First the official presentation. Then the transfer summit, during which the names with which to complete the technical staff were also discussed. Vincenzo Italiano landed in Bologna from his Sicily on Wednesday evening and left yesterday for the island to continue his holidays with his family and unplug, after a full immersion in red and blue to begin to trace not only the lines of the market, but also the road map that will lead to the start of next season. For example, the dates of the meeting, the athletic tests and the resumption of training in view of next season, with the players who remained out of the national teams, waiting to understand whether Castro and El Azzouzi will be called up for the Olympics. The meeting is set in Casteldebole for 8 July, with the coach arriving a few days early to set up the work and new face-to-face meetings in terms of the market, in view of potential developments.
The departure for the training camp in Valles, in Val Pusteria, land of Sinner, will take place on 22 July, with the rossoblù remaining at altitude until Saturday 3 August. Which means that Italiano and Bologna will work in the city for a couple of weeks, a useful time for the coach to begin to personally get to know the veterans from the national teams and those excluded from the Olympics, given that the coach, personally, prefers the approach in presence at the telephone meeting with the players. There will also be a second appendix to the preparation: a probable tour. To be defined whether it will be in Holland, home of the last two summers and the result of transfer deals, especially with Az Alkmaar, with which the left back Wolfe and the striker Pavlidis are in play, or in Germany.
This last venue could also be interested in tracking potential summer or future deals, given that Wolfsburg likes the ex-Milan midfielder Aster Vranckx (21) and in which the former rossoblù Mattias Svanberg plays, in addition to the Danish striker Wind, who was in the thoughts rossoblù two years ago, when Posch arrived from Hoffenheim.
All without forgetting that in the recent past Bologna has already faced friendlies with German teams: such as Borussia Dortmund, Cologne and Augsburg, and never before the season leading to the debut in the Champions League could the Bundes teams prove convincing in sight of the season.
Details are being defined and which the management discussed with Italiano, who returned on holiday in Sicily in view of the start of the next season, set for the beginning of July.
Marcello Giordano
