Juve Pull Out Of Ivanovic Race

Juventus are reported to have dropped their interest in highly coveted Lokomotiv Moscow defender Branislav Ivanovic. The top-rated Serbian defender, who was one of the stars of the European Under-21 Championships in Holland during the summer, has been heavily linked with Juventus since several months, but today Controcampo have pulled out of negotiations due to his ‘excessive’ salary demands.

Should the news of Juve’s pull-out be substantiated, it will be treated as a significant development by the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, AC Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid, who have all been credited with a serious interest in the 23-year-old.

Ivanovic, who specializes in left-back but can play anywhere along the defense, has a termination clause in his contract of €15m, which means that if a big club puts in a bid of this figure, then Lokomotiv are powerless to stop him from leaving.

Juventus are now expected to devote their total attention to securing a deal for Aston Villa defender Olof Mellberg.

www.goal.com - 26/12/2007 02:06