Remember that time when Arturo Vidal heading to Manchester United rumors dominated the news cycle? At least it completely owned the English Premier League transfer rumors for an entire summer? Well, it never materialized, and a couple days ago Vidal claimed that he didn’t know anything about all the hoopla. Total rubbish, I don’t buy that B.S. for a second, but moving on to Vidal’s exploits.
It appears that his current team, Juventus, is going to fine him for his debauched exploits off the pitch.
The Italian media have been circulating photos of Vidal at a Turin night club the night before a crucial Serie A match against Roma. Now the club is set to fine the midfielder 100,000 Euros.
“Vidal is the typical South American player,” Juve club administrator, Giuseppe Marotta said to Italian TV channel Rai Sport. “The history of football is full of these types of stories.”
“(Former Juventus great and Argentina international Omar) Sivori was one of them, so was (ex-Inter Milan and Argentina star Antonio) Angelillo and many others.
“South Americans are like that. They live certain situations in their own way, they have a way to celebrate and to enjoy themselves.”
So they are definitely trying to play this down as a “boys will be boys” kind of thing.
“We just have to keep him (Vidal) at bay and control him. From a football standpoint, we cannot say anything. A fine of 100,000 euros ($126,000)? Perhaps it’s not enough,” he continued.
Obviously, the 27-year-old Chilean is a world class player; who would add quite a bit to Manchester United’s side. However, the sticker price was very high. When you consider this latest development, the issue of his fitness with his knee, plus the outrageous purchase price, maybe it isn’t so bad that United missed out on Arturo Vidal. At least, he’s not someone you want to overpay for.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and very often writes The Sports Bank.net ,which is partners with Fox Sports. Read his features stories in the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. Listen to him on 1620 The Zone. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks). His work has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including The Washington Post and ESPN 2