View Full Version : The Olof Mellberg Thread
http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/7076/primaow5.jpg
This was in todays newspapers.
It will be very interesting to follow this. I hope he leaves Aston Villa for Juventus.
Juve's Swede dreams
Juventus are being linked with Aston Villa stopper Olof Mellberg and unsettled midfielder Tiago Mendes may take his place in the Premier League.
Despite their successful start to the campaign, the Bianconeri are still looking for another defender to replace the injured Jorge Andrade.
Youngster Domenico Criscito has performed well in the role, but he has also fallen victim to injury niggles and Mellberg is eyeing a move to the peninsula.
“After seven years in Birmingham I would like to move to a big Italian or Spanish side who will be in Europe next year,” the Swedish international recently stated.
Mellberg could arrive in Turin on a free transfer this summer as his contract with Villa expires in June and sporting director Alessio Secco is expected to travel to open talks with him soon.
Meanwhile, there are rumours that West Ham are preparing a bid for Tiago, whose days in Turin seem to be numbered.
According to the Daily Mirror, the Hammers are ready to step in with a £5m offer in January – a fee that Juve are likely to accept.
While Tiago has been linked with Fiorentina, he has already played in England with Chelsea and is yet to settle in Italy.
channel 4
There's tons of rumours about Mellberg at the moment.
Juventus as we already know are interested in him, yesterday a article in Turkeys biggest newspaper said that Galatasaray wanted his signature and now today it was a article in Gazetta that Milan wanted his signature.
This will be very interesting to follow.
O'Neill confirms Juve approach
http://www.goal.com/resultsimg/7790.jpg
Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill has confirmed for the first time that Juventus have shown an interest in signing Olof Mellberg.
The Swedish defender has been rumoured to be a long-term target of Juventus and there has been fresh speculation that Mellberg has held contract discussions with the Italian giants.
Mellberg's current deal with Villa expires in the summer, meaning he could sign a pre-contract agreement with another club in the transfer window, and O'Neill has confirmed that Juventus have asked for permission to speak to the 30-year-old.
"Juventus have sent a letter through saying they want to speak to Olof," said O'Neill.
Intentions
"It is their prerogative. I am not even sure that they have to do that but at least they have made their intentions clear. They are well within their rights to do so.
"Olof has been here seven years. He has earned the right to do this. He wants to have a wee look around and it might not be anything to do with money. It might be an environmental thing.
"If someone like Juventus have shown an interest, and within six months of your contract running out, I think you have to explore every avenue.
"I don't plague him every single day about these things. I just let him get on with it and he might come around to formulating some idea in his head of what he wants to do."
Commitment
O'Neill, though, insists that he will not stop playing Mellberg if he agrees a contract with Juventus.
"Olof's commitment has been excellent and even if he decides to go in the summer, I would have no qualms about continuing to play him or if he signed a pre-contract," O'Neill added.
"I am not going to rush him and he knows at the end of it all, he has done well enough to earn himself another contract here."
O'Neill is also hopeful he will be able to make an announcement next week regarding the future of Martin Laursen, who is also out of contract at the end of the season, after holding talks with the Danish defender.
"We had some pretty reasonably good conversations and I think I'll be able to give you some news on that by the middle of next week," O'Neill concluded.
skysports.com
Mellberg to join Juventus from July
Juventus Football Club have officially signed player Erik Olof Mellberg with a contract starting July 1 2008, until June 30 2011. As is known, the player's contract with Aston Villa ends on June 30 2008.
Swedish central defender Erik Olof Mellberg was born on September 3 1977 and after 3 years in the Spanish League at Racing Santander he was signed by Aston Villa in 2001, where he has played over 240 games in the last few years between Premier League, and national and international cups. An experienced central defender, Mellberg is also a regular in the Swedish national team, with whom he has played over 70 games since the year 2000.
The defender expressed his satisfaction speaking from England: «I'm very happy about this agreement: this experience in Italy will be an important one, in a prestigious club and in one of the most important Leagues in the world. Now I must end the season in the best possible way with Aston Villa, but I really can't wait to join Juventus and give my best with the black and white shirt».
It's an important asset to the team being set up by Claudio Ranieri for next season: «Mellberg – the Manager declared – is a player I know very well and I was already following him when I was at Chelsea. He's a central defender who can also play on the right, as he's doing this year. He has an imposing physique (height 1,87 m, weight 83 kg), but is very quick. Mellberg will give his contribution to Juventus in terms of international experience and quality».
Mellberg eyes central role
Olof Mellberg believes that he has been signed by Juventus to play as a centre-back, despite spending much of his final season with Aston Villa on the right.
The Swedish defender became the Bianconeri’s first signing for the 2008-09 campaign when he put pen to paper on a three-year deal in January, with his Villa contract expiring this summer.
Although both Zdenek Grygera and Jonathan Zebina have failed to nail down the right-back position this term, Mellberg doesn’t think he will be handed that role.
“I think they have signed me as a centre-half, but also with the knowledge that I can play on the right if necessary,” the 30-year-old exclusively told Football Italia.
“I started my international career with a lot of matches as a full-back, but I think Juventus know that I enjoy my game the most when I’m playing in the middle.”
Mellberg has spent the past seven years at Villa Park since arriving in the Premier League from Spanish outfit Racing Santander.
He has represented his country on 77 occasions and was named Sweden’s Player of the Year back in 2003
Andygers
04-28-2008, 05:33 PM
Hmmm...Mellberg sounds good for him to get into the CL with Juve. Hopefully he does well at the club.
Yeh he has earned a chance to play in a team that can win titles and it's about time that Mellberg plays in the biggest tourney of them all CL.
Good luck Mellberg!
Andygers
04-28-2008, 05:47 PM
Juve won't be getting too far in the CL for another 5/6 years, only when they become amazing again they will get to the semi-finals. Mellberg, I doubt will be part of the amazing sucess.
I agree but the chances are still there and Juve is club that aims for titles. You never know but it would be a shock if Juve won anything soon.
Spotlight on Olof Mellberg
http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/7876/mellbergranieriny0.jpg
The 2008/09 Juventus side is taking shape, one piece at a time. Yesterday Claudio Ranieri was able to see at what stage his team is and at the same time welcome two players who were at Euro 2008: Grygera and Mellberg. The Czech was simply returning to base, whereas it was like the first day of school for the Swedish player.
After the first Pinzolo training session with his new team mates, Mellberg held a press conference to officially introduce himself. While we wait to see his potential on the field, he already showed he knows the new set-up at Juventus very well. «I know I've joined one of the world's top teams. I've watched all the Bianconeri's games from January onwards and so I’ve gotten to know all my new team mates. At the moment I'm favourably impressed by the fans' affection. Only at the 2006 World Cup in Germany had I trained in front of so many people before».
Juventus can now count on another important piece of the puzzle in defence; on the same day that Andrade is forced to take time off again, Ranieri can start working to make the back four impenetrable, especially the central pair. And with Chiellini and Legrottaglie (the best Serie A defence duo by far in the last season) still here, plus Knezevic, Buffon can truly consider himself well protected at the back.
Mellberg is thirty years old, has an imposing physique and boasts several years of international experience between the Spanish Liga (at Racing Santander), the Premier League (six seasons at Aston Villa) and the Swedish national team (he already has 90 caps), so he has everything he needs to do well here. This was clear from his first press conference too: «Italian football has a large following in Sweden and Juventus are one of the best-loved Clubs there. Watching all those games from January onwards, I could see how many strong defenders there are here, but competition isn't a problem for me. In my career I've almost always played as a central defender, it’s the role where I feel more at ease, but sometimes I have also been employed on the right at Aston Villa».
Mellberg arrived in Pinzolo already primed about his new Club. «When I learned Juventus were interested in me back in January, I never considered joining any other club. I’ve been studying my new team ever since. I immediately felt they were very strong and the fact that they always fought as equals with the best teams will help this year in the Champions League. I have also started learning Italian. Luckily I spent three years in Spain and that helps. I can already understand several words and I'm starting to speak it too».
He'd studied the set-up a lot, but two things still surprised him on his arrival in Pinzolo: the people's affection and a young fellow countryman named Ekdal. «The people's welcome has been really incredible, I wasn't used to it. I'd seen that many fans watching a training session only at the 2006 World Cup. I didn't know Ekdal before, I met him for the first time yesterday and he made a great impression on me, both as a person and as a footballer».
Mellberg has been brilliant so far in the pre-season games with Juventus. Looks like he will be a starting man when the season kicks-off
vBulletin® v3.7.0 Beta 3, Copyright ©2000-2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.