Alberto Aquilani asked for more time and Reggiana decided to give it a rest. In the next 48 hours one between William Viali and Fabio Caserta will sign. The former finished the season on the bench of Cosenza and is freeing himself from any contractual ties with the Calabrians in order to be able to say yes to Empoli (the favourite) or Reggiana (a place which is however very welcome and has already been touched upon in the past…). The second, however, is waiting for a definitive answer after the positive conversation we had last week. Both, despite having different characteristics, convince the management. If Viali were to arrive it would be an epilogue which, as mentioned, has already been close on several occasions. Let’s say at least two: one under Diana’s management (before the first leg against Entella) and one under Nesta’s (in December, after the defeat against Modena and the one against Sampdoria). Will it be the right time? We will see. Let’s say that the choice of Reggiana will be a bit similar to that of Empoli, where the former sporting director of Cosenza Roberto Gemmi has just taken office and where some reflections are underway regarding Viali’s profile. There are, however, other strong candidates (Sottil and Aquilani himself). The signature on the Granata contract should arrive between today and tomorrow, with an agreement similar to the one stipulated with Alessandro Nesta (1+1 with automatic renewal once salvation is achieved) but with a ‘buyout’ that could be even more conspicuous than the one he had the former defender of Lazio and Milan. We should therefore have reached the end of a chaotic period, to say the least, because no one could have imagined that Reggiana would ‘lose’ both the sporting director and the coach in the space of two weeks. From then on, a bit of everything happened. At the beginning of the controversy, when William Viali was still contractually linked to Cosenza until June 2025, the ‘favorite’ was Alberto Aquilani, but despite the certificates of esteem expressed several times by the club and the possibility of having a lot of influence also on the choices of the players, the former Roma midfielder was never fully convinced of the proposal. Another significant deterrent is the ‘penalty’ that Pisa has set on his contract (800 thousand euros). A negotiation that risks taking too long. Reggiana can no longer wait for anyone and it should not be forgotten that on 27 April, on the occasion of Palermo-Reggiana and with Nesta ‘at risk’, Fabio Caserta was in the stands… In short, however it ends up it will be a sort of return of flame.
Francesco Pioppi
