Winter Transfer Window 2017

[Aficio]

you mean you dont know andrea belotti playing where right now aficio?? or was it some other 1 you dont know??
if its belotti he is in torino, and quite and interesting player, but like others have said, his style of play a bit similar to lapadula.

Thank for the info. I am very busy so I focus only on Milan

I know that Belotti and Immobile pair is favored by Azzurri coach, but I do not know where they play 

[Jay Crisp]

you mean you dont know andrea belotti playing where right now aficio?? or was it some other 1 you dont know??
if its belotti he is in torino, and quite and interesting player, but like others have said, his style of play a bit similar to lapadula.

Except he is 444,000000 times better than Lapadula.

[Sampinjon]

And have (only) 22. I read today that Arsenal is interested in him.

[ACMILAN1983]

I'm not really for signing Belotti. I really like him, he's been someone I've been watching for a couple of years now after he caught my eye for the Italian youth teams (can't remember if it was U19s or U20s where I first noticed him). However, chances are he will cost a very hefty fee as Torino won't sell for cheap (Immobile around the same age cost Dortmund around 20m, with today's prices Belotti could be quite a bit more) and he's not yet proven enough imo to really be worth the gamble.

Part of the reason I'm hesitant is because honestly I think internally we already have a player who could be a star for us as a centre forward in Niang. I mentioned it in the player thread, but with his qualities, his pace, power, direct running and physicality, he's not too different in terms of qualities to what Weah had (Gazzetta made the comparison). With some refinement and growth, I can totally see him growing into a player like Weah. He's flawed, particularly in his inconsistency, decision making and finishing, but these are areas he can improve and I totally see him developing under Montella. I also think the best period he's had in Milan is actually when he was used as CF alongside Bacca last year by Mihajlovic. His biggest problem in Milan has been there have always been other CFs further in their development ahead of him, whether it be Balotelli or Bacca, he was originally used out wide by Allegri because we didn't really have space for him in the middle and he's been somewhat pigeonholed into the position since, despite having grown up as a CF.

Another reason not to necessarily rush out and chase Belotti is that we've got a striker coming through the primavera with some similar qualities in Cutrone, who maybe doesn't work quite as hard, but is probably a better finisher. Cutrone's been scoring for fun in the Milan Primavera for the past couple of years and has an excellent (even exceptional) goal tally with the Italian youth teams, better than Belotti's history I believe. It seems a waste not to at least review and acknowledge his achievements and try to give him space and opportunity towards the first team squad.

All that and bear in mind that we still have Bacca (presumably Belotti would come in his place) and Lapadula, who imo at least deserves a fair chance.

Personally, I'm more interested in seeing us target guys like Keita Balde:

http://www.milannews.it/calciomercato-mi...ita-236239

He, Mahrez (unlikely at 30m) and Papu Gomez (the alternative option) are being considered for the January market. My personal pick is Keita Balde anyway (I don't think Mahrez will reach the heights he showed last season and Papu Gomez imo is a big fish in a small pond), so getting him would be a bonus imo (albeit I hope we check/consider his character first, I want us to look at the men first before signing players). As for why I like him, I think he'd bring qualities that we desperately lack in the first team squad. He's a natural winger (much moreso than Niang imo), has superb acceleration and is excellent when running at opponents one against one. He's also dynamic enough to be able to play across the whole front line. We rely heavily on Niang for this right now and without him we tend to lose an important facet of our game. I think Keita's end product at this point is somewhat inconsistent, but his potential is huge. If Suso can continue his growth (his importance to our team this year shouldn't be understated), and assuming we look to move forward with a 3 man attack, I wouldn't mind a possible future looking like:

----------------Niang-------------------
Keita------------------------------Suso

[nefremo]

Yea...no reason to blow a lot of cash on Belotti. I mentioned in the Lapadula Thread that I think Lapadula is a player with very similar characteristics. He deserves a fair chance before we go and spend on strikers.

Also, like you said Dev, using Niang as a CF also needs to be tried out. For some reason, I don't think that Niang will be a top winger, but I think he has a better chance at being a top CF.

Interesting enough, signing Keita will give us the opportunity to play Niang up front more and more. Especially if Bacca leaves, and rumors of that are gathering pace.

Mahrez really had a great year last season, but is struggling to live up to expectations this season. I am really reserved on him to be honest. As a matter of fact, him and Suso are very similar in their style and abilities.......except that one is 25 that had one spectacular season, and the other is 21 that is still waiting to have his. I am not sure if Suso will have a season like Mahrez's last year, but I am actually more worried that Mahrez won't have a season again like he had last year either....which would be a bigger problem for us if we blow 35+mil on him. I am just not willing to go for it to be honest. Like Dev, I would rather put my chips on Keita.

On Papu Gomez...i think he is a very good player that doesn't get too much attention just because he doesn't play at a top team. But in all honesty, he has been one of the top wingers in the league the past 2 sesons. But soon to be 29 and being at the stage that he is, I think it's fair to say that we shouldn't think of him as anything more than a rotation player.

Really, when it comes to the LW position, we have to figure out a few things within our own squad before we go for anyone.
1. Will we keep Bacca? If yes, than Papu Gomez is more appropriate at this moment to rotate with Niang. If No, than maybe we move Niang up top amd we go for someone that can take that spot and explode, like Keita.

2. Will Bonaventura keep playing as a mezzala or is he there until we get a top midfielder..and than he moves wide. If we are getting a new mezzala than no need for Papu Gomez as Bonaventura naturally becomes that option. And if we end up keeping Bacca too, than we need to stop looking at LW all together and switch our attention to the other side which imo is in much bigger need especially as Honda is pretty much confirmed to be out.

[sylrus]

i do say a bit though jay lol
so we need to establish if we gonna keep baca or not 1st, than we can work around our mercato. i think baca will leave this summer or this winter if the offer is adequate enough.
and yes i even forgot that we still have cutrone. maybe we can loan him out this winter and see how he develop in serie b.

[ACMILAN1983]

Apparently Musacchio is set to be the first purchase of the Chinese ownership, most likely costing between 20-30m. Honestly don't know what I think of the signing, I don't watch him enough to really make any judgement on whether I think he'll be a success.

[am I Milan enough?]

Acc to reports, Mirabelli has met with Keita's agent..

[ACM2023]

Acc to reports, Mirabelli has met with Keita's agent..

I hope that it is true. 

I don't know if I still want Musacchio now. His injury and playing style concern me.

[ACMILAN1983]

Acc to reports, Mirabelli has met with Keita's agent..

Is there a link for this?