Udinese Raids Portugal!
While on vacation in Portugal, Udinese Calcio chairman Chef Boyardee saw the high quality of players plying their trade in the Portuguese Liga NOS. He flew in his chief scout, Andrea Carnevale, and plans were hatched to take advantage of this gold mine of bargains on the edge of Europe. Up first came the "Big Three" of Portuguese football: Porto, Sporting, and Benfica. The scouts found several solid players for the future, but have decided against pursuing any players, due to Porto's disgusting behaviour in transfer negotiations. We then moved onto Benfica, searching for players deemed surplus to their requirements. After extensive research, scouting, and transfer negotiations, the club has purchased Peruvian attacking midfielder André Carrillo. With years playing in Europe and consistently playing in the world's toughest continental world cup qualifiers, CONMEBOL, Boyardee believes that Carrillo can add that extra bit of experience, flair and quality on the wing, given that the attack last season looked toothless without Kevin Lasagna.
The second player purchased from Portugal is from Sporting Lisbon. Gélson Dala, an Angolan striker with 19 goals in 30 caps for his country, is a quick and technical striker simply rotting in the reserves. At 22 years of age, Boyardee believes that his best years are ahead of him, and he could become a clinical finisher at the Stadio Friuli.
Finally, we went to perennial fourth place finishers, Braga. Granted, there was a step down in quality between Braga and the Big Three clubs. Nevertheless, we saw plenty of potential Udinese stars of the future. Bruno Alexandre Vieria Almeida, commonly known as "Xadas" is a 20 year old Attacking midfielder capable of playing on either wings, in the 10 role, deeper in centre midfield, or as a right midfielder. His versatility, ability, and experience at the international level (20 U21 caps for Portugal with 7 goals) made us think that he, along with Carrillo could add some venom to the rather tame Udinese attack.
Outside of Portugal defender Luiz Felipe was signed from fellow Serie A club, Lazio. We believe that with more minutes on the pitch, he could become a staple of the Udinese defence for years to come, given he is only 22 years old.
Chairman Boyardee has also announced that 3 players under the age of 18 have been signed to Udinese in an effort to plan for the clubs long-term future. Furthermore, he has also stated that other transfers are in the works and another transfer announcement could be coming soon. The transfer list remains the same:
Kevin Lasagna (CAM/ST) - 10 million [can also play on both wings]
Edenilson (RB/WB/RM/MC) - 4.5 million
Strygger Larsen (RB, LB) - Free
Orestis Karnezis (GK) - Free
Emanuele Rovini (ST) - Free
Simone Scuffet (GK) - Loan
Alex Meret (GK) - Loan
Filip Vasko (CB) - Loan