Cassano and Nesta Sign on the Dotted Line
AS Venezia have announced the signing of Antonio Cassano from Parma and manager Alessandro Nesta has signed a new deal with the club.
Venezia’s newest recruit
Antonio Cassano has signed from Parma, who were relegated to Serie B last season, for a fee of £1.9m. The Italian international, capped 35 times for the Azzurri. The 33 year old striker started his career at Bari, making 48 league appearances and scoring 6 goals. He then moved to Roma, where he made his name, making 118 appearances and scoring 39 goals, before being shipped out to Real Madrid, where he only made 19 appearances and scored 2 goals in three seasons, before moving back to Italy on loan to Sampdoria, before making the transfer permanent the following season. He made 96 appearances for the I Blucerchiati scoring 35 goals in four seasons. He then moved to AC Milan, making 33 appearances and scoring 7 goals. He was then involved in two consecutive part exchanges, moving to Milan’s inter-city rivals Inter, before moving to Parma a season later. After 28 appearances last season and 8 goals, he moved to I Gondolieri after Parma went down.
In an interview with the clubs website, he revealed his delight with teaming up with former teammate Nesta.
“Me and Nesta played together for a season or two. He is such a nice guy and a fantastic defender, and a good friend. When he called my agent to ask whether I wanted to play for him, I jumped at the chance. No disrespect to Parma, but I didn’t want to play in Serie B, or really in another country, where I had offers from. So I joined Venezia. Hopefully I will settle in quickly and not get injured. I want to impress and play good football and keep Venezia in the division. I hope I can have a few successful seasons here until I need to give it up. I don’t score that many goals, but I will do my best and put every ounce of effort I have when I play. I also want to help the young players [Toniolo and Vietto] progress and reach the heights they are predicted to reach. I hope they can learn off me and if that is the only important part I play at the club that is good enough for me.”
Alessandro Nesta also revealed his delight at teaming up with Cassano again.
“Antonio is a fantastic player. He will definitely contribute lots to the season, and I can’t wait to work with him closely again. His experience will be vital this season. He is one of the most experienced players in the division, and hopefully that will help us avoid relegation. He also has a lot of technical ability, and that will most definitely come in useful, after most of our strikers left.”
The club also announced that Nesta has signed a new contract with the club, taking him to 2017. He will earn £7,000p/w.
“I am delighted to sign another contract with the club; I had no doubts about the decision. I want to stay here until I win everything and that was why Mr. Allery gave me the job. I want to stay for a long time, so I need a contract to do that and the fact that he keeps offering me new ones shows that he supports me and wants me to stay. I promise the club will progress more and that I will not leave, even if Milan, Barça or Real come knocking, not until I win everything with AS Venezia.
The contract I got is good, no pressures, nothing to be judged on. Also, as part of the deal, the youth networking is going to be improved, which is great, as my ambition is to win the Scudetto, with players that have come through our youth academy. Mr. Allery is pleased, as I showed I am not afraid to use youth, as I showed last season. We may be spending big now, but it could take more than five years to get a good team together, so that is why we need to spend now, to make sure we stay in the top flight. Maybe, we could sell them off for big profits in five years, but for now, they are staying.”
Thomas Allery, who is currently in the USA finalising the MLS’ newest franchise, San Francisco Phoenix, said, in a brief phone call with Sky Italia, that he was pleased with Nesta.
“I am happy that he signed a new deal. He is making the club have a good image and people are watching. From a business point of view, it is great, but also for the supporters. They now know he is committed to the club and wants to stay. He is making the club grow, and I firmly believe he will keep the club in the division, but even if we do go down, it is very unlikely I will relieve him of his duties; my complete trust is in him. I have given him huge money to spend on the team, and I am very pleased with what he has done with the money, the signings he has made is great. They are all players of great quality and shall progress and develop into world class players in the future, giving the club a great outlook.”
More signings are set to be revealed by the clubs official Twitter Account over the next coming days, and the press have been speculating who the club will announce. Some names thrown around include Monaco’s Lucas Ocampos, Manchester City’s Stefan Jovetic and Marseille’s Michy Batshauyi on loan.
In Nesta’s last press conference, many tabloids asked him about the signings, and he replied, seemingly wound up
“I cannot reveal the slightest bit of information. We decided, as a club, this is how we could do it. You can throw as many names, fees or clauses at me and ask me ‘is it true?’ the answer will always be no.”