Torino President Cairo drops big Ricci sale hint for summer

Samuele Ricci (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images)

Torino President Urbano Cairo admits he will need to ‘sell one or two’ big players this summer, as clubs circulate around Italy international Samuele Ricci.

The patron is celebrating his 68^th birthday today and spoke to radio programme ‘Un Giorno da Pecora’ on RAI Radio Uno.

It was put to him that quite a few of the Toro fans would not be wishing him well, considering his unpopularity among certain segments of the ultras movement and tifosi in general.

“That is probably because we had to make a sale last summer that didn’t go down very well, then it all escalated from there,” said Cairo.

Torino fans will be furious if Ricci leaves

He was largely referring to the exit of captain and Italy international defender Alessandro Buongiorno, who was sold to Napoli and is now on the verge of winning the Serie A title with his new club.

“We brought in some great players in January, like Cesare Casadei from Chelsea. Toro fans remember their great past and would like better results, but don’t like to recall what it was like before I got here,” added Cairo.

His popularity is not going to get any better with the hint that the next big sale for the summer will be midfielder Ricci.

The President was pressed specifically on the fate of the 23-year-old, who was signed from Empoli in January 2022.

“I don’t want to talk about any specific names on the transfer market, but clearly, we will sell one or two players this summer. Everyone sells them, even Inter, Atalanta or Bologna. What matters is having a scouting network able to replace those you sell with a similar level,” added Cairo.

Ricci is wanted by numerous clubs, including Milan and Inter, while Napoli, Roma and sides in the Premier League like Manchester City have also made approaches in recent months.

There is a curious issue going into the final round of the season on Sunday, as Torino are up against Roma, who are in a position to steal fourth place from Toro’s bitter rivals Juventus.

Could some of their more hardcore fans be hoping the Granata lose to Roma if it will hurt Juve?

“I don’t think that’s true, we want to put in the best possible performance. Our objective is to do our best.”