Grosso not for sale, says Zamparini

Soccerway - 3 Mai 2006 15:03

ROME, May 3 (SW) - A string of major Italian clubs are believed to be interested in signing Palermo's international defender Fabio Grosso.

But the Sicilian side are reluctant to release the left back and have refused to commit to any contract talks.

Grosso's agent, Stefano Antonelli, confirmed the heightened interest from several major Serie A clubs, but revealed that Palermo's chief Maurizio Zamparini is keen to hang on to the player.

“Grosso is liked by Milan, Inter and Juventus, but Zamparini hasn’t entertained any talks” said Antonelli.

28-year-old Grosso, who started his carreer at Perugia, has had another successful season this year, with 32 appearances out of 32 for the Serie A club, 8 UEFA Cup appearances and 5 international caps during Italy's World Cup qualifiers.

He looks a certainty for the Finals in Germany this summer thanks to his consistency and ultra reliability.

Nevertheless, Zamparini is a fiery character to say the least, and not someone to be trifled with. It is going to be a tough task to prise this player from the Stadio Barbera this season, or any other season for that matter.

Zamparini has already stated his intentions earlier this year to hang on to his international players, in a bid to maximise Palermo's future Serie A challenge. To this end Zamparini announced that he and Palermo's sporting director, Rino Foschi, were prepared to put a major sum into the transfer pool.

“I have made £35m available, now myself and Foschi will work on who to buy,” he said.

“One thing is for sure, I’m not selling but purchasing. We’ll bring in about 10 new players and look to have 18 first team players in our squad.”