Soccer Globe

Carl Valeri’s dream of landing a Serie A contract is stuck in a holding pattern while Grosseto await a big money offer for their Australian midfielder.

Canberra-born Valeri has been targeted as a potential new season signing by Serie A sides Cagliari, Reggina, and Lecce but Grosseto president Piero Camilli refuses to let his prized asset take flight for a discount price.

And, in an unusual gesture in modern football, Valeri claims he’s happy to stay with the Serie B club if a fair deal is not forthcoming from top-flight suitors.

“My dream is to play in Serie A and hopefully it will come sooner rather than later,” Valeri told The World Game. “But Grosseto believed in me from the start and pushed me a long way. I get on very well with our president and he is very honest but business is business.

“I don’t think he’s holding me back in any way. I don’t think any clubs would let players go for free.

They’re just waiting for the right offer. It has pretty much just come down to that.”

Valeri, whose current deal expires in 2010, has been with Grosseto since 2005 and played a key role in the Tuscan club’s rise from Serie C boondocks to the battlegrounds of Serie B.

Cagliari’s genuine interest in the 23-year-old Socceroo is led by the Sardinian club’s coach, Massimiliano Allegri.

“He was the coach who initially brought me to Grosseto,” Valeri explained. “He knows me very well, and rates me as a player, so there’s interest from that end. But the coach often doesn’t get his own way in Italy.

There are a lot of other people involved in the decisions to buy players. You don’t know how much real interest there is in you until money has been offered.”

With two weeks until the transfer window closes, Valeri refuses to throw a temper tantrum to secure a cheap release and, instead, said he’s happy to suit up for another season with Grosseto.

“This club has been fantastic to me so I can’t complain,” he said. “The new coaching staff is fantastic. I feel I’m an important part of the team. If I do have to stay another season then it is not the end of the world.

Serie B is a fantastic league and it gives you great exposure. Hopefully, I can repeat my performance from last year and have another good season, hopefully even better.

“It is a waste of time getting distracted thinking about a transfer. I’m no use to the team or my team-mates if I am thinking about going.

It all comes down to being professional. I’ve been here a long time and it’s disrespectful to everybody if I go about it any other way.

“For me, the way I was brought up, this is the only way to approach the situation. I’m not stressing about it. Either way, I have a contract.”