Summer Mercato

[slifersd]

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).

Truth be told? I don't know enough about Cristante to make an informed opinion on him as a prospect. But I am not betting on him being a whole lot better than Poli. Again, this comes back to young players developing. Poli was at one point the new Pirlo, and then ended up being well short of those expectations. Cristante, from everything I have heard, is only a stand out among AC Milan ranks. And Milan doesn't exactly have a very strong collection of young players anyway. So, to compare him to the likes of Pirlo or Xavi is premature, and I seriously doubt he ever gets anywhere near that level. He will probably end up a good player, worthy of putting on a jersey and play, but you can certainly find better players out there too.

[ACMILAN1983]

Truth be told? I don't know enough about Cristante to make an informed opinion on him as a prospect. But I am not betting on him being a whole lot better than Poli. Again, this comes back to young players developing. Poli was at one point the new Pirlo, and then ended up being well short of those expectations. Cristante, from everything I have heard, is only a stand out among AC Milan ranks. And Milan doesn't exactly have a very strong collection of young players anyway. So, to compare him to the likes of Pirlo or Xavi is premature, and I seriously doubt he ever gets anywhere near that level. He will probably end up a good player, worthy of putting on a jersey and play, but you can certainly find better players out there too.

You're contradicting yourself here, saying you can't make an informed opinion on him (which is fair and understandable), but then go ahead to write him off.

Cristante isn't just a standout player at Milan, he's getting his talent recognised across the world. He was considered one of the most promising midfielders coming through for a long time, but especially gained prominence after his full debut vs Atalanta last January as he caught a lot of the mass media's eye. Unfortunately for him, last season wasn't good because Allegri and Seedorf never (or barely) used him. Allegri said it was to protect him, while under Seedorf he had a period out injured and then got shoved back into Primavera.

This is definitely not the same as Poli, who was only really hyped amongst followers of Italian football. Not to say I don't rate Poli, I think he's a very good midfielder who could be potentially excellent if he shows more personality and tactical awareness. However, these are areas which Cristante has excelled in as he was also captain and voted best player in the last Viareggio tournament (essentially the youth level CL) which Pippo's side won.

As for Milan youth not being very strong, you're wide off the mark there. Traditionally under Berlusconi we've not invested in youth development, but there's been a significant shift in that regard in recent years (I'd say maybe 5-6 years), where we've increased scouting and introduced a lot of great prospects (hence we got guys like Cristante and Mastour). I can't remember precisely where I read it, but I read not too long ago that in terms of consistent results across all levels, Milan actually has the best youth academy set up in Italy now. While I take many, MANY issues with things going on at the club, this is one aspect I think the management deserve some recognition for.

[reza]

It has yet to benefit the club though, three or four years from now is not good enough in my opinion. The reason I say not good enough is because if we are still in as much need - for cheap and perhaps youth or home grown players - three or four years from now it is not a good sign. Sure it may mean we are more self sustaining but the window for a return to the big time is not open ended in my opinion.

[ACMILAN1983]

I totally agree Reza, that's one of the many issues I have. If I'm honest I had hoped Darmian and Albertazzi would be the first signs of success, though we obviously had other ideas at the time and developing youth wasn't one of them. When Strasser and especially Merkel came through, I thought that we were finally showing signs of the project taking off, but the management again failed to utilise our assets (well, we got SES thanks to Merkel). Truth is it looks like the club might finally be ready to show a little patience to get these guys integrated into the first team squad, starting with DES and I can see this being Cristante's breakthrough year too. Obviously we need patience, but we should be seeing some results of the work done at youth level in the near future.

[Jokka]

I'm afraid we're going to have to wait 2-3 years before any success like Barbara said. If ever there was a time to invest it would be now and we haven't. This is the 3rd year running where we've barely spent a penny. People say we paid 12m for Matri but forget that was covered by Boateng's sale. All this talk about getting back into CL and we hired a rookie coach and a bunch of free transfer rejects.

The only logical conclusion is Milan's investing 'transfer money' into youth (players/scouts/coaches/facilities) and special projects (Casa Milan/stadium). This bodes well for the clubs long term future but obviously not now. It's also interesting most signings have been either late 20's/early 30's. I'd expect these players to be nearing the end of their career in 2-3 years when we start promoting youth.

[slifersd]

Truth be told? I don't know enough about Cristante to make an informed opinion on him as a prospect. But I am not betting on him being a whole lot better than Poli. Again, this comes back to young players developing. Poli was at one point the new Pirlo, and then ended up being well short of those expectations. Cristante, from everything I have heard, is only a stand out among AC Milan ranks. And Milan doesn't exactly have a very strong collection of young players anyway. So, to compare him to the likes of Pirlo or Xavi is premature, and I seriously doubt he ever gets anywhere near that level. He will probably end up a good player, worthy of putting on a jersey and play, but you can certainly find better players out there too.

You're contradicting yourself here, saying you can't make an informed opinion on him (which is fair and understandable), but then go ahead to write him off.

Cristante isn't just a standout player at Milan, he's getting his talent recognised across the world. He was considered one of the most promising midfielders coming through for a long time, but especially gained prominence after his full debut vs Atalanta last January as he caught a lot of the mass media's eye. Unfortunately for him, last season wasn't good because Allegri and Seedorf never (or barely) used him. Allegri said it was to protect him, while under Seedorf he had a period out injured and then got shoved back into Primavera.

This is definitely not the same as Poli, who was only really hyped amongst followers of Italian football. Not to say I don't rate Poli, I think he's a very good midfielder who could be potentially excellent if he shows more personality and tactical awareness. However, these are areas which Cristante has excelled in as he was also captain and voted best player in the last Viareggio tournament (essentially the youth level CL) which Pippo's side won.

As for Milan youth not being very strong, you're wide off the mark there. Traditionally under Berlusconi we've not invested in youth development, but there's been a significant shift in that regard in recent years (I'd say maybe 5-6 years), where we've increased scouting and introduced a lot of great prospects (hence we got guys like Cristante and Mastour). I can't remember precisely where I read it, but I read not too long ago that in terms of consistent results across all levels, Milan actually has the best youth academy set up in Italy now. While I take many, MANY issues with things going on at the club, this is one aspect I think the management deserve some recognition for.

Very fair point on Cristante. I probably have seen too little of him to actually give a fair projection of his future career. But I think the same lack of information applies to everyone else here, since none of us have seen much of him at all. My point was, while I do not know how his career would actually play out, it is too early and way too risky for us to think of him as the next Pirlo or Verrati or Xavi, and build our midfield around him. To me, at this point, it is a 50-50 chance he turns into Fabregas or Anderson. If the goal of this club is indeed to become one of the best in the world again, those odds are not good enough for us, just ask Alex Ferguson.

Another reason I have doubts about Cristante is indeed because of what happened last season. Going into the season, he was touted as the next great player coming through the youth sector. And yet, when our midfield was nothing short of crap, neither Allegri or Seedorf wanted to play him. Is that just because the coaches like the experienced crap we have on the team, or is it because Cristante just simply isn't ready to play? The couple of games he played looked promising, but it is easy to have one good game, but much harder to have a good season. Allegri was the guy who basically gave ELS and DES their breakout seasons with the first team, so its not like he doesn't know how to use young players. DES came through and took over the RB spot from a decent player in Abate, and yet Cristante couldn't get a spot over Muntari? Is that just coincidence or is it indicative of his quality? I don't think any of us really has the answer to that question.

Milan youth sector has been getting better in recent years, in terms of record, but that to me is not the point. Youth sectors winning championships and have great team chemistry doesn't do much to the first team, because most of the players will not make it to the first team. Youth sector needs to be able to produce players the first team can use. And yet, look at our youth sector, we pretty much sold every recognizable player in the 18 year old group this summer alone. How is that for producing quality? Just because those kids played and won some youth tournament doesn't make them high quality. If all of them end up not being able to break through to first team, we are wasting our time and money with them.

Relaying on youth is a good strategy, but it is also very very risky. Young players do not have a lot of guarantees when it comes to their development. Guys like Mastour could look like the new Messi at 16 and end up playing in Serie C when they are 25. If we are to relay on our youth teams, we have to be able to produce young players in quality and quantity, something even an improved youth team at Milan has failed to do for us. Will they get there one day? Who knows, but we might be running out of time already on that because we won't make it to CL for a long long time.

Considering the financial rewards of the CL, no major team in Europe can have a high quality team without being in CL on yearly bases. That is why teams like PSG, Man City and even Man Utd invest like there is no tomorrow to make sure they challenge for league title every year. Put it this way, let's say if Milan youth team all of a sudden experienced a major boom and sent 10 players of high quality to first team. What happens when we miss out on the CL year in and year out while these guys are still learning their roles and developing? We won't have the money to give these guys the raises they will be seeking, and therefore will basically have to sell them to highest bidder year after year. The 10 men group will essentially have to be stripped for parts, because we don't have the CL cash to cover it. That is why our goal as a team every year has to be to get to CL, no matter what the circumstances, because two or three years without CL is basically nail to the coffin for us. And yet, simply relaying on youth team popping out stars of tomorrow year after year will not be able to guarantee us CL participation.

[Siregar]

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.

Sorry, I did not fully explain about the bold part. What I mean, our young players who is already the starter (and play well) of our team in such a very young age like De Sciglio or Shaarwy or who is really talented (we can see their talent partly from the interest of other club to buy the youngsters) like Cristante. The players who are or in short time will be the core of our team.

Merkel was in the path to be our regular starter but still he did not play regularly and most important thing overall performed not that well. The rests were prospect and hot prospect for the future.

---

I'm afraid we're going to have to wait 2-3 years before any success like Barbara said. If ever there was a time to invest it would be now and we haven't. This is the 3rd year running where we've barely spent a penny. People say we paid 12m for Matri but forget that was covered by Boateng's sale. All this talk about getting back into CL and we hired a rookie coach and a bunch of free transfer rejects.

The only logical conclusion is Milan's investing 'transfer money' into youth (players/scouts/coaches/facilities) and special projects (Casa Milan/stadium). This bodes well for the clubs long term future but obviously not now. It's also interesting most signings have been either late 20's/early 30's. I'd expect these players to be nearing the end of their career in 2-3 years when we start promoting youth.

The bold part information is not clear. I personally have not read clear information and we keep low cost transfer to fund the stuff in the bold part. This is why so many fans do not believe Galliani co any more. Last couple of years we were talking about how to reduce the wages and we succeed to do it but still so little money available for transfer. This is frustrating, a big club like Milan act like small club in transfer market.

[ACMILAN1983]

We might see protests against the mercato tonight:

http://www.milannews.it/rassegna-stampa/...ato-153912

Sorry, I did not fully explain about the bold part. What I mean, our young players who is already the starter (and play well) of our team in such a very young age like De Sciglio or Shaarwy or who is really talented (we can see their talent partly from the interest of other club to buy the youngsters) like Cristante. The players who are or in short time will be the core of our team.

Merkel was in the path to be our regular starter but still he did not play regularly and most important thing overall performed not that well. The rests were prospect and hot prospect for the future.

At this point, we've just about held onto these players. However, there have been serious doubts over Cristante leaving this summer and El Shaarawy would have been sold already if he didn't reject the move.

Merkel performed well in the scudetto winning season. Bear in mind he was only 18 at the time and wasn't going to be more than a squad player. It's also a comment on the kid that Allegri told senior players to do what he wants (due to his tactical understanding of the game) and Capello specifically picked him out as a player for the future. Don't get me wrong, his career has nosedived since, but I think a lot of that is to do with the lack of nurturing in Italian football and for him specifically at Milan, Genoa and Udinese (by this point I think he was really struggling anyway).

Very fair point on Cristante. I probably have seen too little of him to actually give a fair projection of his future career. But I think the same lack of information applies to everyone else here, since none of us have seen much of him at all. My point was, while I do not know how his career would actually play out, it is too early and way too risky for us to think of him as the next Pirlo or Verrati or Xavi, and build our midfield around him. To me, at this point, it is a 50-50 chance he turns into Fabregas or Anderson. If the goal of this club is indeed to become one of the best in the world again, those odds are not good enough for us, just ask Alex Ferguson.

Another reason I have doubts about Cristante is indeed because of what happened last season. Going into the season, he was touted as the next great player coming through the youth sector. And yet, when our midfield was nothing short of crap, neither Allegri or Seedorf wanted to play him. Is that just because the coaches like the experienced crap we have on the team, or is it because Cristante just simply isn't ready to play? The couple of games he played looked promising, but it is easy to have one good game, but much harder to have a good season. Allegri was the guy who basically gave ELS and DES their breakout seasons with the first team, so its not like he doesn't know how to use young players. DES came through and took over the RB spot from a decent player in Abate, and yet Cristante couldn't get a spot over Muntari? Is that just coincidence or is it indicative of his quality? I don't think any of us really has the answer to that question.

Milan youth sector has been getting better in recent years, in terms of record, but that to me is not the point. Youth sectors winning championships and have great team chemistry doesn't do much to the first team, because most of the players will not make it to the first team. Youth sector needs to be able to produce players the first team can use. And yet, look at our youth sector, we pretty much sold every recognizable player in the 18 year old group this summer alone. How is that for producing quality? Just because those kids played and won some youth tournament doesn't make them high quality. If all of them end up not being able to break through to first team, we are wasting our time and money with them.

Relaying on youth is a good strategy, but it is also very very risky. Young players do not have a lot of guarantees when it comes to their development. Guys like Mastour could look like the new Messi at 16 and end up playing in Serie C when they are 25. If we are to relay on our youth teams, we have to be able to produce young players in quality and quantity, something even an improved youth team at Milan has failed to do for us. Will they get there one day? Who knows, but we might be running out of time already on that because we won't make it to CL for a long long time.

Considering the financial rewards of the CL, no major team in Europe can have a high quality team without being in CL on yearly bases. That is why teams like PSG, Man City and even Man Utd invest like there is no tomorrow to make sure they challenge for league title every year. Put it this way, let's say if Milan youth team all of a sudden experienced a major boom and sent 10 players of high quality to first team. What happens when we miss out on the CL year in and year out while these guys are still learning their roles and developing? We won't have the money to give these guys the raises they will be seeking, and therefore will basically have to sell them to highest bidder year after year. The 10 men group will essentially have to be stripped for parts, because we don't have the CL cash to cover it. That is why our goal as a team every year has to be to get to CL, no matter what the circumstances, because two or three years without CL is basically nail to the coffin for us. And yet, simply relaying on youth team popping out stars of tomorrow year after year will not be able to guarantee us CL participation.

Depends on what you define as seeing much of him. Personally, I've been following him closely in Primavera and whenever he's been in the senior set up, so I feel confident in saying I've seen a fair amount of him. If people generally watch Milan friendlies, then a lot of people will have seen him in around 5-10 games now (never mind competitive matches). It's probably not enough to say whether he's going to be amazing, but it should be enough to give some indication on whether he has a potential future with us and whether he's earnt opportunities at the club.

About last season, Allegri and Tassotti made it clear that the reason he wasn't playing was to try and protect him during a tough time. It's not about whether he was good enough or not (bear in mind Allegri also gave him a senior debut in CL at age 16). As for Seedorf, I'm not certain why he left him out, but then again, I was never enamoured with Seedorf's lineups anyway (to put it mildly) and really the fact he kept playing Essien when the guy was flopping badly really suggests to me that his decisions shouldn't necessarily be held against Cristante. Let's face it, we're talking about a guy who made Mexes captain to try and motivate him. As for competing with Muntari, don't forget Cristante's primarily a DM, not a mezzala. He's versatile enough that he can do the role, but it's not a natural role for him.

Regarding DES and SES breaking through, it's worth noting the only reason DES actually got a run of games was because we had an injury crisis. Had that not happened, I don't think DES would be the example he is today. As for SES and I'd argue Niang too, they really earnt their spots, but also during a season where alternative options weren't available in abundance.

On your comment about producing youth players for the first team is totally true. I use results solely because it's one of the only indicators we have on whether there's any success in the youth setup. However, imo a lot of the lack of success in bringing through our youth is due to our own lack of faith or patience in young talent. This isn't only in Milan, but is a problem across Italian football. In a CNN article (http://worldsport.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/...g-players/) I read Italian football is statiscally the worst when it comes to clubs having players in their first team squads that spent 3 or more years in the youth set up. This is a much wider issue that's at the heart of the discussion in Italian football's future.

To quote I'm referring to is:

"According to the CIES (International Center for Sports Studies) Football Observatory's 2013 Demographic Study, Italy has the lowest percentage of players who spent three years at the club they are at now between the ages of 15 and 21."

I think spending huge sums to stay in CL is far riskier than having a youth project in place. Frankly, the reason we are at the stage we're at is because we no longer have that money to spend since our funding (Berlusconi) is no longer willing to spend huge sums.

[Siregar]

At this point, we've just about held onto these players. However, there have been serious doubts over Cristante leaving this summer and El Shaarawy would have been sold already if he didn't reject the move.

Cristante's rumour is due to his limited games he got IMO. The management however still see him as our very talented player. The rumour I read is about a loan but as I mentioned the management blocked it last season and I have a quick read (I forge where) Berlusconi also block his move this season.

About Shaarawy, did he really reject the move? As far as I know, when he was in his top form (last two seasons), some clubs were rumoured to be interested to buy him but there was no concrete offer or possibly the price the clubs gave is maximum a normal expensive price, not a crazy one, a price what IMO Milan will let their player go.

Merkel performed well in the scudetto winning season. Bear in mind he was only 18 at the time and wasn't going to be more than a squad player. It's also a comment on the kid that Allegri told senior players to do what he wants (due to his tactical understanding of the game) and Capello specifically picked him out as a player for the future. Don't get me wrong, his career has nosedived since, but I think a lot of that is to do with the lack of nurturing in Italian football and for him specifically at Milan, Genoa and Udinese (by this point I think he was really struggling anyway).

Merkel was big surprise for us but I do forget he performed well putting aside his age in that time. The management indeed sold our first best young player who could play for the firs team but the action Galliani co did was still make a reasonable move as he tried to get one of Italian best talent. We sacrificed our youth product (actually not a pure one IIRC since we got him from Stuttgart or other German club at the age of 15 or 16) and got Italian big talent. Merkel unfortunately was not an Italian, something the management care about (Berlu and Galliani has made some statements that they like Italian identity in Milan team).

If Galliani co for example sell El Shaarawy or De Sciglio for a normal market price, it is then the utmost signal that there is no hope for AC Milan. Until I see it, I still has hope with the policy the management has been following.

[Gio-mania]

We haven't gotten any concrete offers for SES and DES as far as I know, so it's difficult to say that they are steadfast on the whole project. But we did receive a € 6M offer for Cristante which we are yet to accept. But it's a completely different story when Real Madrid or PSG come knocking on the door with a 30M+ offer. We'll see.

Frankly the fact that we haven't sold SES and DES is the only thing holding the youth project together. What ever happened to that U23 policy? Of course we did get Balotelli, Poli and Saponara but for each of these players there are countless players past their time. And did we not just offload half a dozen youth players during this mercato? Essentially all of our 20 year olds. Most of them have gone on to minor clubs (Serie B and C, as opposed to the Aubameyangs, Darmians and Merkels which originally went to smaller Serie A sides). So maybe they weren't that great and the management is "excused" for not betting on them. But doesn't that make you question the quality of our youth academy? Of course, we've yet to see what will become of the 16-18 year olds.

It is too early to tell if the management is really trying to build on youth. As with our nescience on any offers for SES and DES, we'll only find out when we get there. But given their recent track record, I think my skepticism is very well grounded.