a post I had at another forum thought I'd share my opinion:
The mercato has been very intense so far and we're only just getting started. I imagine that July and the first half of August will be quiet times. Mid August we'll get a big signing and another one at the last 3 days days. We are look set to have a revolutionary market with perhaps more than 5 starters signed.
Belotti has had a great year and a half however
I worry about his technical abilities. He's a great finisher though but that may not be enough... I'll give you two examples of players like Belotti who had opposite directions in their futures: Inzaghi and Gilardino. Inzaghi's success speaks for itself, even at 36 years of age he had zero technical ability but his intelligence and passion made up for it. Gilardino on the other hand came to us after 2 spectacular seasons - very very reminiscent of Belotti's situation right now. Gila back then was claiming to be a Milanista and we desperately were looking for a reliable Shevchenko partner. He had an okay season but he really failed overall, he didn't give us what we needed despite scoring some sensational goals from all sorts of angles with Parma. We bought Gila for 24m and that was our big signing that summer. That was a failed deal in my books and he shouldn't have stayed longer than 1 season but we got stuck with him for a while.
The difference is that Belotti won't be our only signing... and that if we buy Belotti for 70m, we won't be able to cash in on him for a profit in the future - that's for sure.
We're going to be paying the highest price he will ever be worth. Is that something we want? I don't know - depends on our financial capabilities. I've seen quite a lot of Belotti over the last 2 years cause I like the kid, but he keeps showing me that he may just be a much better Bacca. We don't just need our #9 to finish, we need them to do a lot more. This signing seems to me like an emotional signing because he's such a Milanista,
it will create a lot of hype but it may not feel the technical need that the team requires. It'll sell jerseys though, just like the Honda deal, but will it he sufficient on the pitch?
We don't want to become like Inter, who just buy expensive players (Brozovic, Banega, Joao Mario, Gabigol) and just throw them into the starting 11 and hope they'd click. No. Players have to be
compatible with one another and
it's all about the team not the individual. Those players are all really good players but clearly, they're not playing as a team.
I don't know how will we play with 2 strikers if we have Suso starting... if we were buying 2 strikers, then Belotti could perhaps do well as long as he has a Dybala-esque type of player beside him (which is not Morata). I see Alvaro as a real CF, if we play him as a SS we won't be using him to the best of his ability. I disagree with Montella when he says Morata and Belotti are compatible. They may work only because Morata would be sacrificing by not playing in his natural #9 position in my opinion. A great partner for Morata or Belotti would be
Keita Balde in my opinion - who reminds me a lot of Adriano (Inter).
We really need a great attacking midfielder to support Morata or Belotti, we don't have one right now.
Cesc Fabregas is a fantastic creative midfielder that we desperately need in our midfield trio in my opinion, but we also need another attacking midfielder/trequartista to support the striker(s). Suso can be this guy but he's a bit one-dimensional with his left foot, we need a Rivaldo/Kaka/Rui Costa type of player. James Rodriguez/Isco/Pastore are interesting options. There actually are dozens of options out there we just need the right one. My preferred choice is Isco, James would be a big gamble. The dream though is Ousmane Dembele of Dortmund.
All in all, I'm not going to complain whoever we buy. We all complained for years for the lack of investment, now let's just let them spend and we'll judge them later. The players that I liked the most that we've been linked with so far are: Fabregas, Kessie, Keita, Biglia and Conte in that order. Those are players I like a great deal especially the first three who are impressive at every single performance they play. Then come the other inconsistent players that are risky: Morata, Belotti, Biglia, Musacchio, Ricardo Rodriguez (still better than all of our current fullbacks though).
Here is our current starting eleven for next year based on today:
DONNARUMMA
conti -- MUSACCHIO -- ROMAGNOLI -- rodriguez
KESSIE ------- biglia ------- XXXXXXX
SUSO -------- XXXXXXX ---------- keita
Conti, RR, Biglia, Keita still haven't been wrapped up but I hope we sign those 4. Then we have a CF (Morata/Belotti) and a midfielder left to buy. I'd also expects more signings to be made for the bench. And I expect Bonaventura to go to the bench next year, hopefully. He was the best of our poor midfielders in the Berlusconi era, hopefully Mirabelli sees all the disadvantages of Jack and will saye us from him. He should be used from the bench.
For CF, personally I would ditch both Moratta and Belotti and focus all my efforts on
Alexis Sanchez. He's got 1 year left, he's leaving Arsenal, they don't want to sell him in England. Bayern & PSG definitely want him but why not us? Put in a 40m bid which is half the price we'd spend for Morata/Belotti, add the other 40m to our budget for a midfielder and get another world class player like Verratti or Ousmane Dembele. We still have an open channel with Dortmund after trying for Aubameyang but now that he's going to Paris, we surely can bid 45m for Ousmane?
My not extremely unrealistic dream signings:
Alexis Sanchez - 40m
Ousmane Dembele - 50m
Rodrigo Caio - 15m
Verratti - 75m
Cesc - 30m
Any one of these would instantly upgrade the quality of the team in my opinion.
..heard about the rumours coming from DiMarzio but i guess there's truth in them aftter all..i'd prefer investing in Anderson Talisca though...with the Colentin Tolisso train looking less likely by the day with him wanting Cl football i can't think of a better player for the left side of our three man midfield...he's a star/phenomenon in the making...someone plz tell the management to get their finger out and check his availability..plus we have a good relationship with Besiktas...for someone who's 191 cm, tall as an oak tree the guy is blessed with an unbelievable left foot, dribbles round players for the laugh, a free kick specialist, a passing range second to none, scores incredible goals for fun, a team player and has one helluva an engine...he'd be a starter guaranteed in this new look Milan if we did...unreal like...