[m1ke]

Milan, primo contatto con Cicinho: sara' lui l'erede di Cafu
Gio 04 Ago, 4:33 PM

Cicinho potrebbe essere l'erede di Cafu in tutti i sensi. Ne sta infatti prendendo il posto in Nazionale, potrebbe prenderne il posto anche al Milan che lo ha adocchiato da tempo. Il difensore brasiliano sta inoltre ultimando le pratiche per acquisire la cittadinanza italiana e avere un passaporto comunitario lo facilitera' parecchio nelle varie trattative di mercato. Il sudamericano sara' presto a Roma per ritirare il suo nuovo passaporto, quindi andra' a Milano dove ad attenderlo ci sara' il direttore generale Ariedo Braida che punta ad averlo gia' per gennaio. Il San Paolo, la squadra nella quale Cicinho attualmente milita, vanta una clausola rescissoria di 15 milioni, ma alla fine potrebbe anche accontentarsi della meta'

Rough translation: Cicinho most possibly has been granted an Italian passport, he should then travel to Milano, where he will be greeted by Ariedo Braida and possibly will join Milan as soon as January. His release clause is 15 MLN Euros, according to the above listed rumour, Sao Paolo could accept 7.5 MLN.

[kdman]

I hope it is true. We really need a 'younger" cover for Cafu. But now that CA has confirmed he would give Janku a role on the right, who knows?

What's the source of the story? Hope it's not tribalfootball.com (IMG:http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[amancik]

yeah ... I know why u say tribalfootball.com ... cuz mostly they news are just stupid rumours ...

[Demetrio]

Signing Cicinho in January would be ideal.

[kdman]

According to skysports.com Cicinho has opted to stay at Sao Paulo until after the world cup. It would have been wonderful if he could join us in January but apparently he is thinking of his place in the NT. He can only be Cafu's sub if he joined Milan now and this may affect his chances in the Brazilian world cup squad.

[m1ke]

Hey kdman. We started to discuss this here actually - http://www.milanfan.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=186

I don't think I can blame him for wanting to wait until after the World Cup. He's got a lot to prove, and to do that he's going to need first team football.

[kdman]

Hey kdman. We started to discuss this here actually...

Sorry, I have not logged on for two days so I just stumbled on the news today.

Yeah, one can't really blame him. In my selfish thinking if he were to join in January, he would understudy Cafu for the half season remaining and sort of 'take over' next season. (IMG:http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[m1ke]

Don't be sorry! I was just pointing it out (IMG:http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[kdman]

And now this from soccernet.com: Pretty confusing, isn't it?

£8m Cicinho flies into Old Trafford

Manchester United have opened talks with Brazilian international Cicinho, according to The Mirror.

The Sao Paulo defender flew into Manchester by private jet on Wednesday night to discuss a move to Old Trafford.

The 25-year-old right-back impressed during Brazil's recent Confederations Cup victory and has been earmarked by coach Carlos Alberto Parreira to replace ageing skipper Cafu.

Cicinho, full name Cicero Joao De Cezare, has an £8 million release cause and that would be the price United, and new owners the Glazers, would have to pay.

The Brazilian's trip to Manchester appears something of a u-turn after expressing a wish to sign for Milan only days ago.

'I want to play in Italy," he told Gazzetta dello Sport. 'It has been my dream since I was a child.

'I would like to join Milan. They are the strongest side in Europe. But there are also Inter and Juventus and I often speak to Adriano and Emerson about them.'

Cicinho's arrival will put a question mark over Gary Neville's automatic place in the United team, although the England right-back can also fill in at the heart of the back-line.

Meanwhile, Ruud van Nistelrooy has predicted Manchester United team-mates Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo will eventually dominate the world game.

At 29, van Nistelrooy is by far the elder statesman in an attacking trio Sir Alex Ferguson hopes will steer the Red Devils back to the pinnacle of the English game this season.

All three men found the target in United's 3-0 triumph over Debrecen on Tuesday, which virtually guaranteed the Old Trafford men their usual place in the Champions League group stages.

With 37 goals in 40 European games and 127 overall for the Red Devils since his £18.5million move from PSV Eindhoven four years ago, van Nistelrooy has already propelled himself into the list of all-time United greats.

But, after getting a unique view of the talent Rooney and Ronaldo possess, the prolific Dutchman has no hesitation in predicting his young team-mates will hit even greater heights if they keep progressing at the present rate.

'In a few years, those two will be dominating world football,' said van Nistelrooy in an exclusive MUTV phone-in.

'They have such incredible quality. They are ahead of anyone in their world in their age group.

'Not only have they performed at the highest level domestically, they have also done it for their countries as well.'

All three men were stand-out performers during Euro 2004 and will expect to have the same impact during next summer's World Cup.

And for van Nistelrooy, the amazement comes not from what Rooney and Ronaldo have done but, at just 19 and 20 respectively, what they still have the time to do.

'They are so young, there is so much more time for them to improve,' he said.

'They can just get better and stronger every year. It is a fantastic feeling to play with great players and that is what they are.'

While van Nistelrooy is predicting golden futures for Rooney and Ronaldo, he is also aware the biggest concern for United fans, and new owner Malcolm Glazer, is what lies ahead this season.

And the good news from the Old Trafford camp is, just 90 minutes into the new campaign, van Nistelrooy can already see signs this season will show a big improvement on last term's relatively poor scoring return.

'The combination between myself, Wayne and Cristiano is working well,' he said.

'We had the opportunity to work really hard on it in pre-season and we have developed a good link.

'Hopefully we can keep going with that, which will allow us to get even better.'

[m1ke]

Yeah I just saw that! They're just trying to make up stories in my opinion, there are no quotes from either Cicinho or Ferguson.

[yourfavoritemuse]

Hmm. It does sound plausible, though, for Manchester to be interested...although RB is not one of their more pressing issues. Hehe some fans on the BigSoccer forums were having a laugh, though, about Cicinho replacing Cafu on Milan/Brazil:

Does he have some sort of personal vendetta against Cafu??? "I will take your club spot. I will take your international spot. You will never play again!!!!"

(IMG:http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)
Apparently Sao Paolo has strong ties to ManU, so if their interest is real, then we might have real opposition.

[Milan Are Brilli...]

Sao Paolo have denied reports of Cicinho going to Manchester United.

Goal.com

[amancik]

well ... we are in the lead at the moment ... that's a good thing ...

[m1ke]

well ... we are in the lead at the moment ... that's a good thing ...

Yes (IMG:http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/cool.gif)

[m1ke]

Hmm, the rumours about Cicinho going to Utd are getting stronger. I don't understand why he would choose them instead of us!

I don't mean that disrespectfully to Utd fans, but he'd fit in well with Milan in my opinion.