Berardi-Juve: annoyed Carnevali shuts the door on Bianconeri

Berardi-Juve: annoyed Carnevali closes door on Bianconeri

Sassuolo CEO Giovanni Carnevali spoke to the microphones of La Gazzetta dello Sport on the Berardi case, closing the door on Juventus: “There was a principle of negotiation, Juve had shown interest in our player and Sassuolo had opened to the sale of Berardi about ten days ago also because Domenico had expressed his liking for the transaction.”

“The reality is that no official proposal has come to me,” admitted the neroverdi’s ad. “When Juve first asked us for Berardi, we only sketched out an economic discourse. Sassuolo made it clear that the player’s valuation was over 30 million, but from our side there was a willingness to listen to an offer from Juve and to find together the right amount and the formula that could satisfy both clubs. We were keen to please Berardi, whom we are very fond of, but we could not neglect the needs of our club, so I had specified to Juve that we would not accept the inclusion of players in the negotiation because we have already changed so much. I thought we would still find a solution and in fact Sassuolo had also identified the replacement to be included in the roster.”

“Sassuolo had given a specific date by which we had to close: August 17,” he stressed, “because on that day our chance to buy Berardi’s replacement expired. I made it clear to Giuntoli and Domenico’s attorneys that we could not exceed that date. But Giuntoli was never heard from again. Basically, no official proposal from Juve came to me. For goodness sake, I understand that they may have made other evaluations and I absolutely do not want to get into the merits of their market operations. It is right that everyone does what they want. But now Sassuolo is taking Berardi off the market.”

“I am very annoyed because on our side there has always been openness and availability,” he added. “We routinely share with our players the proposals that come to us and we try to please them, obviously without neglecting the needs of the club. And it would have been better then to talk first with Sassuolo and then with Berardi’s prosecutors.”

“We accepted that Berardi had found an agreement with Juve and for ten days Domenico has been training separately because he is destined for transfer. He did not play in the Coppa Italia, he will not play in his Serie A debut with Atalanta, but now it is right for Sassuolo to start thinking about their own interests. For us Berardi is fundamental: our championship starts tomorrow, there is no more time to replace him properly. Sassuolo’s strength is planning, we have never closed the doors to anyone, but timing is key and now on my part there is no willingness to reopen negotiations. Giuntoli and the prosecutors could not have failed to understand that I would have reasoned about everything, but that on the timing I was peremptory. I had shown great understanding in broaching the subject of Berardi’s transfer in late August, but beyond the 17th you just could not go,” Carnevali concluded.