The return of Nedved?

A few weeks ago I posted a tribute to former Lazio and Juventus ace Pavel Nedved who had announced his retirement from the game. Nedved has always been an exciting talent even at the grand old age of 36 and his performances for Juve last season were still top class, indeed he often covered more ground than players well over five years his junior.

It would seem as if the Czech’s career may not be over though. His agent, Mino Raiol, has stated he will try and convince the veteran schemer to continue and now rumours have circled linking him with a return to Lazio.

“I will do all I can to have him continue. He should not be ending yet. He is in the same shape as he was when he became Europe’s player of the year.” Raiol told Deniksport.cz earlier in June.

At first I dismissed this as agent talk and general rumour mongering. However, the rumours have increased about a return to Serie A and it would seem perhaps we have not seen the last of the former Ballon d’Or winner.

Despite his position as one of the more senior members of the Old Lady last season Nedved still managed to play in 29 games (his season was ended in March with an injury) and scored a decent seven goals.

At the moment we’re still waiting to hear from the man himself, so I wouldn’t go betting on him stepping out onto a pitch somewhere next season just yet.

I’m fairly confident he could still perform at the highest level personally. I wouldn’t go as far as Raiol and say he is still at his best but his form is still pretty good and he was an important cog in the Juve machine last season. At 36 there will always be questions over his fitness but Nedved was never a player who relied too heavily on pace. His awareness and passing ability are perhaps his best attributes, as well as a vicious strike, and he was always worth an online football bet for anytime scorer in the big games. Needless to say, I for one would love it if he gave us one more season.