Summer Mercato

[reza]

Reza, I don't agree that Mastour should be loaned out. A talent like him should be looked after and nurtured only by us. By the people at the club. Our coaches, our environment. We should be in full control of how he develops.

That's not my first choice, may be not my second either, but if he is not ready for the senior squad he shouldn't be sitting on the bench and Pippo/Galliani saying that will benefit from training with seniors. In my opinion that would be more suited for 18-20 year old not 16. If it is decided to send him back to the youth full time, then fine, he can be readier in 2015 or 2016. As far as control goes the recent examples like Pato say it is a bit overrated.

[devoted_dm]

From what I've gathered it will be a two or three year deal, worth like € 3.5M/yr. Any idea what we are going to pay Chelsea for the transfer?

Nothing, from what I gather (might be wrong). What I have read is that the deal is a two-year loan, until his contract at Chelsea expires. Milan will then sign him permanently on a one-year contract.

[Rosson3r]

Is it true that we have to pay Torres 12,5 mil euros?

[Gio-mania]

Thanks.

You gotta give it to Galliani for being able to snatch players for free. First Diego Lopez now Torres, though their salaries aren't exactly low.

[slifersd]

Thought it was invaluable to share this article here:

http://www.milannews.it/l-editoriale/dop...ghi-153660

Essentially it's all about how poor the management has been and how little support Pippo's getting as coach. It's very much in line with what fans are saying and definitely a change from the norm of the media which has generally reported the actions of the management without any real scrutiny. Here's the kicker for me though, it's written by Luca Serafini, who if I'm correct is one of the most respected sports journalists in Mediaset (Silvio's media outlet).

Also in the news is if Van Ginkel comes, Cristante is likely to go on loan to Benfica:

http://www.milannews.it/calciomercato-mi...ica-153741

Seriously, what's with the hype around Van Ginkel? I just don't get it.

Tuttosport says that the "low spending" markets are all about having a healthy balance sheet to entice foreign investment in the club:

http://www.milannews.it/primo-piano/tutt...lan-153740

I already wrote my thoughts on this at length yesterday.

I'm just scared that these clowns will keep stripping Milan of every asset. Next summer is SES, then MDS, then Cristante, then Mastour, etc.

In any case, I'll refrain from commenting until Monday. After that we will have a much more clear idea of where we are heading. Truth be told, with the squad on our hands now and with Inzaghi's ideas...I truly think that we can challenge for a top 3 spot. It won't be pretty and we'll have to grind out a lot of results but it's doable. I'm not overly impressed with Napoli and never was. As poor as we were last season we were still only 10 points behind them in January. Had we beaten them when Seedorf took over the gap was only going to be 7 points. The bigger problem is Inter and even Fiorentina who are both looking good.

But this squad is not bad and it can compete for that 3rd place. Yes we are lacking creativity, but we can make it up in in other areas. The sale of Balotelli will create a different harmony among the players, I truly believe that. I also think having SES and Rami the entire season will be huge. Honda will also be there and hopefully he can improve. A healthy MDS will also be great and the addition of Menez and Alex gives us something we didn't have last season. I think this is a better squad then last season's and on top of that almost everyone vastly underperformed last year.
All in all I'm not too concerned with that. The biggest concern for me is the fact that Berlu and Galliani use every excuse in the book not to invest money in the team. And that worries me as to where we are heading in the future and what their plan is with this team. If they are planning to sell then fine, but if they are planning to only keep us afloat without any investment and ambition, then we are in trouble.

Anyway, like I said, I think on Tuesday we will have a much more clear picture of all this. I don't exclude the possibility of them splashing some money this weekend and acting like saviours.

I'm worried about them stripping down the young assets too.

As for challenging for top 3, it's difficult because Roma, Juve, Napoli, Fiorentina and even Inter all have a headstart on us (not necessarily better players, but more stability and experienced coaches). Our biggest hope is Pippo can get things right and get the most out of what we have. It's a lot to ask of a rookie.

Frankly speaking, as long as Berlusconi actually sells the team, I am ok with selling every one on this team. No offense, but Mastour, ELS and DES are not Messi or CR7. They are good players, but they are not players who can anchor a whole team. If selling them means Berlu will finally get the hell out, I would have no problem with that.

I strongly disagree here. Firstly, we're talking about Berlusconi stripping the squad of the only real assets we have left, our young players coming through. These guys (with the exception of SES) have grown up in the Milan youth academy and are therefore invaluable for developing the right culture at the club, something which we shouldn't lose for the future. Finally a quick rundown of these players suggests they can reach the extreme heights of Messi or Ronaldo:

- Mastour: This guy was courted all over the world and we paid over the odds to get him at 14. Like Messi, he's made his breakthrough to senior level at 16 and honestly, you just need to see him amongst his peers (and age group) to see he's miles ahead of anyone coming through technically.

- SES: If you're talking about a player to anchor the team, then this guy did it two years ago in a period where we risked having a season like the last one. At the same age, Ronaldo showed technical qualities not normal, but hadn't shown the end product or maturity and directness that SES already does. Difference might be Ronaldo's got an obsessive personality to be the best and had Alex Ferguson to help him grow, but there's no reason El Shaarawy can't grow to reach similar levels.

- DES: If you can name me one defender of his quality at the same age, then I'll go on the record saying he's sell-able. I'm very confident I won't be on record saying DES is sell-able.

- Cristante: At the same age Pirlo, Xavi and Iniesta etc were making a name for themselves at youth level and struggled to break through to senior level for a while longer. Cristante's arguably ahead of them in this regard, but fundamentally we're talking about a player who's widely regarded as one of the best young midfielders coming through in the world game. There's a reason Benfica (a club known for their scouting and ability to develop young talents into players who are later sold at much higher profits) have pushed so hard to buy him.

I am not sure I agree with what you are saying. Now before all, let me make it clear that I DO in fact like these young players that we have on the team. I feel like they are good players who can be major contributor on even a dominant team like the Milan of the early 2000s.

The problem with these players is that I do not see them necessarily becoming irreplaceable superstars like Messi or CR7.

SES: Sure, he carried us during that half season. But that was one of the worst AC Milan we could remember in some time. The team lacked any kind of quality, and basically put SES on the spotlight because somebody had to play. Sure, SES lived up to the billing and scored 14 goals, but the team was like 7 or 8 place in the league table. Being the best player on a shitty team does not make a player a superstar, just a good player. SES to me is not better than guys like Lamela or Jovetic. Good player, certainly big team quality, but not a player you build a team around;

DES: You are probably right. Defenders his age and quality are not easy to come by. I would absolutely agree with that sentiment. But his problem has more to do with his position. As a wingback, his impact on the game is a little bit limited. Looking back in the last 10-15 years or so, how many wingbacks could truly be called irreplaceable superstars? Only ones who comes anywhere close to that title I can think of were Maldini and Roberto Carlos. Carlos had the added element of being devastating with his free kicks and runs forward; while Maldini was one of the best defenders of all time. If DES converts successfully to a CB, then he certainly would bring too much value to be sold. But as a pure wingback, and one who has injury issues, nonetheless, I would think he is impossible to replace. Difficult? Yes.

Mastour: Sure, we beat out a bunch of other major teams to get him at age 14 and he looks special. But think about how many teenagers looked special at early age and ended up being nobodies? Hell, Anderson looked like a superstar in the making when he was almost 20, and is now unwanted by everyone. Mastour is a talent, no doubt about it. But to think of him as the new Messi or CR7? I wouldn't put my money on that, especially since Milan is such a poor club when it comes to developing players.

The bottom line for me is, the young players we have are nice, very nice. But with a new owner who is willing to invest, we can get players that are just as good if not better. Look at teams like Fiorentina and Roma and Napoli. They did the same thing with their players and ended up building very strong teams. There are only a few players in the world today that cannot be replaced, and none of the players we have fits in that category.

[ACMILAN1983]

Yes we've hired a number of new scouts globally. We've also expanded the number of Milan training schools too. Here's an interesting quote Berlu made about youth last year. I believe there's a plan to build a starting XI from our youth academy.

"We’ve a lot of expectations for our players born in ’96, ’97 and ’98. There are some extraordinary champions among them. We’re monitoring several players, but we already have many talents born in 1998.

I want a more Italian Milan side. I hope to create a strong and young Milan side with Italian players and players who represent Lombardy.”

Re Cristante, firstly, they're just rumours. Unless I hear something concrete I'll disregard them like the million other false rumours circulating every mercato. Re Van Ginkel, I don't see anything special about this kid. Apparently he's defensively solid but looks like he'd blow over in the wind. He did have some pretty good stats in Dutch league couple seasons ago though. Looks like Milan's gone with lowest cost option again.

Do you have a source that confirms we've increased scouting? I'm mostly interested in reading more. As for Berlusconi's comments, tbh I tend not to believe much of what he or Galliani say.

About Cristante, Berlusconi has assured him that he'll have space (there's an article on Milannews), but for me the big issue is that he was even considered on the market.

Thanks for your info on Van Ginkel, we appear to share similar opinions. Would be interested in hearing from someone who does rate him.

I am not sure I agree with what you are saying. Now before all, let me make it clear that I DO in fact like these young players that we have on the team. I feel like they are good players who can be major contributor on even a dominant team like the Milan of the early 2000s.

The problem with these players is that I do not see them necessarily becoming irreplaceable superstars like Messi or CR7.

SES: Sure, he carried us during that half season. But that was one of the worst AC Milan we could remember in some time. The team lacked any kind of quality, and basically put SES on the spotlight because somebody had to play. Sure, SES lived up to the billing and scored 14 goals, but the team was like 7 or 8 place in the league table. Being the best player on a shitty team does not make a player a superstar, just a good player. SES to me is not better than guys like Lamela or Jovetic. Good player, certainly big team quality, but not a player you build a team around;

DES: You are probably right. Defenders his age and quality are not easy to come by. I would absolutely agree with that sentiment. But his problem has more to do with his position. As a wingback, his impact on the game is a little bit limited. Looking back in the last 10-15 years or so, how many wingbacks could truly be called irreplaceable superstars? Only ones who comes anywhere close to that title I can think of were Maldini and Roberto Carlos. Carlos had the added element of being devastating with his free kicks and runs forward; while Maldini was one of the best defenders of all time. If DES converts successfully to a CB, then he certainly would bring too much value to be sold. But as a pure wingback, and one who has injury issues, nonetheless, I would think he is impossible to replace. Difficult? Yes.

Mastour: Sure, we beat out a bunch of other major teams to get him at age 14 and he looks special. But think about how many teenagers looked special at early age and ended up being nobodies? Hell, Anderson looked like a superstar in the making when he was almost 20, and is now unwanted by everyone. Mastour is a talent, no doubt about it. But to think of him as the new Messi or CR7? I wouldn't put my money on that, especially since Milan is such a poor club when it comes to developing players.

The bottom line for me is, the young players we have are nice, very nice. But with a new owner who is willing to invest, we can get players that are just as good if not better. Look at teams like Fiorentina and Roma and Napoli. They did the same thing with their players and ended up building very strong teams. There are only a few players in the world today that cannot be replaced, and none of the players we have fits in that category.

It's fair you don't agree and certainly I never thought you didn't like the players.

On your comments:

SES: Surely him carrying the team during a difficult period is more impressive than if the team was doing well. Just ask Balotelli how difficult it is when you're responsible for dragging the team when times are tough. That's usually the sign of a real "champion" (the term Cacaves loves being thrown about )

DES: I actually consider having quality wingbacks to be one of the most fundamental aspects of the modern game, because a wingback must be capable in both phases of the game and must have superb stamina and pace. They also offer tactical balance, width and numerical advantage too. It's very difficult to find all of these qualities in a single player. About being able to convert to CB, DES actually grew through the youth system as a CB (Filippo Galli confirmed this) and was only moved to wingback when he came into the senior setup and was considered too slight of body to play CB. Darmian's path was also very similar, he was a CB until Carlo used him at fullback in the senior side.

Mastour: The question you raise is about fulfilling potential is valid, but a risk that's taken with a focusing on youth talents. If this is our path for the future and certainly it seems to be the only real option, then frankly we have to accept there will be flops every so often. To me, that still doesn't mean we should be prepared to sell our youth. You have to remember that talking about becoming like CR7 or Messi is talking about the potential of a player.

I notice you've not mentioned Cristante in either of your posts, is there any reason?

About a new owner investing or be willing to invest, I think right now it's nothing more than a pipe dream if I'm brutally honest. Roma, Fiorentina and Napoli have funded their markets in the past few years with major sales, like Cavani, Lamela and Jovetic. This is why they've invested how they have. In Roma's case they've spent more than they earnt and have been risking breach of FFP and sanctions from UEFA. If I'm honest, this isn't the model we should be following, because it's simply not sustainable and put simply isn't going to help them reach the highest levels. I'm watching them closely, but as far as I see Napoli and Fiorentina have both had relatively low key mercato's and Roma are facing sanctions unless they sell big assets (well, actually I think they confirmed Benatia's sale now right?). Likewise, I think we'd find it hardpressed to find an investor like PSG or Man City, simply as Serie A doesn't offer benefits other leagues does. Therefore, relying solely on market purchases isn't a method that we can compete with "super clubs" in. Truth is, the only potentially sustainable model that's within reasonable budget is to develop our youth set up. There's risks involved in that venture, but it's been proven a success when implemented correctly (e.g. Ajax, Barca and now Bayern to name 3 examples, never mind Milan from around the time Silvio took over).

[devoted_dm]

Thanks.

You gotta give it to Galliani for being able to snatch players for free. First Diego Lopez now Torres, though their salaries aren't exactly low.

Yeah definitely. Considering that he probably doesn't have much of a budget to work with, he has actually done a good job this summer. How much have we actually spent on player purchases? 4 million for Rami, 2 for Poli (+ Salamon), 1 million for Saponara and 0.5 million for Albertazzi. Meanwhile we signed Alex, Menez, Armero, Lopez and Torres for free. He has basically changed the squad and signed nine pretty good players for only 7-8 million. Imagine how screwed we would be if we had a "regular" CEO try to do our transfer market with a budget like that.

I am kind of expecting something unexpected before the end of the transfer market though, like what happened when we out of nowhere suddenly signed De Jong. I don't think he'll spend more than 10 million, but I think (hope) there will be some kind of significant investment before the end of the market.

Anyway, so far I consider our best signing this summer to be Diego Lopez. A lot of Real Madrid fans were sad when he left, and felt that he deserved to stay. I have always been a fan of Abbiati, but it was time for a change.

[Siregar]

I agree with Jokka said even though we should maintain the quality of our current squad to still be in the first level of competition, Champions League and most important Serie A. We would need much longer time if we already have a low quality of squad which impact to many other sides like mentality, our brand, etc. Playing in Serie B is a possible thing if we don't care about the quality of current team. I am not saying management have been doing things leading to Serie B though.

Milan faces barriers to develop the youngsters to top level of quality. We don't have a B team or reserve team (read: no competition for second team). This is IMO the biggest obstacles to develop our star. Look at big clubs in Italy, do they promote star regularly? Small teams do (but not each team regularly but as a whole). There is a big risk if we play our youngsters: our achievement in the league. A solution to continue the development of the youngsters after playing in youth competition is sending them on loan but this has average impact at most. Many of them don't get their chance to play. If we get our competition for B or second team, I am convinced there will more talents form Italy showing their quality to the best level.

Milan have serious problem with money as we can clearly see it and I do think that is the reason we keep low-cost transfer policy except for youngsters (they cost low compared to senior players but among them they are expensive ones like Mastour). Galliani tries to get players who can deliver points to Milan, to keep Milan in right path, not to win a competition but not to be kicked out from the highlight of football: Serie A and Champions League; from these competition Milan still can generate money for themselves and continue building their own team. The biggest problem is management policy make us suffer from long big contract and finished players. Experienced (or we call it finished) players IMO is the simple and cheap solution the management think to bring quality to the team. That's why we keep doing it, hoping they are still able to deliver their best performance. Some of them can do that but the rest failed and unfortunately most of experienced players we get deliver almost no contribution to the team, CMIIW.

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About the sale of young players, I am still convinced Gallani won't sell them except emergency action need to be done (to save the club FOR REAL) or crazy money every club can not refuse). From the beginning Milan focus on youth, which our young players we have sold? I can only remember Pato. He is not from our youth but he still started to play for Milan in such very young age. However we already now the reason and it is acceptable and logic (we can argue about the price). SES is still with us, so is DES. Cristante has been blocked to move last season and I am pretty sure Galliani will do the same this season.

[ZvonimirBoban]

About a new owner investing or be willing to invest, I think right now it's nothing more than a pipe dream if I'm brutally honest. Roma, Fiorentina and Napoli have funded their markets in the past few years with major sales, like Cavani, Lamela and Jovetic. This is why they've invested how they have. In Roma's case they've spent more than they earnt and have been risking breach of FFP and sanctions from UEFA. If I'm honest, this isn't the model we should be following, because it's simply not sustainable and put simply isn't going to help them reach the highest levels. I'm watching them closely, but as far as I see Napoli and Fiorentina have both had relatively low key mercato's and Roma are facing sanctions unless they sell big assets (well, actually I think they confirmed Benatia's sale now right?).

We can actually doing same models for stop-gap solution. Instead we sold our best player for only 20M. Don't get me wrong; I am a supporter of Balotelli sale, but the price was an insult. Despite all of his problems Balotelli is at least three times a player than Andy Carroll, yet when Torres was sold Liverpool spent almost 75% of his sale to buy Carroll, but when Suarez was sold they only spent about 25% of his sale for Balotelli.

When a club sells its star expensively, every other club will play hardball with them when they're looking for his replacement. Instead we are helping Liverpool. Imagine if we can sell Balotelli for 40M, find a 20M replacement, and then B&G can have their 20M.

[ACMILAN1983]

Milannews says we're considering Suso who's a left footed RW who's owned by Liverpool. I haven't seen much, but am aware he's been doing quite well out on loan.

About the sale of young players, I am still convinced Gallani won't sell them except emergency action need to be done (to save the club FOR REAL) or crazy money every club can not refuse). From the beginning Milan focus on youth, which our young players we have sold? I can only remember Pato. He is not from our youth but he still started to play for Milan in such very young age. However we already now the reason and it is acceptable and logic (we can argue about the price). SES is still with us, so is DES. Cristante has been blocked to move last season and I am pretty sure Galliani will do the same this season.

Ely, Pacifico, Iotti, Merkel, Strasser and Darmian to name a few. There are others, particularly co-ownerships, which rarely seem to work out for us.

We can actually doing same models for stop-gap solution. Instead we sold our best player for only 20M. Don't get me wrong; I am a supporter of Balotelli sale, but the price was an insult. Despite all of his problems Balotelli is at least three times a player than Andy Carroll, yet when Torres was sold Liverpool spent almost 75% of his sale to buy Carroll, but when Suarez was sold they only spent about 25% of his sale for Balotelli.

When a club sells its star expensively, every other club will play hardball with them when they're looking for his replacement. Instead we are helping Liverpool. Imagine if we can sell Balotelli for 40M, find a 20M replacement, and then B&G can have their 20M.

That's what I meant, we use that model for the short term (I don't want to become a selling club). I don't really care about the Balo sale, but the fact is we don't replace the assets we sell for large sums by investing a little on lesser known younger talents who can be sold for a high price.

Yeah definitely. Considering that he probably doesn't have much of a budget to work with, he has actually done a good job this summer. How much have we actually spent on player purchases? 4 million for Rami, 2 for Poli (+ Salamon), 1 million for Saponara and 0.5 million for Albertazzi. Meanwhile we signed Alex, Menez, Armero, Lopez and Torres for free. He has basically changed the squad and signed nine pretty good players for only 7-8 million. Imagine how screwed we would be if we had a "regular" CEO try to do our transfer market with a budget like that.

I am kind of expecting something unexpected before the end of the transfer market though, like what happened when we out of nowhere suddenly signed De Jong. I don't think he'll spend more than 10 million, but I think (hope) there will be some kind of significant investment before the end of the market.

Anyway, so far I consider our best signing this summer to be Diego Lopez. A lot of Real Madrid fans were sad when he left, and felt that he deserved to stay. I have always been a fan of Abbiati, but it was time for a change.

I will probably look to "grade" Galliani's work at the end of the market, but at this point if you look at the overall picture, I'm not overly impressed. Bringing a few decent freebies isn't enough and we do need to look at age and potential resale value. It's like when we signed Mexes and Robinho, many of us (me included) thought they seemed decent deals, not knowing the situation and cost involved in the long term.