Fantasy Football Management

'RAVA' IN RETIREMENT U-TURN

by Mark Chang for PMF News

Derby County captain Fabrizio Ravanelli this afternoon made a surprise U-turn on his decision to retire from professional football at the end of the season.

Ravanelli, 34 in December this year, announced via a press statement that he will be staying on at the club for 'at least another year' after PMF House sanctioned his turnaround. It was thought that Rams manager Damian Rix was upset with his captain's decision to retire, and just days after Ravanelli announced that he would retire, attempted to hijack the decision by making an official move to the PMF Board.

Drastic measures - such as the one which saw retiring teammate Alan Kimble dumped from the squad - will not be taken against Ravanelli after he announced that he will stay on at Pride Park. It is rumoured that the 'White Feather' has indeed been given a hefty pay rise, up to around £35,000 per week base wage.

"I am delighted that this whole ordeal is over and I can get back to playing football," Ravanelli said in his statement. "Losing in the PMF Cup Semi-Final against Manchester City hurt, and I didn't want to go out of the game that I love on such a bad note. The lads in the team, and all of the management staff, are desperate to see this club succeed, and I want to stay here to help us."

The former Italian international has been Derby's best player in front of goal this season, netting seven times from sixteen starts, and was rumoured to be attracting interest from Division 1 before announcing his retirement. It seems though that 'Rava', who is a crowd favourite at Pride Park, will stick around to fire Derby to glory.