Chivugate Ovah:
It's not official yet, but it's done, and I would assume Inter's website will announce it shortly. As we all know, Roma takes care of official announcements whenever they damn well feel like it.
After two hours of negotiations today, Rosella and Moratti finally came to an agreement over the transfer of Chivu to the lesser side of Milan. The deal is €14.5m and half ownership of one Marco Andreolli. The co-ownership is tricky. It seems that his total value is €7m, which makes half €3.5m (trust me here), with Roma only having to pay €1.5m. So basically Inter gave Roma €2m towards Andreolli's co-ownership. It's confusing, but Roma wouldn't be involved if it didn't leave you scratching your head. Also included may be a friendly, and the profits will benefit Roma. I don't think we're too far from the day when Roma starts camp in mid-June and just plays 28 friendlies in order to finance the mercato. I wouldn't put it past Rosella. Anyway, this isn't all that far off of the €18m deal they agreed to with Real Madrid. (And this is all subject to change. If it isn't true, I could care less. I'm sick of this Chivu crap.)
This is a great deal from Roma's standpoint (considering the options). They got rid of a player who didn't want to be here, got close to his relative market value with one year remaining on his contract and only one suitor to speak of, and filled a need with a massively talented and promising youngster. One who could even approach or surpass Chivu's status in the future. While this may have been handled more smoothly in hindsight, Rosella and Prade did a fantastic job with this transaction. They weren't pushed around, didn't panic and got a very good return. Standing ovation from me. Hell, standing ovation for the entire mercato from me, especially on their funds (excluding that whole being bent over for Pizarro thing). And they're not even done yet. Bravo.
What It Means:
Francesco Modesto will be announced very shortly. One might assume during the festivities tomorrow night, but it should be within the next 24 hours or so.
Now, Modesto is only going to take out a small chuck of the Chivu bank - we can say it might bring the budget down to €12m remaining from the sale of CC. In fact, he may not even take out any if they had a few million lying around after the original allotment to begin the mercato. Or even itself out with some future sales. Point is, the Modesto money is largely a non-factor.
So where does the rest of that money go? Cicinho is one option, and there is a lot of speculation floating around regarding him right now. People have been floating around the name Jeremy Mathieu, and he is certainly possible, but I'm pretty sure he is more suited to the LB position than the RB position, even though he can play there in emergency. Both would probably command the same pricetag, and I'm sure nearly everyone would prefer Cicinho at his price. I've even seen Cristian Zaccardo's name mentioned, but he's been begging for a move all sumer and Maurizio Zamparini has been flat ignoring him. I can imagine he might be pretty pricey by Rosella's standards also. Obviously the position on the pitch most in need of reinforcement right now is RB, but that doesn't necessarily mean that's where they will be focusing the money.
The 4th CB spot is all set now. It will also be interesting to see how Andreolli's co-ownership works out next summer. If they do in fact lose him back to Inter, Roma could conceivably profit immensely from his sale, depending on the value he acquires throughout the upcoming season. Considering he is dubbed another Alessandro Nesta, this could prove to be a win-win situation. Either keep a potentially great player or sell him off for pretty much free money. And it looks like there might be a fight over the #77 unless Marco Cassetti is moved. Which is looking very possible.
Oh, and good riddance Chivu. I never liked you that much anyway.
More to follow when the details are released....