Pato did say he would have some news tomorrow... Maybe, just maybe, he is in fact coming home. I for one would be excited about that one... Pato>Niang any day of the week. And he'd likely be cheap. If he can get himself fit and stay fit, he could be a decent squad player. Of course with Pato + Ibra/Kalinic that would confirm once and for all we'd be moving to a 4-3-1-2 or 3-5-2 or equivalent
At this point, I think we need a proper winger more than a marquee forward.
- We don't have a proper winger who is fast and can dribble. Jack, Hakan and Niang are able to play winger, but their natural position is somewhere else. Borini could be a sub for any posiiton. Only Suso for the left wing is not enough, and he is not fast.
- We have a strong foundation from GK to attacking midfielders. This foundation can both score and provide balls to the SC. SC just needs to choose the right place and score (and do some post play). Both Silva and Cutrone are suitable for such task because they have great energy and motivation.
- A 70M forward will start every possible match to match the transfer & wage, and to achieve personal achievement (top goalscorer or somethiing likee that), while young players like Silva and Cutrone need about 40 matches a season to properly develop.
So a former world class striker could be better than an expensive one. Ibra & Pato will play less and still provide experience, the latter will play much less

Please not Kallinic.
And even if we can neither sign a forward nor sell Bacca. Having Bacca compete with 2 youngsters is also a very healthy competition.

Guys....Pato????? Seriously? Do you guys enjoy ending seasons in mid-table???
Mathias.....Pato "IS" Milan??? Not sure what you mean by that statement....
Porcho.....The problem is that Pato can't get himself fit and stay fit. Again, this is the kind of deals that got us to mid-table quality. For far too long we were buying players that we were praying would somehow find their form from several years ago. Torres - "he could be great for us if he can get back to his form of a couple of seasons ago". Cerci - "he would be awesome if he goes back to his Torino days". Kaka - "unreal if he could go to his old form", Menez - "he would be great if he keeps a good head on his shoulders and fulfills his potential, Balotelli - "if he can just focus and work for the team", etc, etc, etc, etc.
There is no need for any more signings like this. Pato would be the exact same type of signing. I am so thankful that this is just a PR campaign and nothing more. Otherwise I would have thought our management lost their minds after an impressive 2 months.
(08-08-2017, 12:45 AM)porcho Wrote: [ -> ]Pato did say he would have some news tomorrow... Maybe, just maybe, he is in fact coming home. I for one would be excited about that one... Pato>Niang any day of the week. And he'd likely be cheap. If he can get himself fit and stay fit, he could be a decent squad player. Of course with Pato + Ibra/Kalinic that would confirm once and for all we'd be moving to a 4-3-1-2 or 3-5-2 or equivalent
Thats a very big question mark and we better stay away from him..
I am not saying Pato is what I want but don't get 'spoiled' by this summer. To be honest 200m summers should not happen even if Bank of China is direct owner and FFP is dead. It is not correct.
Pato is not the answer but starting soon (after a forward and another mid or winger) we must concentrate on cheap prospects and/or depth, even may be Pato type. And when I say soon I mean next window. I won't object of course lol but we shouldn't do this mercato more than once every few years or very exceptional circumstances.
We have built the spine with mostly young players. We have bought smart. As long as the players we have bought this summer perform up to their abilities (and more in most cases as most of these players are still improving), than there won't be the need of another summer like this in the near future. All we would need to do next year for example, is add a couple of "cherries" to the top if the opportunity presents itself. I am talking 1 or 2 players. 70-80mil max for both.
We are doing most of the work now, so that next year we may only sign 1-2 players. We are not going to buy 10 new players every summer. Of course, there is always going to be players that leave and need to be replaced, but you get my point.
Look at Real M. Who have they bought? They don't really need to. Look at Bayern. They got Tolisso, Sule, and James. The rest were free/cheap. We should aim to be in that position. In a position to buy as little as possible every summer. If we can achieve that, it would mean that the management have done their job right with planning for the future, executing, and most importantly, going after the right players.
I think this is what we are working towards.
(08-08-2017, 04:03 AM)reza Wrote: [ -> ]I am not saying Pato is what I want but don't get 'spoiled' by this summer. To be honest 200m summers should not happen even if Bank of China is direct owner and FFP is dead. It is not correct.
Pato is not the answer but starting soon (after a forward and another mid or winger) we must concentrate on cheap prospects and/or depth, even may be Pato type. And when I say soon I mean next window. I won't object of course lol but we shouldn't do this mercato more than once every few years or very exceptional circumstances.
I like the word. Where are my humble Rossoneri fellows???
I think we can say: We are fine as we are. Discussion is just for fun, team cohesion is what we should focus on.
We do not need a new player in emergency, yet keep waiting for a chance like Bonucci, and get some reasonable transfers along the way to the end of August.
I'm not saying Pato would likely come and be a star, and I know that my comment about staying fit comes with a huge IF, but considering the potential low cost I would be excited to see it happen... Worst case, he does crap, we've lost a small amount of $$, best case, we've got ourselves a very good backup who bleeds red and black.
I see the Pato signing in a similar light as the Borni signing. Pato is just younger and I think more to gain from coming over. WE can't have all of our signings be top youngsters or top players. We're not Real or Bayern yet. That being said, this window is the last window I would accept signings like Pato/Borini.
No one would be expecting Pato to come and become the worlds best. Just simply a good backup.
The ideal would be we have more money to buy a top winger/striker(depending on formation), and young LW and CM to add some more depth.
I'd gladly take Pato has a back-up/rotational striker with Silva if we sign a world class left winger.. By all means
Again, if we're playing a 4-3-3 I see no purpose in signing Aubameyang and not a winger... I'd rather even rely on Cutrone+Silva if that means we'll dump our money on a big winger.
Or we split the funds... 30m on a player like Keita, 30m on a player like Kalinic. Fills both gaps but without a world class signing.