It seems Matteo Sereni's cash row with Sampdoria is to set to go to court. Back in November we reported that Sampdoria had claimed the keeper demanded more that £2 million from Town before he would to move to England, something Sereni denied.
Samp said that they had then stumped up the cash as they needed the player to move for the sake of their financial situation. Now it appears that money has gone upaid.
Sampdoria owner Enrico Mantovani said at a November financial meeting that Sereni was not keen on a move to Portman Road, but had changed his mind when he was offered the large cash settlement: "We needed to sell Sereni, but he didn't agree immediately to go to England. He wanted money from Ipswich to play in Premier League. But Ipswich refused, so Sampdoria promised £2-3 million."
This figure appears to have been £2.4 million with the fee Town paid now emerging as £4.8 millon, a club record.
Sereni's lawyer Stefano Piovani, speaking back in November, denied that he refused to join Town: "That Sereni refused to go to Ipswich is not true. He thought leaving Italy could damage his career. So he wanted to go to another Italian club even if that meant earning less money than at Sampdoria, where he still had three years left on a contract worth £5 million. But Sampdoria insisted he went to Ipswich and offered him a sum of money. Sereni accepted because he was forced to by Enrico Mantovani."
Now it is reported that Sereni never received the money from Sampdoria and he is ready to go to court to get the cash from his old club. The keeper says that his lawyer is dealing with the dispute: "I'm happy now at Ipswich and my lawyer is dealing with this matter. It is something that sometimes happens in football. I still have a lot of friends at Sampdoria, I enjoyed my time there but this is business."
It appears that Sereni came close to joining Fiorentina while negotiations were ongoing with Town, a move that the keeper appeared to favour as it was a switch to a Serie A club and one which was more likely to lead to selection for the Italian national side.
According to Piovani he was willing to accept a smaller deal than the £5 million over three years he eventually signed at Town: "My client immediately refused the move to Ipswich as it would be damaging to his career. Despite this Sampdoria insisted on closing the deal with Ipswich, offering an extra cash incentive to the player and Sereni accepted under pressure from President Enrico Mantovani."
Sereni has been a popular signing since he joined the Blues in August and has been the star of many a game as the Blues failed to hit league form in the early period of the season.
He was left out at Dagenham and Redbridge at the weekend, although manager George Burley has repeatedly said that this was just to give him a rest.