One World Sports AET: Conte, The Mercato, Seedorf and Mastour




Beyond The Pitch show

Summary: In yet another Added Extra Time segment David Amoyal takes us through another whirlwind look at all the major emerging stories in Italy as another Serie A season comes to a close with managerial speculation and early mercato activity already coming to the forefront on the heels of an Antonio Conte standoff with Juventus. We examine his clear motivations and tactics as he seeks assurances from Director Beppe Marotta and how a contract extension for Andrea Pirlo and another year commitment from young superstar Paul Pogba will go a long way toward his return after an historic season with The Old Lady. We also take a look into the emerging details of two offers for young Italian strikers from Germany and how each will begin to shape the market in advance of the World Cup where the Azzurri looks set to unveil as deep an attack as any nation this summer. Torino hitman Ciro Immobile and ongoing rumors to Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid, as well as Roma striker Mattia Destro are clear signals that an Italian pool of young players is about to set the stage alight. We also examine the evolving fortunes of Clarence Seedorf as club president Silvio Berlusconi has seemed to change his tactics after evaluation the coaching market for Vincenzo Montella and Luciano Spalletti, perhaps sensing that his first year manager with a two year contract and outside of the Champions League may have to reconsider his options. We also take a look into what appears to be the last match public relations tour that will now become the debut of 15 year old Hachim Mastour and consider whether the decision to call him up has deeper reasons given his reputation, and whether Milan might have yet another problem on its hands as young talented players already on the roster have been overlooked. We close on the matter of Napoli and the matter of another young talented player in Lorenzo Insigne to gauge his chances to make the roster this summer, what Napoli must do next, and how Fiorentina manager Vincenzo Montella has some very important decisions to make in the coming year as he is largely touted to become the next young manager to make his move.