04-01-2016, 08:09 AM
(04-01-2016, 02:37 AM)nefremo Wrote: You can't compare Donnarumma's development and De Sciglio's or most other players for example. At his best, De Sciglio still had a long way to go. Everyone (myself included) was basing his future on the account that he will keep growing but we all knew that if he doesn't keep improving he simply isn't good enough. In Donnarumma's case, even if he stops developing/improving today, he is still a top goalkeeper even the way he is right now. There is not much to lose.
I am not sentimental when it comes to players too. I could care less. This isn't about being sentimental and wanting a player to stay in Milan no matter if that means the club moves forward or not with that player. This is in fact about the club for me. I don't believe that the way forward is to get rid of a starting GK at 17 in order to get 40mil Euro.
What can we get with 40mil? Bacca costed 30mil man. This team needs 4-5 strong starters (AT LEAST) to be a contender in Europe and Italy (looking at Juventus). We are not going to get those 4-5 players with 40mil....so we may as well keep our future, keep our best performing current players and take it slow in developing the team a couple great players per year just like how we did last summer. That also means that we can't sign a couple great player but also sell 1 or 2 or we'll find ourselves walking in place.
If you tell me that selling Donnarumma will for example mean getting Berardi, Benatia, Witsel, Vazquez, Vrsaljko.....than ok. It may be a sacrifice worth making depending on how you look at it. But that won't happen. Because other clubs won't sell that easy. Sassuolo won't sell Berrardi for less than 30mil (yes Juventus has a clause for 25, but that's Juventus......they'll want higher bids and make Juve match that. That price is only for Juventus, not for anyone else) and Vrsaljko for less than 20; Witsel won't go for less than 25 (EVEN with only 1 year left in his contract), Vazquez will be AT LEAST 20 knowing Zamparini, and I'm not sure about Benatia...but any top CB will cost at least in the mid 20s. I just threw those names out there as an example....you can come up with as many others as you want of similar quality and the prices will be similar. Point being, even though selling Donnarumma will raise money...it won't fix the squad in itself. I would rather keep the kid and maybe get 1-2 of those players and continue the rebuilding over a couple of years while also having Donnarumma here.
Just my 2 cents...
You are right, it is certainly not fair to compare Donna and DES. But my point was not to compare the two players specifically but rather illustrate a point that young players do not always develop the way we want them to. DES is an easy target to pick on now, but during his debut season, more than one expert out there were throughly impressed by him and amazed by how well he handled himself despite being a first year player. There were many experts and fans out there going "If he can play this well, even if he doesn't get better, he'd still be a good player for us". Fast forward a few years later, DES is garbage and many of us want him sold ASAP.
Developing young players is an art, not a science. There is no magical formula that can guarantee success. Many young players looked amazing at a young age, and ended up regressing over the course of their career. If you don't want to believe me, take a look at guys like Balotelli, Bendtner, Anderson (old Man U midfielder), or Deisler, and see how much they regressed as their careers went on. This is, of course, NOT to say that Donna is on the same path to mediocrity. I am simply pointing out one possible outcome, not saying it will surely happen. For all I know, Donna is the new Buffon.
Player prices certainly have been going crazy, which led to a lot of fans thinking it would take a billion dollars just to build one good team. But the reality is, many clubs around the world are making smart investments and reaping the benefits of that. Sure, even Bacca cost 30M, but how much did Dortmund pay for Aubameyang? 13M! How much did Juventus pay for Pogba? Zero! How much did Roma pay for Pjanic? 11M! If we do our homework and seize the opportunities in the market, 40M can add a great deal of quality to this team. Contrary to popular belief, spending 150M on transfers every season isn't the only way to achieve success, even in today's hyper inflated market. Of course, I am not suggesting that Galliani is capable of doing this, just saying it is a possibility.
At the end of the day, I am with most of you. I don't want Donna sold. Partially because I think he can be a special player, and partially because I don't think Galliani would know what to do with that money.