Summer Mercato 2011

[HO-YOUNG]

I hereby use the medium to hand over all transfers to "Revolver"... i am transferring 100 Million Euros to your PayPal account... all i ask for in return is the champions league, 2 Derby wins, and Scudetto!!!

[Aficio]

Hi Revolver. I agree with you about Schweinsteiger, he is also the first on my list. I hope that Galliani, Allegri and of course Berlusconi have the same opinion. With him, I don't think we really need Ganso, Hamsik,... Boateng is not a great passer or shooter, but we have Schweini behind him and Ibra/Cassano before him.

[ElMago99]

How much would Schweinsteiger cost? Why would a German on the best German team (history-wise), want to leave?

I can see Schweini, Gattuso/Boateng, & Van bommel playing together. However, who will be the ACM?

[WCmilan]

Yeah i think theres better players to put acm then schweini, he would do great at LCM, but i think the perfect player would be pastore or ganso for this mercato

[Aficio]

The ACM is Boateng.

- We have two most creative forwards in Ibra and Cassano.
- We also have a creative LCM in Schweinsteiger.

So behind and in front of the ACM are there always creative players.

Boateng's main job is not to create but to collect the ball and deliver it to the creative forward(s). Binho can also do this job. This system can also fit Ganso to LCM position. We'll have at least two creative players at the same time, one at LCM, one at SS.

[Revolver]

How much would Schweinsteiger cost? Why would a German on the best German team (history-wise), want to leave?

I can see Schweini, Gattuso/Boateng, & Van bommel playing together. However, who will be the ACM?

I can surely say he would cost more than Hamsik.

But I think there is really no price too big for him, because we would be getting an established world-class all-around midfielder who was/is amazing in pretty mediocre Bayern team, even against big teams (like Manchester Utd), and yet he's still 26, he can play at this level or even better for at least 5-6 years.

And as he hasn't really won anything with Bayern, he's eager to aim for the titles, and that would be the reason for him to leave.

As Aficio pointed out, there is really no urgency to sign an attacking midfielder if we sign Bastian, with all great players around him Boateng could blend in really nice.

[Beppe]

Hernanes would be my choice for LCM He would really take our midfield to another level, add Ganso as trequartista and we could go far in CL!

[Siregar]

I don't like the idea using Boateng especially against big team in CL although there are creative players behind and in front of him. Boateng can bridge the midfield and the forward but he lacks the ability to keep the ball, utilize it, etc. He can only take the pass from a midfielder and then directly to the forward. We are not that optimal having such king of quality in central position like CAM.

About Schweinsteiger, I still think it is pretty impossible to get Schweinsteiger. If he does want to move to win something, he wouldn't renew his contract. There is chance to get him but still little chance. Similar with Fabregas but to Schweinsteiger is probably little more possible than Fabregas.

[ACMILAN1983]

Montolivio would be a reasonable addition to the team either as a starter or a squad player. He's a decent enough player, maybe not a world beater but definitely not a bad player. Prince wasn't world class when we got him (he still isn't) but he did more for the team than many 'world-class' players did for their teams last season. So, as long as we bring in a player that can be effective, whether it's Maradona or Crouch, I'm happy. After all, as fans our primary aim is winning trophies and not having a big name squad that wins nothing!

Bear in mind Montolivo is a couple of years older than Boateng, who's only just reaching the age of when he should be peaking, while Montolivo should already be there. I'm also generally not that keen on Montolivo as I think he lacks the character or mentality to take control of big matches, something I can't remember him doing, while Boateng has a lot of character and adds a lot of bite to our team, especially in big games.

I've been out of this forum for quite some time, so let me discuss our transfer "targets" in one post.

It's obvious that our targets are a left-sided center midfielder (famous "mezz'ala sinistra") and an attacking midfielder.

Firstly I want to express my opinion on attacking midfielder.
Last year, we all saw that Allegri wants a compact midfield with four real midfielders. We all saw Boateng drops deep to participate in team play, tracks back to help in defense, presses up in the final third and even covers a midfielder who failed to cover his spot on time. That's an attacking midfielder who participates much in the center of the pitch and in defensive side of the game. AND he can fill another slot in midfield, if needed.
Now, we are witnessing various attacking midfielders linked with us. Pastore, Kaka, Ganso and Hamsik are four most common names heard. Because they are different types of player Allegri likes to be his attacking midfielder, I would write off Pastore and Kaka. As for Hamsik, I don't think he's our real target, either. Our real target is ought to be Ganso then. That's more likely too because it's clear that we don't have the money to spend on two big signings in this summer window. And left-midfield slot is really more urgent. So, Galliani will probably make a deal for Ganso to become our player in January transfer window.

Now for left-center midfielder.
Some names to mention are De Rossi, Schweinsteiger, Fabregas, Montolivo, Marchisio and Aquilani. I would say no for Aquilani and Marchisio right away. Aquilani is too injury prone and Marchisio is not the caliber we need. Perhaps as a cover he could be nice addition, but as a starter no. De Rossi will be hard to leave Rome and he's more like a hair to Gattuso and less like a left-center midfielder we need, and at this point in time it's science fiction for us to buy three classy midfielders.
Stay Fabregas, Schweinsteiger and Montolivo.
If we take that Ganso will be third midfielder, beside Van Bommel and Gattuso (two sure starters), we are certain that there will be enough power but not enough speed, because Boateng is pretty fast player and Ganso is... well, slow. That writes off Montolivo: The guy is smart, but neither have speed, nor power, nor energy to make this midfield. When mentioning Boateng that much, without him and with Ganso we are losing not just speed but energy too. And knowing that Van Bommel and Gattuso are pretty old, no matter what magic Allegri uses here (and he's fantastic doing that), we need much more energy than those two along with Ganso can provide. Furthermore, to make a REALLY strong and fearsome midfield we need another player who can bite. Fabregas is not that type of player. He's not willing to fight that much, he's not quick, he's weak physically... Which leaves us with Schweinsteiger.
I think that's our number one target for the summer and the best player we can buy at the moment. He's got it all: Great energy, great work ethics, power, pretty good speed, intelligence, playmaking skills, an eye for a killer pass, an eye for a goal, can attack, can defend, virtually can play in every position in midfield with great success... When talking about him it's like talking about Clarence Seedorf about 7-8 years ago. And he can't get a better compliment from me, because Seedorf in his prime was the best all-around midfielder I have ever seen. And in my opinion, Schweinsteiger is the best all-around midfielder in the world in last couple of years.
If we take him now it would really take our team to the next level. Take Ganso in January and we're the team to beat, bare Barcelona.

Welcome back, a well thought out post which has very good arguments. I wouldn't rule out Hamsik though, even if De Laurentis is being stupidly stubborn.

About Ganso being slow, it's true he's physically slower than Boateng and lacks the same movement, but one common feature both share is neither holds the ball for long. Boateng generally likes to be involved in quick passing moves with teammates, while Ganso rarely takes more than a couple of touches when playing, and if he does it's usually when intentionally looking to slow the game down.

Nice to read your post again Revolver. You described well what we need.

Just quick questions regarding Schweinsteiger:
1. How about his consistency playing with Bayern München? Could he provide his WC 2010's performances regularly?
2. Isn't that Schweinsteiger also pretty impossible to get since he just renewed his contract at the end of this season?

I really would like to have Schweinsteiger playing with Milan. Compare to Seedorf IMO Schweinsteiger is much better in term of creativity and play-making the game from the midfield. Not to mention his speed and dribble when going forward plus his scoring ability.

Revolver answered your questions well so I don't have much to say, but I will add that it's been difficult for Sweinsteiger this past year because he's been in a side that's has been poorly managed in every respect. This, and Van Bommel's input could potentially swing a deal in our favour.

How much would Schweinsteiger cost? Why would a German on the best German team (history-wise), want to leave?

I can see Schweini, Gattuso/Boateng, & Van bommel playing together. However, who will be the ACM?

Simply put, the team is not in a good state this past year, and it's difficult to see how much they will improve in the coming year.

I think there's a possibility of seeing a future midfield of...

---------------MvB------------------
-----Boateng--------Sweinsteiger---
---------------Ganso----------------

If Boateng can mature and is tactically better disciplined, then he really could be a great player for midfield. Sweinsteiger is a really well balanced midfielder and is sound defensively, as well as a major player going forward and we need a destroyer in front of defence, currently it's MvB or Ambro. While we lack a destroyer like Gattuso in the side, if the players are prepared to work for the side and perform their duties, then this would be better balanced than the current midfield.

An interesting bit of news about Ganso too, as Anzhi have denied any bid for him so far, while PSG are apparently trying to bid 30m. However, the player wants Milan according to his agent, and with Ganso's supposed comments about wanting Milan in January and Galliani's recent comments of waiting until January for Brazilian players, the signs point to Ganso to us in January.

The ACM is Boateng.

- We have two most creative forwards in Ibra and Cassano.
- We also have a creative LCM in Schweinsteiger.

So behind and in front of the ACM are there always creative players.

Boateng's main job is not to create but to collect the ball and deliver it to the creative forward(s). Binho can also do this job. This system can also fit Ganso to LCM position. We'll have at least two creative players at the same time, one at LCM, one at SS.

I wouldn't use Ganso in LCM if I'm honest, I don't think he's what we want there, and therefore would rather Boateng pulled back with Ganso in ACM. However, an interesting movement we'd see by having this shape would be Ganso often likes to come deep to pick up the ball and dictate matches, which would leave gaps higher up for our mezzala to push up into.

[Gabriel426]

Did I miss something, b/c as far as I know Schweinsteiger is not for sale or he is for a very high amount. There were talks toward the end of the season that Bayern might be selling or their players wanting out due to fear of no CL football. Since they will be playing in the CL, all are good. Beside why would Bayern want to sell Schweinsteiger in the first place. He is at his prime and sort of like the symbol of the club at this moment.