Summer transfer window 2017

[ZvonimirBoban]

Just wondering for our star striker... Is it several years too late to finally get Dzeko?

[Stitch]

As his fellow Bosnian, theres nothing more I want than a Bosnian in Milan, but sadly...yes it is. Historically his first seasons in new clubs were afwul, and by the time 18/19 rolls in he is going to be 32.

He is a Milan fan since childhood though, so who knows, maybe he would actually try hard this time in his first season here

Still, not worth the risk IMO.

[ACMILAN1983]

Conti is now official, Biglia looks close to joining as it seems Fassone and Lotito may have found an agreement and the player won't join the group for the start of training.

Aubameyang for me remains the dream this mercato. It's being said he's still a serious possibility with the move to China becoming more doubtful. As for why I want him above other forward targets (not in any particular order):

1) Homegrown: Beyond the obvious benefit of this in ruling, the positive thing about him being a Milan youth player is he would be one of few that would know Milan during its stronger years (the only other players to have any sort of link to this are Abate and Antonelli).
2) Status: He's a top level forward, on par with guys like Lewandowski, Higuain and Cavani, one step below the Barca attackers, Ronaldo and Ibra. Him joining would be a statement signing, but his status as a world class forward also brings confidence both to the club and the other players, becoming a symbol of the new Milan.
3) Experience: He's experienced at the highest levels and has proven himself very capable at those levels. With his experience, he can offer leadership and support to helping younger talents, like Andre Silva, grow in peace without too much pressure.
4) Maturity: Auba's got a very unique fashion sense and style that appears outlandish, but apparently is actually quite a mature and decent guy. He's a family man and seems to have a very close relationship with his son (who he dons the superhero masks in celebrations for).
5) Technical Ability: Usually considered a speed merchant, people tend to underrate Auba's technical ability. He's a very gifted player, which is often noticeable in his finishing, control of the ball and ability to do some difficult things with relative ease.
6) Tactical Awareness: Again, recognised for pace, Auba's actually a very astute striker with smart positioning. He often scores goals that are tap ins (something that was noticeable even when he was in the Milan youth), which can only really come about from understanding how to position himself in places where he'll have the chance to score.
7) Speed: It's pretty much impossible to ignore this fact. Auba's pace is extremely well known, but what really makes him special is his acceleration which is phenomenal. The reason he can take up the positions mentioned in point 6 is that his acceleration means he can start runs late and get ahead of opposing defenders to get to the ball. 
8) Completeness: As a striker there are few as complete as him. He moves well, can accelerate at pace against opponents. He runs at opponents, but can also work to give and go. He scores goals of all types with both feet and his head. He can drop deep if needed, or he can play along the opposing backline. Simply put, he's the most complete option we've been linked to for attack. He scores more than both Belotti and Morata, he's faster than both, technically more gifted than both arguably as good if not better tactically than both. The only thing he's weaker in is that they work harder defensively, though he's no slouch.

Both him and his brothers have come through at Milan, while his father (and agent and ex-Gabon international) also spent numerous years at Milan as a senior scout. I'm not aware of there ever being any sort of tension when he left and I believe they'd be very open to the idea of returning to the club. I think that's also why there are rumours of him accepting 8m salary rather than the previously rumoured 12-13m elsewhere. People have suggested that he's been chasing money this summer, but his history would suggest otherwise. At St Etienne, he had a proposal where he'd earn huge money, but rejected it. Later, same again at St Etienne, he was approached by Newcastle, but he and his father ended up choosing Dortmund a year later based on Klopp's game, despite him earning less.


Put simply, I think he'd be an almost ideal signing for the attack, the only downside being that we'd have to pay a LOT for a guy that is 28. If he was a few years young, it would be ideal, but you can't have it all

[Karl08]

1) Homegrown: Beyond the obvious benefit of this in ruling, the positive thing about him being a Milan youth player is he would be one of few that would know Milan during its stronger years (the only other players to have any sort of link to this are Abate and Antonelli).

CMIIW, but Aubameyang's not considered as a homegrown right?
Since he's loaned out a lot, not even in played in italy

Other than that, i agree with this post fully 

[reza]

That is a good point because he didn't stay in Italy for 3 years.

UEFA defines locally-trained or 'homegrown' players as those who, regardless of their nationality, have been trained by their club or by another club in the same national association for at least three years between the age of 15 and 21. Up to half of the locally-trained players must be from the club itself, with the others being either from the club itself or from other clubs in the same association.

Welcome to MM Karl08

[Sampinjon]

Kucka officially in Trabzonspor. 5M.

[AC_Troy]

Seems Lotito has cracked and Biglia's back on

[Hitman]

Nice post ACM1983.

I don't know why but I don't feel neither Auba, Belotti nor Morata are appropriate for us (taking everything into account: quality, age, price). For starters I'm not sure how we intend to play next year but we definitely will be using the 433 primarily unless we sign a WC striker and will be forced to play with 2 strikers (352, 442, 4312). I imagine Silva has been brought to be a starter and I'm sure he will be... but if we bring one of those three, I think we must play with 2 and that's going to hurt Suso as he's predominantly a RW and we aren't sure if he'd do well anywhere else.

I personally feel we should spend Auba's money on the person who's been allowing Auba to score all these goals. I'd go for Ousmane Dembele. He'd slot so nicely in LW, then we can bring in another CF like Kalinic who probably would be okay to sit on the bench and would also be suitable if we wanted to play with 2 strikers. Of course there's Ibra too who'd cost less than what Kalinic would cost for one year (Kalinic has a 15-20m buyout clause + 6m annual salary gross, Ibra probably 10-12m annually gross). Signing Ibra too would mean we'll be playing with 2 strikers because I can't imagine Ibra will be happy sitting on the bench with Silva starting.

We desperately need some speed up front though. We don't have any strikers or midfielders that have blistering pace. Bacca was relatively fast but he's out. Keita would've been good but he's not coming. Kessie has good speed but not ultra fast. We need someone with Auba/Pato kind of speed. It's an important weapon to have in the squad.

Dembele should cost ~75m which is as much as Auba but he's 8 years younger with SO MUCH more potential. He's a unique kind of player. If he continues developing in the right way and works on his character (which is already good) he's going to be an elite WC player in 2 years (in my opinion).

There there's also Weigl that's interesting but bringing Biglia would be more appropriate as it'd allow us to give room to Locatelli to grow too. I believe in Locatelli and thinks he needs more playing time under no pressure. With our sales of 60m, we can also buy another midfielder to play besides Biglia and Kessie.

Interesting times ahead.

[AC_Troy]

Kalinic's agent met with Mirabelli. I see him and Biglia at Milan soon

[honsano]

So has dolla officially signed yet? He's got guts to come back to the club after all this.