Agnelli calls for reform

Although Italy were runners-up to Spain in Euro 2012 this year, clubs have struggled in Europe in the last two seasons as top talent has drained away from a Serie A riddled by scandals, dilapidated stadiums and a lack of investment.

"We have to ask ourselves what Italian football will be like in a few years' time," Agnelli told the club's shareholders at a meeting in Turin.

"Many nations have experienced a decline but none have had such a sudden collapse. We are seeing a complete structural collapse and it can't just be explained away as being part of the financial crisis.

"Football is evolving and it won't wait for Italy. That is a fatal presumption."

Agnelli was speaking after an especially poor week in European club competition for the six Italian teams involved.

In the Champions League, beleaguered AC Milan lost 1-0 at Malaga while Juventus needed a late goal to force a 1-1 draw with Danish newcomers Nordsjaelland in Copenhagen.

Of the four teams in the Europa League, only Inter Milan won but they needed a late goal to beat Partizan Belgrade 1-0.

Lazio drew 1-1 at Panathinaikos while Udinese lost 3-1 at Young Boys and Napoli were beaten by the same score at Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk with both defeated sides drawing media criticism for fielding weakened teams.

Italy lost its fourth Champions League place to Germany this season and Udinese, third in Serie A last term, failed to get through qualifying only two years after Inter lifted the trophy.

"Club presidents, the media and general observers ask us if we support this or that candidate to lead Serie A or the Football Federation (FIGC)," Agnelli continued.

"Unfortunately, no one asks what needs to be done to fulfil these two important roles.

"Who does Juve support? We support a structural reform of professional football ... those who don't condemn Italy to being marginalised in Europe and the world.

"Reform of the league, the number of professional clubs and the youth sector. Reform of the status of professional sports, currently governed by a law from 1981 - trademark protection, stadium regulations.

"Comprehensive reform of sporting justice, which cannot deal with investments worth millions of euros as though they were a dispute in a local sports club."

Agnelli, who has been outspoken about the ban handed to Juve manager Antonio Conte for failing to report match-fixing, also spoke out in favor of clubs balancing their books, saying that Italian football was in danger of being left behind.

Giving his backing to UEFA's Financial Fair Play program which demands that clubs live within their means, he said: "Our first objective was to change the club and the team.

"In two years we have forged ahead but winning the title means we must not forget our mandate, which is to win while maintaining a balanced financial position in order to give ourselves prospects for the future.

"Juventus have always promoted the principle of change in the world of football. There is a need for change in Italian football to put it at the level of the rest of Europe."

Juventus, who won the Serie A title last season without losing a match having recovered from a 2006 match-fixing demotion, are unbeaten in their last 47 league matches dating back to the final game of the 2010-11 season.

They will be looking to stretch the run at seventh-placed Catania on Sunday. Milan hold the record for an unbeaten Serie A streak at 58 matches from 1991-93.

Quagliarella with Juventus amid Roma speculation

Juventus striker Fabio Quagliarella has dismissed suggestions that he is interested in moving to Roma. He has scored three goals in seven appearances for the Old Lady so far this season but was excluded from the line-up for the Champions League match against Nordsjaelland on Tuesday night, heightening conjecture that he could be set to be included in a potential swap-deal with Roma's Pablo Osvaldo.

The 29-year-old was quoted as saying earlier this week that he wants to work with Roma coach Zdenek Zeman.

"I want to explain that my words have been misinterpreted," he wrote on his official Facebook page. "I responded to a question about Zeman like any other player.

"He is a coach who preaches an attacking brand of football that allows all of his forwards to express themselves in a good light.

"But I have no intention of leaving Turin. It is a fantastic city, I'm happy here with Juventus, a club with whom I have won things with."

Quagliarella who joined Juventus from Napoli in 2010, appears to have fallen out of favour with national coach Cesare Prandelli and also finds his Juventus position under threat from Sebastian Giovinco, Alessandro Matri and Mirko Vucinic.

Del Piero set for 800th game

Italian superstar Alessandro Del Piero will play his 800th professional game on Sunday, admitting he never dreamed of reaching such a landmark.

The 37-year-old former Juventus legend has impressed in all three games he has played for his new club Sydney FC, including scoring the winner against Western Sydney last weekend.

Piero said he was grateful to still be performing. "I'm not 100 percent, definitely," he told reporters after training on Wednesday. "But I'm feeling good because I'm training every day and this is important."

Del Piero has spent 19 seasons with Juventus, two with Padova as a youngster and played 91 internationals for Italy, with his fourth appearance for Sydney this Sunday against Perth Glory taking him to 800 matches.

He said he never dreamed of playing so many games.

"If I'm honest, no, but I'm happy it will happen here,"  Del Piero said of the milestone. 

"It (800 games) is a long time. I'm happy to be here and I broke a lot of records in Italy. Now I start here."

"When I played my first game, I was really happy -- it was enough," he added. "I was 18 and I didn't know what would happen with the future. I had a lot of dreams and a lot of them have happened and I'm lucky for that."

Juventus march on

Ambitious Serie A champions Juventus will be looking to maintain their 100 percent start to the season in an away match at Genoa which is the first of an impressive run of seven in 23 days. Antonio Conte's side is aiming for four trophies this season and while recently acquiring Denmark international Nicklas Bendtner, the "Old Lady of Turin" has eyes for a striker with arguably more to offer.

Juventus's trip to Genoa will be short, but next week they travel to Chelsea and then face Cheivo, Fiorentina and Roma before hosting Shakhtar in Europe and then league minnows Siena in early October.

It is no wonder the club's director general, Beppe Moratto, is intent on bolstering a squad some observers feel has a real chance in Europe this season.

"If there's one Italian side that can excel in the Champions League this season it's Juventus," Gianluca Vialli, who won the trophy with Juve and also played with their group rivals Chelsea, told Tuttosport in midweek.

Spain international Fernando Llorente of Athletic Bilbao remains Juve's main target, especially as Fiorentina have included an "anti-Juve" clause in the contract of their Montenegrin international Stevan Jovetic.

Moratta said: "He (Jovetic) could be a very useful player for us, but it will be up to Fiorentina to decide his future."

Whether Bendtner will get a chance for Juventus soon remains to be seen, although Moratta says the former Arsenal man has impressed Conte in training. "The first judgment of Conte is very positive," he added.

Juventus are one of only four teams – along with Napoli, Lazio and Sampdoria – to have won their first two games of the season.

It means the other title favourites, AC Milan and Inter, need three points this weekend if they are to keep the pressure on the Turin giants. Milan will be hoping striker Giampaolo Pazzini, who scored a hat-trick in a 3-1 win over Bologna a fortnight ago, shakes off a knock he received in training Thursday.

If Pazzini is given the all-clear, Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri could decide to give new signing Bojan Krcic, the Spanish international who arrived from Barcelona, a run-out with the Italy international. A fitness test on Friday should determine whether Allegri decides to risk Pazzini three days ahead of Milan's Champions League group stage opener against Anderlecht.

Milan are already missing Robinho, Alexandre Pato, Riccardo Montolivo and Ignazio Abate but the good news is that midfielder Kevin Prince Boateng is set to play with a newly-fitted arm brace following surgery on a fractured hand bone last week.

San Siro rivals Inter make the short trip to Torino looking to make up for their stunning home defeat to a Francecso Totti-inspired Roma two weeks ago.

Inter coach Andrea Stramaccioni, however, could will be without Rodrigo Palacio after he picked up a knock playing for Argentina in midweek.

Antonio Cassano, who scored Inter's goal in the 3-1 reverse to Roma, is expected to play in support of Argentinian striker Diego Milito with Dutchman Wesley Sneijder providing the service to the attacking duo.

Roma, who sit fifth, host Bologna at the Olympic Stadium looking to replicate the performance which humbled Inter two weeks ago.

Bologna are one of seven teams, the others being Cagliari, Udinese, Palermo, Pescara, Atalanta and Siena, who have yet to win.

Napoli and Lazio will be expected to maintain their perfect start with games respectively against Parma and Chievo.

Fixtures:

Saturday

Palermo v Cagliari
AC Milan v Atalanta

Sunday

Chievo v Lazio
Napoli v Parma
Genoa v Juventus
Pescara v Sampdoria
Roma v Bologna
Fiorentina v Catania
Siena v Udinese
Torino v Inter

The Swiss Ramble: UEFA's FFP Regulations - Play To Win

So the transfer window is finally over after the customary twists and turns and, as always, has raised some intriguing question... more here>>>  The Swiss Ramble: UEFA's FFP Regulations - Play To Win

Juventus looking sign Theo Walcott

It has been reported that Juventus are plotting to test Arsenal's resolve to keep Theo Walcott by tabling a £10m offer for the winger.

The 23-year-old has entered the last 12 months of his contract after snubbing a long-term deal worth £75,000 a week.

Could he be Marotta's next signing?

Arsenal are unwilling to meet Walcott's demands for £100,000 a week and Italian giants Juventus are ready to make a fresh move to beat off interest from Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea.

The Gunners decided not to sell Walcott before the transfer deadline after the England international told manager Arsene Wenger he wanted to stay at the Emirates.  An insider was quoted in as saying: 'Juve have been interested in Walcott for some time but we are coming to the decisive moment.

Drogba rejected offer from Juventus worth more than £4million

Didier Drogba rejected a deadline day offer from Juventus worth more than £4million a year to stay in China. There has been intense speculation over Drogba’s future at Shanghai Shenhua since a dispute between the club’s owners became public last week.

The Ivory Coast international, who left Chelsea as a free agent in the summer, agreed a contract worth £200,000 a week but Shanghai’s chairman Zhu Jun threatened to stop paying the striker’s salary unless the club increased his stake to 70 per cent.

Juventus tested the 34-year-old’s resolve to stay there, with sources in France claiming he was offered a two-year contract on the final day of the transfer window which would have made him their second highest paid player behind Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.

The Serie A champions were prepared to pay him around £76,000-a-week, plus a bonus of £400,000 if he played in 70 per cent of matches.

However, Drogba rejected the deal so Juventus signed Nicklas Bendtner on loan from Arsenal, only to publicly admit that the Dane was not their first choice.

Drogba is on international duty ­preparing for Ivory Coast’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Senegal tomorrow but significantly wrote a ­message to Shanghai’s supporters on his personal weibo account earlier this week. He said: “Hello to the fans. I am in the Ivory Coast for the African Cup of Nations eliminator. See you soon.”