Whats Up with Acquafresca?
By: Jeremy | June 4th, 2008I know I am not the smartest person when it comes to loans, ownership of players, and the rights that come with these various labels, and maybe that is why I am frustrated with all the rumors flying around about where he will be playing next year. While rumors are just that, some of them make no sense as these teams he is linked with are really no different then Cagliari when it comes to his continued development.
It is my understanding we co own him with Inter as a result of the Suazo deal. By co-owning, what does that mean? Does the bigger club choose where he plays ie he only plays in Cagliari if Inter does not want him. Since it was clear going into 07-08 that he was not going to be first team at Inter, it made sense that he plays in Cagliari. After a slow beginning, he emerged as a first team player in Sardinia and it is clear he would be first choice striker in 08-09. From what I can gather, Inter, assuming they even have the final say, want him to play atleast another year at another club so he can get first team football. Surely as part of the Suazo deal we negotiated more then one year of him on our team so if he did develop, we would get a little benefit from him.
No matter what my lack of understanding is about who actually controls him, wouldnt it make sense for him to return to Cagliari for 08-09 and play first team football and continue his development? The ownership issue would play itself out later.
If it seems so simple, why is Robert linked with every small club in Serie A for 08-09 and there is little to no mention at all that he could return to Cagliari? Does he not want to come back to us? Do we not have a say whether he does since we co own him, especially if Inter wants him to get first team football that they may not be quite ready to give him? As part of the coownership agreement, do Cagliari and Inter have to make a deal before the start of the season and if they cant do it, he is put up for auction with Inter clearly the team to buy him outright because they have the money we dont? I thought that would take place after two years not one. Wouldnt it make sense for Inter, who clearly want him playing, to make a deal with Cagliari to let him stay with us for another year to see if he develops or do they want to buy him outright before his price goes up after what is assumed will be a further breakout in 08-09?
Im probably missing the basic facts of the ownership deal, but if we truly have co ownership, wouldnt we want to hold onto him for atleast another year? Was I wrong to think we had him for two years as part of the Suazo deal? Is Cellino going to sell our share now for some more young players because he will soon go up for auction and we wont be able to get him in that process so why not get something for him now instead of getting nothing later? I understand that logic, but if we know we will lose him to Inter eventually, why not sell our share to Inter with the agreement that he plays for us for another year or two instead of him going back to Inter only to be loaned out to Torino or Atalanta for the same time frame? I know he wants first team football and we arent exactly loaded with strikers so Cagliari is an ideal fit for everyone.
Maybe someone smarter then me can explain what is going on behind the scenes and what Inter and Cagliaris goals are to solve the ownership problem while also benefiting from his services, even if its just for a short period of time. Its one thing to lose your players to a bigger club because they are ready for a bigger stage, but everyone involved says Roberts no quite there yet so why should we lose him to a bigger club only so he can be loaned out to another small club so he can play just as he would here. Quite frankly Im sick of big clubs stock piling players, half of which dont get to play regularly, when they could be dominating for a smaller club thereby making Serie A more competititve. Suazo goes to Inter and maybe plays half the time if that. How does that benefit the player, other then monetarily, and keep the league competitive. If we are trading our stars for young players, then we need to be able to have control of these young players for more then a year.
Its tough being a fan of a small club, but its situations like these that make having realistic expectations to compete near impossible.
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Here’s a very basic guide to “comproprietà” situations.
Whenever two clubs each hold half of a player’s registration (no one actually “owns” a player, slavery being illegal), they both have to agree on where he is going to play for the next season and who is going to pay his wages (the team he is playing for, one of the teams that owns half of his registration, both of them, some combination of all or some of the above, etc.) Sometimes this is done as part of the negotiations that result in the “comproprietà”, sometimes it is done later. The deals are pretty much always only for a single season, as too many circumstances can change over the course of more than one year.
If the two clubs can’t agree on such an arrangement by a set date before the beginning of the season, they have to “go to the envelopes” (buste). This means that each club submits a sealed bid to the League for the 50% of the player’s registration that it doesn’t own; the higher bid wins, and that club (once it pays the loser) has all of the player’s rights.
So, Cagliari and Inter have to agree on what they are going to do with Aquafresca. Inter have consistenly said that they don’t want to lose him entirely, so it isn’t beyond the realm of comprehension that they would agree to have him play the season at Cagliari. On the other hand, they may prefer that he get more Serie A experience, in which both clubs would need to work something out with the club in question, or ultimately “go to the envelopes”.
Posted from
Italy
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Thanks Ursus. It clarifies some misunderstandings I had but I think it makes clear that Inter wants full ownership and would rather get it now as the price will be higher next year so they arent going to stay as co owners for another year. Cagliari wont beat Inter in an auction, but the question is if they let it go to bid and assuming Inter pays Cagliari a price based on the winning bid, would they get more for their half of the player via that route or would it be better to make a deal for some cash but maybe full ownership of some other young players.
Either way, I was glad to have him for a year as he no doubt helped save us from relegation.Posted from
United States -
I’m not sure that Inter really want full ownership, especially as they currently have a glut of strikers (what else is new).
What they don’t want is to lose the influence they currently have over a guy they continue to see as promising (and who wouldn’t after what he did for you this year).
So I wouldn’t give up hope yet.
Posted from
Italy -
If that is the case, this is where I get confused. If they dont want full ownership(although I think they do want full ownership as the goal is to stock pile great players), and the co ownership deal is only for one year, with the next step being the auction now that the year is up if they cant make a deal for Cagliaris half, they surely must outbid Cagliari as they arent about to just let Cagliari have him er go they get full ownership now.
If they keep the status quo and he returns to Cagliari for another year, which would be Cagliaris preference, if they face the same situation this time next year, it would be assumed the players value will be higher after a great season causing Inter to have to pay more to get him for full ownership next year.
As a result if things happen as you say, then it makes total sense that Inter will push for full ownership now and buy Cagliari out while its price is at its lowest and then make a deal to loan him out elsewhere for first team football until he improves enough to crack Inters lineup. That is why part of me was hoping that last years original deal involving Suazo would keep Acquafresca in Cagliari for two years.
Hopefully he stays for another year because next year at this time he will be in even more demand.
Posted from
United States -
Hopefully Cellino will get some support from Milan
when is time to bid for Acquafresca and the two clubs
making a deal as the player eventually will go to A.C.MILANPosted from
United Kingdom -
Jeremy, you are assuming that his value is definitely going to increase. That may be more likely than not, but it isn’t certain, and Inter don’t have any place to play him at the moment and two very expensive managers and a couple of very high profile new signings to pay. So they may be willing to roll the dice, prolong the current deal, and figure the worse they can do is to pay more for the other 50% of more of a sure thing in one year’s time.
Posted from
Italy -
ursus, i hope you are correct. That is a goos scenario for us as even we can sometimes benefit from a rich club that has too many toys it wants to purcahse yet cant have him all. Id love one more season of him, but I dont want him sold only to get loaned to another small club. We are the only small club that should have him. When he is big club ready, Ill accept losing him.
Posted from
United States -
Think of Vucinic, Jeremy. Roma got him in co-ownership, not full ownership, and after an explosive year it looks like half his registration will cost more than his full would have last year.
If Inter’s looking to avoid that, I would expect them to buy him outright and then loan him back to Cagliari.
Posted from
United States -
Gentile redazione,
sono la responsabile del blog CHEGOL.COM appartenente al network Maid in IT con il quale vogliamo fornire un servizio continuo di approfondimento sul mondo calcistico. Il blog è appena nato e ha bisogno di crescere anche attraverso uno scambio link. Chiedo cortesemente di prendere in considerazione la possibilità di effettuare tale scambio link con il vostro portale.
In attesa di un cortese riscontro, porgo i miei più cordiali saluti.
Posted from
United States
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