Summer mercato 2024

[nefremo]

I have been saying this forever, big or any Serie A clubs don't help themselves with random lower level loans. Not helping themselves certainly doesn't help the national team either, because bulk of player development is at clubs. Playing at Ascoli (or whoever) AND training at Ascoli facilities is not the way to create high level teams.

Italian soccer's emphasis on tactics is destroying their talent pipeline. Italian coaches would rather play a 32 year old washed up instead of a 19 year old Leo Messi because the 32 year old knows where he needs to stand all 90 minutes. Instead of making the game plans more simple to follow, and foster the natural talent of the players, Italian coaches would just double down and put even more emphasis on their beloved tactics. The country's legislature is also stuck in the good old days and will never go after any new ideas. The national team will never get out of this mess barring a divine miracle and an Italian Leo Messi happens to run into the right situation, similar to what happened with Donnarumma back in the day. That's just how the country is run, nothing can fix it

I agree with both of you. Clearly there is something lacking between youth level and senior level. Something is missing in Italy. Because Italy's youth teams have been performing. For example, the U21s are always among the top teams at the Euros, the U17s just won the Euro, the U20s were in the WC final, etc. But something is wrong in Italy that's not allowing these players to then make the jump from youth football to a quality senior level. And then you have the useless loans to low level division clubs where young players just get forgotten, don't get developed, don't get top coaching, etc. There us a disconnect. 
So yes, the usage of washed up old players over young talent just because "they have experience" and are "tactically more astute" is a problem. As are all those loans to low level Serie B sides where young talented players just fall into the oblivion if lower division football.

[Santino]

Why play a youngster when you can buy top players like Fode BT, Lazetic, Origi.etc

[winstonwolfe]

The bald idiot is proof of what is wrong with the young players in Italy. And he is not the only one. There are few coaches in Italy who are ready to give young players a chance and trust them. The vast majority of coaches are primarily interested in preserving their position and do not care if they develop a young player, unless they are in clubs whose policy is primarily the development of players and not the position in the table and the result, and such clubs bring in coaches who know how to work with and develop young players. Such clubs go through uncertainty every season both in terms of survival in the league and in terms of the development of young players and ultimately the sale of those players. That's why there aren't many teams that develop players because it's not their priority and that's why you have mediocrity in the national team and in the league. I don't think it is mentioned much here, but there are no top coaches anymore who can recognize the quality of young players and develop such players. There is and always will be potential among young players, but today it is much more difficult for those players to succeed than it was 30 years ago.

[1994.acmilan]

I really don't know how I feel about this Euro cup at all to be honest. These national teams have all looked like trash. Spain was being opened up like a JR. level team for majority of the first half against a team like Georgia. Italy couldn't even pass a ball right against Switzerland. England the worlds hyped up nation for young talents were 30 secs away from being eliminated by Slovakia, imagine what Switzerland could've done to them. Germany is consistent, France scraped a 1-0 win against Belgium with an OG.

The picture of European NTs in general just does not look good. It's baffling to me how little chemistry and game plan all of these teams have IMO it's been absolutely shocking....
My take from this Euro Cup is that Nico Williams and Lamal / Musiala are super talents but other than them 3 there's really 0 surprises or players you could argue should be at better clubs atm.

For the Italy NT specifically, I don't think Spaletti is anywhere near fit for that job. The individual talent was not awful on Italy, they just completely lacked any game plan. If you isolate players like Bastoni, Califiori, Barella, Chiesa, Jorginho they are all top players. Quality was there but there's 0 tactics in this team at all was a terrible display

[Aficio]

I only care about which players we could get after this Euro, as almost of my time for football relates with Milan.

Lukaku's price must drop. I don't like him, personally, but no one can be a better replacement for Giroud, given our financial policy.
Then a physical midfielder who can cover the area in front of CBs.

[slifersd1]

Problem with a guy like Lukaku is that whatever we "save" from Zirkzee's commissions, we are going to pay more than that on Lukaku's salary in a couple of years. It is so weird how we are so stuck on this whole commissions issue. It's as if we are determined that we can only spend money from our left pocket and not the right one, even though it's from the same pants

[Santino]

Juventus are closing in on deal to sign Khephren Thuram! OGC Nice have received final bid worth €20m fixed fee

[Aficio]

Problem with a guy like Lukaku is that whatever we "save" from Zirkzee's commissions, we are going to pay more than that on Lukaku's salary in a couple of years. It is so weird how we are so stuck on this whole commissions issue. It's as if we are determined that we can only spend money from our left pocket and not the right one, even though it's from the same pants

  remind me of Berlusconi's pants, surely bigger ones.

I think the board doesn't love Zirkzee deeply enough. Some sources say Fonseca wants a prolific Striker.

15M is very expensive for a commision but 55M for Zirkzee is not expensive as Hojlund cost MU 75M last year.

[Sampinjon]

Our "marvelous" "Captain America" couldn't even go through group with Bolivia and Panama. Mexico also eliminated in group stage. Seems EURO is not only stage where "big" teams are choking...

[Santino]

Douglas Luiz, Khéphren Thuram, and now they move to Koopmeiners.