06-24-2015, 01:04 PM
I don't see much benefit in focusing too much on Kondogbia and Martinez, but just quickly, I agree with Jay that something about this doesn't make it seem like a case of chasing money. Milan apparently offered more to Kondogbia than Inter and even with the bonuses there's not a significant difference. On Martinez, currently it looks like Atletico will offer something similar to what Milan did, but again, the difference is wages seems fairly small. The other aspect of this is that representatives of both basically said the same, that Milan made very good offers, but they were more convinced of the other teams and their projects. I think there's a problem here in the way Milan are dealing with trying to get players (evident in the issues with Doyen), but also a problem in the way the project is being sold.
Anyway, the Higuain price is crazy, I really don't know what to think about it. I'm in agreement with those that say that a clear project needs to be in place. For me, there's a clear direction that can be taken, which is invest big for the short and medium term, but within realistic margins, but also invest big for long term prospects.
I'd try to follow the Juve model to an extent, but be prepared to invest that little more to offer greater guarantees. What I mean is Juve have built their current success on shrewd business and long term investing, something they've done for a while. You look at the backbone of the team and most of their players have been brought for great value for money. Chiellini was secured by Juve early on, Barzagli was pretty much free. Pirlo, Pogba, Llorente were free, Vidal and Tevez were brought for something around 12m each. The biggest investments have been Morata and Bonucci probably in recent years, costing around 20m and 15m respectively I think. Not huge sums, but they were both brought for long term investments and Bonucci has paid back the price paid, while Morata had a good season last year and can be an important player for them. Asamoah (very detable imo) and Isla are possibly the only players they overpaid for, but generally Juve have acted by buying smart and building a team rather than trying to buy huge names. Now they're in a position where they can command huge sums for some of these players.
Point is, Milan need to buy smart with targets that should be realistic and would work well in the team being set up, not just buy big. That in itself would be the short to medium term targets. On top of that, I think like pretty much any big club today, Milan need to invest on long term prospects. Again, Juve are like an example with the way they've secured some of the best Italian talents for the long term, like Sturaro, Rugani, Zaza and Berardi to name a few. For Milan, names like Ely, Jose Mauri, Gabriel Barbosa, Oliver Torres, Paco Alcacar, Andre Gomes and Rabiot need to be bought and managed as long term projects that will allow the club to reduce the need to spend huge in the future. Having huge numbers of players shouldn't be unmanageable, just deal with them on a case by case basis.
A guy like Rabiot, for example, would probably be a short, medium and long term investment playing an important role in the first team. Jose Mauri and Ely would need to be assessed to see if they are ready to contribute immediately in the squad for the coming season. A guy like Gabriel Barbosa I would want to see as a long term project, maybe loan him back to Santos for a year or two to develop in Brazil. After that, reassess him and maybe even consider a loan to a Portuguese club as a way to help ease his transition to European football. It supports the player, gives clear goals and targets to work to and the hope is that by the time he's ready to join Milan, he'll be around the age and maturity Neymar was when joining Barca. No doubt that in Neymar's case that waiting a year or two extra before coming to Europe helped him mature that little bit to shoulder the burden of playing at such a massive club so far from home.
Anyway, the Higuain price is crazy, I really don't know what to think about it. I'm in agreement with those that say that a clear project needs to be in place. For me, there's a clear direction that can be taken, which is invest big for the short and medium term, but within realistic margins, but also invest big for long term prospects.
I'd try to follow the Juve model to an extent, but be prepared to invest that little more to offer greater guarantees. What I mean is Juve have built their current success on shrewd business and long term investing, something they've done for a while. You look at the backbone of the team and most of their players have been brought for great value for money. Chiellini was secured by Juve early on, Barzagli was pretty much free. Pirlo, Pogba, Llorente were free, Vidal and Tevez were brought for something around 12m each. The biggest investments have been Morata and Bonucci probably in recent years, costing around 20m and 15m respectively I think. Not huge sums, but they were both brought for long term investments and Bonucci has paid back the price paid, while Morata had a good season last year and can be an important player for them. Asamoah (very detable imo) and Isla are possibly the only players they overpaid for, but generally Juve have acted by buying smart and building a team rather than trying to buy huge names. Now they're in a position where they can command huge sums for some of these players.
Point is, Milan need to buy smart with targets that should be realistic and would work well in the team being set up, not just buy big. That in itself would be the short to medium term targets. On top of that, I think like pretty much any big club today, Milan need to invest on long term prospects. Again, Juve are like an example with the way they've secured some of the best Italian talents for the long term, like Sturaro, Rugani, Zaza and Berardi to name a few. For Milan, names like Ely, Jose Mauri, Gabriel Barbosa, Oliver Torres, Paco Alcacar, Andre Gomes and Rabiot need to be bought and managed as long term projects that will allow the club to reduce the need to spend huge in the future. Having huge numbers of players shouldn't be unmanageable, just deal with them on a case by case basis.
A guy like Rabiot, for example, would probably be a short, medium and long term investment playing an important role in the first team. Jose Mauri and Ely would need to be assessed to see if they are ready to contribute immediately in the squad for the coming season. A guy like Gabriel Barbosa I would want to see as a long term project, maybe loan him back to Santos for a year or two to develop in Brazil. After that, reassess him and maybe even consider a loan to a Portuguese club as a way to help ease his transition to European football. It supports the player, gives clear goals and targets to work to and the hope is that by the time he's ready to join Milan, he'll be around the age and maturity Neymar was when joining Barca. No doubt that in Neymar's case that waiting a year or two extra before coming to Europe helped him mature that little bit to shoulder the burden of playing at such a massive club so far from home.