Bologna on ‘tying Thiago Motta to a chair’ and keeping Zirkzee

Bologna CEO Claudio Fenucci admits he would like to ‘tie Thiago Motta to a chair,’ but keeping the coach might not be possible, while Joshua Zirkzee ‘controls his own destiny’ amid Milan and Arsenal links.

The Rossoblu play their final home game of the season this evening against Juventus.

It kicks off at the Stadio Dall’Ara at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT).

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from that match and Salernitana–Verona on the LIVEBLOG.

They are in the mood to celebrate after securing Champions League qualification and now go head-to-head with Juve for third place.

“I arrived 10 years ago and we were in Serie B, so this work has taken us to unthinkable results, as nobody could’ve predicted the Champions League,” Fenucci told reporters at the USSI event in Coverciano.

“It will be difficult to improve upon this, but we want to maintain a strong presence in Italian football and have a strong owner who allows us to invest.”

The patron is Italian-Canadian businessman Joey Saputo, who also owns MLS club the Montreal Impact.

Thiago Motta keeps Bologna waiting

However, coach Thiago Motta will be out of contract on June 30 and is widely expected to take over at Juventus next season.

“I would like to tie him to a chair, but it’s not that easy. We’ll talk tomorrow or the day after tomorrow about the future and see what he says. Our desire would be to continue together, we’ll see,” replied Bologna chief Fenucci.

Bologna fully intend to maintain most of their squad and bring in reinforcements following Champions League qualification, but when it comes to Milan and Arsenal target Zirkzee, that is more complicated.

“We have such a strong owner that he will allow us to continue without selling anyone. The only player who controls his own destiny is Zirkzee, as there are clauses in his contract, but we will try over the next few weeks to keep him too.”

It had been reported that the €40m release clause was only valid for his old club Bayern Munich, but instead it can be activated by anyone.