Summer Mercato

[Gio-mania]

I've been out of the loop but what are our prospects of signing Darmian? Knowing our management it strikes me as very unlikely, considering we just signed Alex and probably Rami too. On top of that we already have two right backs and I can't really see Galliani willing to spend the 4-10 million (ish?) necessary to get him after the whole Rami deal.

Also I'm seriously skeptical of a Balotelli sale. Not so much because I want to keep him as a player but because I can't really see us cashing in that much from him. Maybe 25-30 million, 35 tops? That isn't enough to rebuild and come out significantly stronger (not to mention Balo has mad marketability). Unless we plan to replace him with Alessandro "1 goal in 15 games" Matri we have to find a decent striker, which factoring in the cut the house will take to "balance the books" will leave us with very little to build on.

Of course I'm not factoring in the money we could save by getting rid of those 17 players (btw that 25 million is what we pay the players, not accounting for saved taxes). That's a best case scenario though. Those players still have contracts in force and aside from Kakà and Robinho looking to head home or to play in the MLS, I can't see our other deadweight being able find such good pay elsewhere.

Just a quick comment: Galliani brought all this upon himself. To get rid of 17 players is like mission impossible.

To put it in perspective, I remember a few seasons ago, Barcelona only had a squad of 18 players or so (can someone confirm or clarify), and it was one of the seasons that they dominated Europe.

Honestly, I would be happy if Galliani at least is on the right track. I mean, instead of getting rid of fodders, Galliani can easily bring in even more.

Oh god yes. This predicament was caused solely by his actions. It's imperative that we get out of this mess but Galliani could make it worsen.

For example Alex could POTENTIALLY become one of these deadweights. I think it's a good signing as the terms are right now considering our situation (2 years, no transfer budget, lack of competent defenders) but it would become a problem if we start extending his contract.

Interesting anecdote Xudong, that's shockingly low. And this year we aren't even playing in Europe so we could do without 50 players. In Galliani's defence though, we have been riddled with injuries so we have been "forced" to look for cheap options (as opposed to fishing from the youth department… )