•Despite the fact that virtually all the media outside of Italy are reporting Freddy Adu's on-again, off-again move to Benfica is so on-again that it's pretty much done, reports in Italy insist he's actually going to Parma with the help of Inter, who will buy the player if he puts in a good showing this season. Mmmmhmm.

•Cristiano Lucarelli made his Ukrainian debut yesterday, playing 45 minutes in Shakhtar Donetsk third match of the season.

This weekend, La Gazzetta dello Sport published the results of a poll (print-only, as far as I can tell) in which they ask Italians which football team they support.* The runaway winners, not surprisingly, were Juve, who were loved by over 17% of participants despite that humiliating stint in Serie B. Juve have long been the most popular team in Italy; frankly, I'm surprise the number isn't higher than that.

Depending on how long you've been following Italian football, you may not be familiar with the great Giorgio Chinaglia. Suffice to say he was voted Lazio's best ever player during their centenary celebrations, and was also the highest ever scorer in the NASL, the short-living, wildly successful (for a while) American soccer league that his New York Cosmos utterly owned during the late 1970s.

I've mentioned Mario Balotelli on this site only once, when he scored the winning goal for Inter's youth side in last season's Primavera title game. But, in the future, you'll probably be hearing more about him in the future: The kid is 16 years old, scored four goals for Inter's Primavera side, and is starting to get a lot of attention and not just in Italy.

I am going to preface this by telling you that a lot my information is coming from a combination of Google translate, wordreference.com, and an actual, paper dictionary. Point being, I could have it all mixed up and terribly, terribly wrong. Ok, that said, I think a jealousy-crazy ex assaulted Francesco Coco and his female companion last night. And when I say "assulted," I mean the woman went after them with a knife.

Antonio Cassano, your prototypical footballer with ability tragically unmatched by either brains or self-control, has reportedly turned down a chance to join Turkish champions Fenerbahce. Their £3 million bid was accepted by Real, but Cassano rejected the deal. Not for salary reasons, mind you, or because he's allergic to kebabs or doesn't like Istanbul (Seriously, who wouldn't want to get paid to live there for a while?

In an interview with France Football (the bulk of which is only available in the print edition), Brazilian legend Socrates pulled no punches, ripping the hell out of not only Italian football, but also the Brazilian national team and it's performance at the 2006 World Cup. The guy is so frank, honestly, that you'd almost think he was drunk and just sort of venting his spleen.

I know I will end up regretting writing this when the whole thing blows up in Roma's faces again, but media all over Italy (as well as his girlfriend) insist the deal that will, at long last, send Christian Chivu to Inter has been finalized and just needs everyone's signatures to become official.

Roma, you see, have been in a renewed rush to get rid of the Romanian/convince their fans he's a great guy because they don't want waves of boos to be part of their 80th birthday celebration tomorrow.

As we discussed on Wednesday, Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk recently become quite interested in Livorno's want-away goal king, Crisitiano Lucarelli. At the time, I dismissed the rumor as just that, since the destination was cold and in a faraway, low(ish)-level foreign league, and it was almost impossible for me to imagine Lucarelli playing anywhere outside Italy.

If the internet at work started moving really, really slowly about an hour ago and you wondered what was going on, I have your answer. The day we've been waiting for is here, friends; our collective waiting it is at an end: At long last, the shop at Marco Materazzi's official website is finally open, and people the world over are knocking down its virtual doors.

Roberto Mancini talked to the press this morning after Inter's early training session, and he was so refreshingly frank that you wonder if he didn't perhaps get a bit too much sun while they were in Sardinia last week.

Asked about Adriano's public appreciation of the faith the club has shown by not offloading him this summer (Don't count your chickens yet, Adriano.

Because they've been out playing competitive matches and reaching the final of major(ish) tournaments while the Azzurri have been lying on beaches in posh resorts tanning (or hanging around in various American cities, the weirdos), both Argentina and Brazil have passed Italy in FIFA's World Rankings. The result is that, despite not having dropped a point since the last ranking, Italy dropped two places and are now third in the list, above France, Germany and Holland in that order.

During a press conference yesterday from rainy Korea, Sir Alex Ferguson essentially told the media that he's willing to let Giuseppe Rossi leave the club if the Carlos Tevez deal goes though. In a rare sign of sensitivity, Sir Alex essentially admitted that the logjam at striker for Man U which apparently isn't quite finished yet, as the club have an additional, Milan-style secret target in mind would make it virtually impossible for Rossi and Alan Smith to get a game.

As you may have heard, Real Madrid are back in training. As you may also have heard, Antonio Cassano is sitting on his couch, sucking his thumb and raging against the injustice of life, because he wasn't invited to camp. Wow, has that got to suck. It's one thing to make whining noises, pound your fist and demand a transfer, but it's quite another to have your team respond to those demands with glee, and then leave you sitting at on your butt while they train, even though you've not been sold.

No less authority than The Guardian (bow at its feet, if you please) is saying things this morning that make it sounds a hell of a lot like this Freddie Ljungberg-to-Fiorentina thing really might be happening.

Viola reps were in London yesterday for a formal meeting with Arsenal officials and, though the two teams are still about £1 million apart on a price, discussion are taking place, and it sounds as if there is some room for negotiation.

But, since beggars can't be choosers, this is going to have to do for the moment: Badass Atalanta striker Riccardo Zampagna is facing drunk driving (or, as you Brits would say, "drink driving") charges in Bergamo after driving into a woman riding a moped in the wee hours of Friday night/Saturday morning.*

According to rampant Italian press reports, Zampagna was on his way home from a party (Organized by a group of Atlanta ultras who will now get tshirts printed that say "We party so hard, we got a striker arrested!

I confess to spending much of last season on a sort of inform Pavel Nedved watch, waiting for his inevitable explosions of righteous indignation over any number of offenses to which the world had the audacity to subject him. (Needless to say, he never disappointed.) Happily, the pouting and whining have continued into the off-season, though now it's Juve rather than The System of Football and their Audacious Officials who are bearing the brunt of his wrath.

Barely 48 hours ago, we lit the Bobo Signal in a desperate search for our favorite debauched striker and, lo and behold, he's surfaced! And no, I don't mean on the beach, or at a wildly cool bar none of us could even find, let alone drink in he's in the actual football news and, just maybe, on his way to Rome.

Sadly for Chris and his follow Romanisti, however, the rumor has it that Bobo is headed to the other side of town, where he'll make a Shock!

Really, the news today is nothing but PR crap: Adriano wants 20 goals (great, thanks for sharing), David Suazo never wanted to go anywhere but Inter (as if he'd pledge his love to Milan at this point), and the Tinkerman thinks managing Juve is like driving a Ferrari (super). If you're still awake, here are some bits of news that have actually happened, desperately unexciting though most of them admittedly are:

•Palermo have sold central defender Cesare Bovo to Genoa, yanking him right out from under Torino who had hoped to retain the player, either by extending the loan he was on with them last season, or by buying him outright.

In a conclusion that would be hilarious if it wasn't so infuriatingly pathetic, Roma announced last night (as reported first by Roma King Chris) that Cristian Chivu will see out his contract with the club and then leave on a free next summer. This despite the fact that defender has, in the words of sporting director Daniel Pradè, done "incalculable damage [to] the Roma.

The freaking Sun is gleefully reporting this morning that Manchester City are preparing to outbid Fiorentina for Calvin Klein's favorite footballer (And yes, I will be calling him that for the foreseeable future. Get used to it.), stealing Freddie Ljungberg right out from under our eager noses. According to the article, Man City have already had talks with the player himself, and will offer Arsenal £6 million for his services, apparently enough of an improvement over the Viola offer of £5.

Luis Jimenez has made it clear since summer started that he has no intention of playing for Lazio again, though he's never really explained why God only know what went so wrong in the few months he was there that he couldn't stand to go back. Lucky for Jimenez, though, the club didn't argue and simply left him at home when they went Austria to train this week.

At long last, Vincenzo Montella is going back to Sampdoria, the club he left eight long years ago for stardom with Roma. After spending the second half of last season on loan with Fulham an arrangement that started blazingly well but faltered rather quickly when he struggled to get on the pitch the striker is now returning to the club for whom he scored more than a goal per game during a three-year stay in the mid-late 90s.

For the first part of the summer, we could count on Spurs to pop in whenever there was a big name Serie A player looking to make a move: Whether the English club actually wanted to player or not, the papers in England were eager to associate them with a bid. Shockingly, not one of the rumors has turned out to have even a grain of truth in it, but I suppose hope springs eternal in London.

In yet another brilliant move by the Italian government, a bill to allow certain stewards to CARRY GUNS INSIDE FOOTBALL GROUNDS is awaiting parliamentary approval. Yes, this is really happening.

As you may recall, Italian football officials had a confab late last season with those from England to learn how this whole "steward" thing works.

•Livorno have found themselves another aging striker to replace the dearly departed Cristiano Lucarelli: 31-year-old Diego Tristán, who was released in January by Mallorca for lack of fitness and form. Tristán had some spectacular years with Deportivo and has spent time in the Spanish national team; he's theoretically been working on his fitness, and Livorno are desperately hoping he'll be worth the £470,000 per season they're paying him.

That sad face? Yes, its the injured Jeff Parke. Out of action. *Thanks - Ives Galarcep*

Despite constant rumors that he's going to Real Madrid or world power Manchester City, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is, in fact, in the middle of negotiating a contract extension that will keep him at Inter at least through 2012 and dramatically increase his salary. Or at least, that's what he told Corriere dello Sport yesterday. And, though Zlatan is many things, I don't think he's a liar we can probably safely assume this is really happening.

•Giampaolo Pazzini has extended his contract with Fiorentina for another two years, which means he's now tied to the club through 2011. Eeeeeexcellent.

•Catania have let a little radiation leak scare them off their pre-season tour of Japan. Bunch of freaking babies.

•In their first big signing of the summer, Napoli look to have beaten both Lazio and Atalanta to the signature of Uruguyan midfielder Walter Gargano; the 23-year-old has reportedly agreed to a five-year deal.

Ready for more? The latest is that Real Madrid are willing to loan Mr. Antonio Cassano out to one of a small group of clubs, an arrangement that would see the Spanish side continue to pay a large percentage of his salary reportedly €3 million of the €4.2 million total. Whoa.

It's being reported that Real have approached only Fiorentina, Inter, Milan and Sampdoria with the offer how long will those clubs possibly be able to resist the temptation?

In a move the cynics among us would say was calculated only to please a certain Brazilian midfielder, AC Milan signed Ricky Kaka's kid brother Digão (that's his seemingly self-created effort at being a one-name star his real name is Rodrigo Leite) back in 2004. Needless to say, Digão a defender never played for Milan, and after he left the youth setup he immediately went out on loan to Serie B side Rimini.

In the absence of any new Red Bull news (and since my pregame will be up shortly), here is the AROUND THE LEAGUE report, SuperLiga Edition:

He may be almost comically short and also possessing of a seriously dodgy sense of personal style, but that Fabrizio Miccoli can score. In Palermo's match with Austrian side Kaernten yesterday, the new arrival scored two goals in 45 minutes, leading his team to a 3-1 win; for those of you keeping track, that's a total of five goals in two games.

•I did NOT make that up, by the way. One of the unofficial Fiorentina sites has lost its damn mind.

•After nearly two months of wandering in the transfer desert, temporarily-Roma winger Christian Wilhelmsson has finally found a new home: He's reportedly headed to Bolton on (another) loan from Nantes.

•We'll supposedly know by the middle of next week where Brazilian boy wonder Pato will be playing next year.

Giuseppe over at the Palermo blog dug this up yesterday: A website at SerieA.tv claims it'll stream every Serie A match this season, and requires us to pay less than $100 for the privilege of watching. (Us, in this case, means anyone living in the Americas or Japan, who has a Windows computer.) Um, wow. This sounds so amazing I'm immediately very suspicious wouldn't channels like FSC, Gol TV, and RAI International, which paid for the rights to broadcast Serie A in the US, object to something like this?

With a single sentence on their official website this morning, Milan announced the loan of Ricardo Oliveira to Real Zaragoza; the Spanish club also have the option of buying him at the end of the season, should he stop sucking. I imagine the conclusion of this deal has lead to wild parties in both the Milan offices (There the banner says "Yay, the waste of space is gone!

•Right after Manchester City stepped in to disrupt Fiorentina's approach for Arsenal's Freddie Ljungberg, the Swede's agent told the press that his client would either be staying at Arsenal or moving abroad; out of respect for his club, Ljungberg is apparently set to refuse any moves within England. As the kids would say: ORLY? Arsenal have reportedly refused Fiorentina's initial bid of £5.

According to an interview his agent gave Radio Kiss Kiss (only in Italy could that be the name of a freaking radio station) earlier today, Parma remain the only team to have tabled an official offer from Man United's Guiseppe Rossi. While said agent innocently pretended he was just conveying information, he's clearly trying to get all the teams whose names have been associated with his client currently off enjoying some special, U-21 team time off while his Man U teammates brave storms and earthquakes in Japan to come in with offers, preferably really, really big ones that will make him some coin.

Barcelona have been working all summer to get rid of Ludovic Giuly. It's not that he's not been a useful player for them since arriving from Monaco three years ago, but he's now 31, has a high salary, and is being seen as surplus to requirements in the face of Barca's mass of summer signings.

At first, he was going to (maybe) be part of the Cristian Chivu deal but, after that fell through, Monaco were seen as his most likely destination with Marseille also in the mix.

There's a short (albeit picture-filled, which is nice) interview with Fabio Cannavaro in La Gazzetta today only a single paragraph of which is online and, after reading it, the people at Channel 4 decided the gist of the story was "Cannavaro calls Juve." As a result, they struggled manfully throughout their write-up to make it sound as if Canna was desperate to come home, despite being unable to find quotes to that effect.