing from his recent feed any content related to the Reds' universe. It was a case that then subsided over the summer. This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here. 📸 Marco Luzzani - 2025 Getty Images
