By: Francesco
There was a time when Christian Vieri was arguably the best striker in the world. He was a goalscoring machine and would hit the back of the net regularly in Serie A and with the national team. Although after a couple of years at the top, “Il Mostro” (The monster) as he was nicknamed by Inter fans, went througha steep decline and was not the player he once was. After an ok season at Fiorentina last year with highs and lows, Vieri signed for Atalanta, a club he was familiar with, having played with them in 1995/96 and 2006/2007. At the start of the season it looked like Vieri would have a good year and looked reborn to a certain extent, but as usual injuries caught up with him and he only made 9 appearances, scoring 2 goals. He also didn’t really have the fans behind him, as many felt he was finished and shouldn’t have been signed in the summer. The frustrating injury troubles finally got to Bobo and he mutually terminated his contract with the black and blue club from Bergamo. He gave a brief statement thanking Atalanta for all of their support throughout the season but that was it. No comments about his future. At the age of 35, there aren’t many options left for Vieri. He can try his luck again in Serie A (but the amount of teams interested in him will be a very small number), drop down to the lower level of Serie B (maybe a Tuscan team like Grosseto would interest him, seeing as he lives in Prato, but I doubt he would want to go to Serie B), or try his luck abroad in a less competitive league like MLS or Australia’s A-League. The MLS could be an attractive option, as Vieri is a big fan of the United States and owns a home in Miami and speaks fluent English, but he would probably only accept a move to a big market like New York or Los Angeles, and they probably don’t have a Designated Player spot to use. Australia is an option as well, as Bobo spent his childhood in the land down under and his brother Massimiliano has represented the Aussies at the international level. So what lies in Vieri’s future? Only time will tell. I wouldn’t bet on him retiring though, I really think we will see Bobogol on the pitch somewhere next season, but we just don’t know where yet.
Source:
http://italy.theoffside.com