Palermo focuses on defense: Ferrari offered two-year contract with option for third

Last Updated: June 22, 2024

Il Palermo concentrato sulla difesa: per Ferrari pronto un contratto biennale con opzione per il terzo anno

Defensive reshuffle. The Palermo defense is currently the department where there appear to be more movements in progress, obviously without neglecting or forgetting the others. After a great start, in the past season, the defense has been questioned several times, although it must be considered that for large stretches it was not complete due to the injuries that Lucioni and Ceccaroni had to deal with. Condemning the department, or perhaps better to say more generally the way of defending by the team, are the numbers: too many of the 53 goals conceded by Palermo, the fourth worst defense of the entire tournament, with only three teams that did worse, namely Pisa (54), Feralpisalò (65) and Lecco (74), with the latter two even relegated.

Among the negotiations, the most accredited at the moment is the one that sees Gian Marco Ferrari’s arrival in the Rosanero, whose contract with Sassuolo will expire at the end of the month. Experienced defender born in 1992 who in the last seven seasons has been one of Sassuolo’s key players in the top flight with consistently important performances, in addition to the great charisma and leadership that have led him to become the captain of the neroverdi. A high-profile profile on which the Rosanero club wants to rely, aware that for the category he is an absolute level player, given his 255 appearances in Serie A, embellished with 12 goals and 9 assists. The negotiation to bring it to Sicily is well underway, although the competition is not lacking, especially from teams that will play in the top flight next year, such as newly promoted Parma, Como and Venice and especially Cagliari. In Serie B, Cremonese is pushing, defeated by Venice in the playoff final. But Ferrari’s name is also linked to his former team, Sampdoria, which was eliminated from the playoffs by Palermo and now hopes to do better and fight for promotion to Serie A. What could make a difference is the presence in Palermo of Alessio Dionisi, coach that Ferrari had in Emilia for almost three seasons.

For this reason, Palermo has decided to take a first step, offering the player a two-year contract with an option for renewal for the third year. Dionisi himself would have already taken action to convince the defender to choose Sicily. Ferrari’s possible arrival could open up the possibility that Lucioni might leave the team after just one season. Of course, nothing certain, but in the hypothesis in which the former Sassuolo were to find an agreement with the club on Viale del Fante, a dense competition would arise in the defensive department, where in addition to him and Lucioni, there is also Ceccaroni, who represents – instead – one of the cornerstones. Lucioni, who arrived last summer in Rosanero, missed almost four months due to injury and could now be tempted by the prospect of a two-year contract with another team, considering that his identity card indicates 1987 and he will turn 37 on September 25.

If he were to stay, he could become one of the pillars of Dionisi’s team along with Ferrari, but at the moment the situation could take any kind of turn, both in one sense and the other. Also because the number 5 Rosanero has already attracted the attention of some Serie B teams, intending to include a reliable player like him in the team. Among the teams that have included him in their radar is Spezia, a club in which Nikolaou also plays, who could be of interest to the Rosanero, taking into account that the economic evaluations of the two players are different.

In the squad there is also Nedelcearu, in addition to the young Peda. The Romanian, currently in Germany with his National Team for the European Championships, in the just concluded tournament has shown that he can still be a useful player. When called upon, he always responded.