Summer Mercato 2016
I agree with nefremo, DES is a backup swing full back, and as long as we have capable starters on both sides, spending money to replace him is not necessary. Abate and Antonelli are capable starters, and with only one competition to play for, we really don't need a while lot of depth on the squad. Calabria is young but playing behind Abate and getting time when Abate inevitably misses time with his injuries is a pretty good way to introduce him to the first team. The funding that would've gone to finding a DES replacement can be better utilized elsewhere (like midfield). For years now, we have been a team that pays a lot of money in both transfer fees and salary to bench players, spending a lot to replace DES is basically going down that same path again.
(08-09-2016, 12:41 PM)ACMILAN1983 Wrote: I would love to see us pounce on this:

http://www.football-italia.net/88981/age...ning-leave

Insigne to Milan would be huge, I think he's the most natural attacking talent in the Italian game right now.

I don't know. It seems like an usual trick all agents would play these days to squeeze more money out of the club. The report itself is very vague to me, and I can't really tell what went wrong in his situation. 

Plus, wasn't Lorenzo Insigne born in Naples? You would think that he must be quite loyal to the club. I wouldn't get too excited and lose sleep over it.
Good discussions going on. Let me throw in my two cents:

1. I don't mind Insigne. He is talented and has been consistently performing on a high level, so if he comes it would be great, even if he would cost a fairly steep transfer fee. It is never easy to deal with Napoli, so this one will not be any easier. I am not going to put too much hope on it. Plus, I don't see him leaving Napoli at all. It would have to be a higher-profile team or a lot more money to lure him away. I don't see Milan among that group of clubs yet.

2. I don't want to give up on De Sciglio. First, let's give him one more chance with another coach. Do you know how many coaches this poor kid has worked with? This has to be the most turbulent period of time in recent Milan history, and this guy has seen it all. I think he is talented enough, and so young, I am firmly against letting him go. and finally we have a decent shot at a sane management, and most of our players (barring Matri) deserve a clean start.

Second, he is our only NT member at the moment. What relevance does it bear? His NT membership may not equal his competence, but imagine how bad Milan would look for selling their only Azzurri? It is not just a PR issue, but also, it would speak volume about this club's ambition. You just don't pull stuff like that. After all the damage Galliani and co have caused to this club, selling our only Italy NT player will be profoundly devastating.
As for Insigne, I do not think he will leave. This is probably his agent trying to get more money.

As for Fullbacks. Firstly, Abate is not a starter for me. Hs is simply too ineffective for me in the attack phase. He can barely cross, his runs are predictable and he can't be expected to contribute properly to the attacking buildup.

Antonelli, will suffice for now but apart from that, we have no clue what Vangioni is all about. Calabria is too young and while he is confident and seems determined, he is better sent on loan.

That leaves us DES and if we sell him then what ? With the season almost beginning, who can we get as a replacement? That is another position for which we need to allocate money, figure out a replacement etc. Not the kind of thing we want at this point.
I still wont give up on DES as yet, not when we were poor then and especially now when we have money. He has 'survived' mismanagement of the club with different coaches over relatively short period of time, not to forget 'crappy' defenders who are unable to guide him along. It's like working in a company where the mgt is s***, you get new manager everytime you start to work well w/ him, plus incompetent senior guys among you. The fact that Merkel, Paloschi, Cristante were sold even before getting playing time, made me even want to keep him, he may not become next Maldini, but under right environment he still could develop, at least consistenly at the level he showed during Euro.  Thats my faith in himDevilcool
So it's everyones fault, but De Sciglio's. Coaches, management, the players around him, etc. Everyone, but him. Until wjen are we going to keep using that as an excuse for his inconsistency and poor performances?! At some point that has to stop and he has to fulfil his potential.

Just for the record, i have not given up on him nor do i just want to get rid of him. My point is, if you can replace a rotation player in a position at which you already have coverage....with a starter in a position at which we are struggling.......it seems like a no brainer for me.

somedevil....Abate may not be a starter for you, and he may not be a starter for me either......but the fact is that he was more of a starter for this team last year than MDS.
I think De Sciglio must take responsibility for his performances, as should all players. If he's to become the player we hope, I think he needs to try and take on responsibilities not just of himself, but also more in the team. That said, it's not just down to him that his performances have been the way they have in the past couple of years. Injuries and the situation at the club have been nothing short of toxic in his case, a young player trying to mature and grow. It's not just him, we've wasted numerous opportunities to grow young talents, DES, SES, Cristante (whose career has been wasted), Mauri (so far), Suso and also Niang have all struggled to try and grow in the club. Compound that with no experienced reference points in the squad to try and lean on and suddenly it becomes much harder. It's worth reading about how Pirlo (in his book) talks about the influence Maldini and Costacurta in the dressing room, or how those to talk about guys like Baresi and you immediately see how important this is.

However, I think on the flip side, the guy is still young at 23 (I'd say 24-25 is the best point of full maturity for most top players) and imo showed not just in the Euros and Coppa final, but also a number of matches before that, signs of recovery and confidence. I don't think this will stop, in fact seeing Montella's work so far in preseason, I feel confident that DES can actually grow under him now that a lot of the difficulties he had are starting to be put behind him.

His challenges mentally (which he's admitted to) have clearly played a part in his performances in recent years. The lack of confidence was clear to see, but I (and assume others) totally underestimated how big a factor it had become. With this in mind, the time it takes to recover is heavily impacted. However, on the flip side, if there's one thing to take it's that DES' professionalism was never actually questioned at any point and his "feeling guilt" for eating pizza shows that he's committed to his career, even if in this case it was an extreme reaction and counterproductive. Honestly, I look at the man and I think we have a good guy here, that should foremost be the most important characteristic when looking at players.

As for whether we're more patient or forgiving for players that are homegrown. In my case I openly admit that I am. Not that they get a free pass from me, but I've always advocated the value of homegrown players. They are the best representatives for creating an identity at the club and being a symbol of the club's values. DES has many qualities that can represent Milan, with his discipline, professionalism and "clean" character. Not just to those coming in, but you look at the number of times youth talents currently in the Milan set up talking about how they look up to DES, and it's pretty clear that this can represents more than just what he shows on matchdays.

This is why DES has never been "sellable" in my view, I think he's a valuable piece to rebuilding Milan and bringing it back to being Milan again. I'm confident that we'll see an improved DES this season. I said the same last summer and while my estimates were wrong in how long it would take for him to recover, I think we've seen good signs of recovery since then and so believe he's headed in the right direction. I want to give him another year, maybe two before I really question his value to the club.
We are spending our extra 15 million on Rodrigo Bentacur he is a 19 year old midfielder from Boca Juniors and he will also rule oit Sosa and Cuadrado because he takes the non-eu spot.
Its not that he is not totally to be blamed for what he is now, but imo major part that fails him so far is his surroundings. I agree it has to stop somewhere, but now we will have new set of mgt with (hopefully) stable environment, no better time than this for him to develop further so Im willing to give him that chance, another 1-2 yrs..

Galliani is so good, out of nowhere he could come up with a midfield Bentacur. Why didnt he do this start of mercato.
https://youtu.be/SUzxuC5tEUk

Seems attacking midfield with very good dribbling and technique, very young though 19yo