Winter Mercato

ZLATANOV STEZAGUD ROSSONERO 11 pick up the best from those and discuss with me

actually your whole list is pretty good, its just a case of getting the right few from it. I dont like saying who we should buy until we know what money will be available and we cant know that for sure until CL participation is ensured. Heinze obviously is different as he would potentially cost nothing anyway

And a 3rd choice at Man Utd is good enough for Milan? I don't think so...

thats ignoring the circumstances though. Evra and Heinze have battled for 1st choice but on current form Evra is amongst the best on the planet and has been integral to Utds league form thus far. There is no shame in Heinze being sub to him at the moment.

The Bale situation is complicated because he is only 17 and Heinze will still be a superior player but Utd have to buy Bale soon because otherwise he will end up at Chelsea, Arsenal, Real, Liverpool or someone else. It is an investment for the future and will most likely be a big investment, £10m or so. When you spend that much money on someone they cannot be 3rd in line and will have to play occasionally, so basically Heinze is just a victim of circumstance, he is not detiorating as a player and is still worthy of Milan. I do worry his psychotic streak may not be totally suited to Serie A though

Originally Posted by zlatanov

I also read about this guy but had my reservations due to the usual hype that goes around most of the time for no reason at all.
But given what he did in a high profile game like the greek derby, and him being a 16 yo who just recently came into the senior team from the youth formations, I have to agree that this is not something you see everyday.

Ninis is a small guy. Something like Diego and Rosicky, so i really don't know if he can make it in serie A someday, even when he'll be much older.
But he's substituting his "handicap" with great pace and incredibille technique.
He played his first professional match this January. He was in PAO's youngsters, but the coach Vitor Munoz saw the huge potential and included him in the first team. On that first match against Egaleao he wasn't good .............. he was SENSATIONAL.
Since then he's a real hit.
He plays as a Right Midfielder , and so far, on the 7 matches he played for Panathinaicos, he was always the best player on the field, scoring 2 and assisting 5 goals.

It's hard to find videos of him, but i managed to find some of his goals and assists :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQIY5qsMDfk (goal)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaBKvsN4Mfc (assist)
http://www.goal4replay.net/GoalWatch.asp?ID=1237&Ln=En ( goal)
http://www.goal4replay.net/GoalWatch.asp?ID=1240&Ln=En ( assist)
http://www.goal4replay.net/GoalWatch.asp?ID=1236&Ln=En ( assist from corner)

Assisting goals is what this boy does best, but he's also great in putting the opponents defence in panic with his pace.
Still, he's only 16 and i think we can talk more seriously after 2-3 years.

Originally Posted by hishamilan

i realised un suitability of arteta and montolivo and i think we must first sort our priorities:
1)dida's replacement: buffon< too expensive >
amelia < very good >
steklenberg < promising+cheap>
2)maldini and billy "s replacment: alex psv < excellent >
heinze < good but not probably >
barzagli < excellent but going to juve >
mertetsacker < great >
3)overall midfeild backup: sneider < technical but weak and injury-jinxed >
bodmer lille <excellent >
lucho gonzalez < very good but commited and exp.>
4)inzaghi's replacement: etoo < great and likely due to recent events >
klose < great and avilable >
pizzaro < not milan's class >
huntelaar < cheap talented young >

goalkeepers:
as Steza said, it's a good list no doubt but at this point in time is more or less irelevent as we still don't know how much, approximately, Milan would be willing to spend thissummer and on what type of players.
But still, here's my take on the players:

buffon - true he is expensive, very expensive, but if there is a keeper out there who's better than Dida, in ceratin aspects at least, that's buffon. At 29 yo, he has at least 4-5 excellent years ahead of him, so if Milan can make space for him in our budget, I think he would be worth going for.

I have to say though that I am having a liking for Akinfeev (a bit inexperineced IMO for an immediate starter at Milan), Coupet, and Reina (from Liverpool) ... I wouldn't mind any of these at Milan.

Amelia - as time goes on I am starting to think he's a bit overhyped as he tends to let in too many goals, and does that often and won't be as cheap as Stekelenburg, who I am starting to prefer over the Italian.

Defense:

Alex - one of my favourite choices for a CD as he has the type of physical presence that is simply a must against tall and physical strikers, who become more and more popular these days. He has great tactical awareness too and is surprisingly mobile and quick for a player of his size. He's been one of the best players in Holland for second year running and was great for PSV vs Milan.

I am particularly keen on Cris from Lyon ... very impressive defender, neither too young nor too old, and has everything I could ask for in a defender.

Mexes and Chivu are two other good options I think, while Zapata is easily among the best of the younger generation of CD coming in.

Heinze or Abidal, I'd be happy with either of them, and if Heinze is gonna be a free agent soon, it's a no brainer from a financial point of view. They are both solid at LB, pretty good going forward and can play CD if necessary. I think Abidal has a slight edge but if he's gonna cost us 15 mil and Heinze nothing, then I guess Heinze it is .

Mertesacker had a great world cup, best German defender hands down. I think he is an interesting option although I am not sure how he would fare against the tricky and agile attackers in Italy.

Barzagli - overrated IMO. I personally expect him to be another Legrotaglie ... wouldn't want him at Milan unless he was available for free, and he isn't - looking at a pricetag of around 15 mil on hishead, I guess.

Midfield:
sneijder - very undecided on the guy. one day he is great the other - total loss of space on the team. Seems to me he tends to pick up his game against a lesser opposition that gives him enough space in. very weak physically and don;t see him doing much defesnive work in mifield.

Diego - a better alternative to Sneijder IMO. Has really picked up his game after a rather poor first season in Europe. Will cost more than sneijder but sometimes you do get what you pay for.

Lucho Gonzalez - my first choice for a new midfielder in Milan. Can do just about everything in football - score with both legs and headers, assist goals, defend in midfield, and is pretty quick too. Caould play in Seedorf's and Prilo's position and maybe even Kaka's. Will be expensive, no doubt about that, but will be worth every penny I think.

Bodmer - an interesting alternative indeed. Very underrated player IMO, could play in Kaka's and probably also in Pirlo's role. I personally would prefer him to Sneijder.

Daniel Carvalho - another option for a Diego/Bodmer type of player.

Forwards:

Eto'o - IMO there is no point in dicussing him unless he sets it in his mind that he wants to leave and aks for a transfer.
I, personally, am divided on him - think he is a bit too wasteful as a striker and his game is based on a whole bunch of creative players (Dinho, Messi, Giuly, Deco, Xavi, Iniesta) show a moment of genious to create a goal scoring opportunity for him, rather than do that for himself ... and not just that but he usually needs 3-4 GREAT, not good but great, chances to score only 1 of them.
He relies way too heavily on running down an empty corridor by using the great patches of space that Spanish defenses give the opposing attackers ... the thing is that in Italy he won't find such freedom in those tightly packed defenses.
I know that for most fans out there he is the hottest striker in football right now but IMO he will be a disappointment in Italy, at least to an extent that is.

David Villa - one of the few Spanish players I have ever wanted to see in Italy and Milan because he's one of the few who I think have the chance of actually making it on the Peninsula. If Milan is looking to spend big money on a striker, I would rather have Villa than Eto'o because Villa is not only a far better finisher than Eto'o but he, unlike the Cameroonian, doesn't need someone else to create chances for him as Villa does that on his own and often sets up his teammates too.
A truely complete striker IMO with his lack of height being his only drawback but that's in some aspects only as sometimes it's a plus.

Huntelaar - one of the best young strikers out there who I think would be a great replacement for Pippo Inzaghi, although he is unproven at the big stage against more serious opposition.
This season is pretty average for him - he's spend a considerable amount of time on the bench even - and I hope this will drive his price down 'cause he won;t be as cheap as you might think - Ahax set a record for Holland when they bought him for around 9 mil from Heerenveen, so I would expect they'd want soemthing like 15 mil for him.

Pizarro - I think he is an excellent player, although a bit inconsistent. when in form however, notmany are better finishers than him and he has a very good vision of the game as he often sets up his teammates ... and here is the best part - he will be a free agent this summer and has a EU passport

Klose - very good striker, very capable but if I had to choose between him for 15+ mil and Pizarro for free, I won't spend a sec thinking about it and would go for the Chilean. Also, Iwould rather go for Huntelaar (4-5 years younger) over Klose too.

Originally Posted by Tony29.

Ninis is a small guy. Something like Diego and Rosicky, so i really don't know if he can make it in serie A someday, even when he'll be much older.
But he's substituting his "handicap" with great pace and incredibille technique.
He played his first professional match this January. He was in PAO's youngsters, but the coach Vitor Munoz saw the huge potential and included him in the first team. On that first match against Egaleao he wasn't good .............. he was SENSATIONAL.
Since then he's a real hit.
He plays as a Right Midfielder , and so far, on the 7 matches he played for Panathinaicos, he was always the best player on the field, scoring 2 and assisting 5 goals.

Assisting goals is what this boy does best, but he's also great in putting the opponents defence in panic with his pace.
Still, he's only 16 and i think we can talk more seriously after 2-3 years.

you know how to wake up a Milan fan's apetite, don't ya?

As for him being too small for Serie A, I think Maradona, Zola, Baggio, Cassano and a whole bunch of other smaller calibre players will have soemthing to say to you

Small size has it's pluses too - it makes those players more maneuvarable, not necessarily faster on a straight distance, but more agile as they don;t carry much weight and more importantly their cenetr of gravity is closer to the ground and they can be quite a menace for the opposing defenses - nowadays Messi is a player who well shows the advantages of having a smaller build.

So, rest assured I will mention this guy to my buddy Adriano when we have our coffee tomorrow morning.

Originally Posted by zlatanov

So, rest assured I will mention this guy to my buddy Adriano when we have our coffee tomorrow morning.

Ahhh, Milan ....always late.
I mentioned him to my buddy Secco 20 days ago and he's already in Athens with all the papers required for Ninis to sign. ( Moggi will be proud of me )
Better luck next time

Originally Posted by Tony29.

... Moggi will be proud of me ...

doubt it - nothing of what you've done is against regulations with you getting away with it ... hence, you measure way too low on his "business" scale

Originally Posted by zlatanov

doubt it - nothing of what you've done is against regulations with you getting away with it

Actually , regarding Ninis transfer to Juve, i also did smth illega...... ups, i better stop now. You never know what to expect from Massimo M.
Looks like his fingers are everywhere nowdays.
But even if i didn't do anything illegal to make Ninis come to Juve, the smile on his face when i told him he can humiliate Milan and Inter was enough for me to conclude he's a Juventino, like most of Panathinaicos fans.



Joke aside, i really hope this small Greek boy will make it some day, and i'd like it to be in Italy, no matter in which club. He knows how to play football and Italian football needs as much talented players possibile !

Originally Posted by zlatanov

buffon - true he is expensive, very expensive, but if there is a keeper out there who's better than Dida, in ceratin aspects at least, that's buffon. At 29 yo, he has at least 4-5 excellent years ahead of him, so if Milan can make space for him in our budget, I think he would be worth going for.

I have to say though that I am having a liking for Akinfeev (a bit inexperineced IMO for an immediate starter at Milan), Coupet, and Reina (from Liverpool) ... I wouldn't mind any of these at Milan.

Amelia - as time goes on I am starting to think he's a bit overhyped as he tends to let in too many goals, and does that often and won't be as cheap as Stekelenburg, who I am starting to prefer over the Italian.

The only problem with guys like Buffon, Coupet or Reina is that they've got quite a bit of mileage on them already (yes, even Buffon). We picked up Storari as a short-term solution; we need someone who can uphold the shirt for years to come.

I agree about Amelia. I don't understand why so many people think he's some kind of godsend. If I hear people mention him in the same breath as Dida's replacement again, I think I'll throttle someone.

Good overview on those players Zlat and I agree with most of it except a couple.

Barzagli I think is a great player. I don't know if he is overrated(about the cost as he hasn't proved in a big club yet) but he is definately one of the best defenders in Italy. To say that he will be the next Legrotaglie is simply not fair to him. That is pure speculation and yes, it is very possible that he might end up like that but we should wait and see. Right now he is doing great and he has been doing great for a couple of years now so there is nothing there to point that he will go in Legrotaglie's direction. I guess untill he goes to a big club we will never know.
You mention Zapata, but Zapata has a bigger chance of flopping then Barzagli I think, so why he would be a better option I don't know.

Cris I think is an good player, but something tells me that the big clubs are for some reason not interested in him. At one point last year he was even trying to "sell himself" by releasing comments of how he admires other clubs. And yet, nobody got him. Some big clubs needed defenders this year (Real,Milan,Barca got a few) but yet none of them moved for him. We read a lot of media rummors, but truthfully there was obviously nobody in for Cris.
Again, I think he is a good player and I agree with you that might be a good option but I just can't figure out why big clubs don't move in for him and he is already 31(I think).

Another one, Eto'o. I understand that he gets a lot of opportunities because he has so many creative players behind him, but he doesn't miss as many chances as you say he does. It is true that he does miss chances as do all other strikers but last year he became the first player in Spain to score over 50 goals in 2 seasons. I mean, how many do you want him to score??? Of course he misses some, but if he gives me on average over 25 goals a season in the league then we simply have no argument against him. He has scored 60 goals in 90 apperances for Barca (statistitians correct me if I am wrong). That is amazing. And I really dissagree that he relies on others to create for him(even though they really create a lot), because Eto'o is one of the leaders in assists in Barca. Obviously not this year as he hasn't played that much but in the beggining of the season and last year he was their leader in assists I think(or second best, not sure can't find the stats now). And even this year he has 3 assists in the CL to put him only behind Juninho who has 5. The guy can cerainly create and the stats show that.
Now about him not making it in Italy because of tight defences, again we will never know unless he comes to Italy. I think he can definatly make it because of his pace and his technical ability. He controlls the ball great under great speed and his shots are just amazing with both feet. He can kill the ball with either foot and can just fly by pretty much any defender out there. It is true that he uses the space given to him in Spain by the defenders which won't be given to him in Italy, but he has other qualities then just running as space. It would be interesting to see how events develop this summer.
We obviously have different oppinions on him, however you did say you are DIVIDED on him so I guess there is still a chance you might concider him.

I'm with Zlat on Eto'o. I must say for Barcelona in a single match he'll probably get three 1 v 1 with the keeper and only put one of those away. Not saying he's bad but he just seems phenomenal because of the excellent midfield he has providing chance after chance for him.

ControCampo (?) has us linked with Akinfeev to replace Dida. They also say that Berlusconi is the only one who can convince Buffon to leave but doesn't want to spend a huge amount on a keeper.

Meanwhile we are apparently entering the final phase of our Kaka-Ronaldo-Ronaldinho mission and trying hard for the Barcelona magician.

Not transfer rumours but news none-the-less, Ronaldo's fitness/weight is getting better and tests show he's still quite fast over 30m and to celebrate this he had dinner at Adriano's house along Cesar, Maxwell, Maicon and Stankovic.

I think Coupet is a much undervalued keeper, he would/could be a great signing for us. Reina is a bit inconsistent, for a few games he'll have a couple of mistakes or rushes of blood and then for the next 20 games he'll be solid as a rock! But i think if there was enough interest in him from any team, this summer is the time to get him as i think Benitez will have another clear out.

I could see a possibility of trying for a Gilardino+some cash swap for Buffon and replacing him with Pizzaro, allowing us (berlusconi) to spend most of it on Ronaldinho. I don't know if that would be a good thing or a bad thing to be honest. Not the players, i mean the amount of money spent on 1 player as opposed to numerous players.

Originally Posted by Jim_UK

ControCampo (?) has us linked with Akinfeev to replace Dida.

is not a bad idea

I've not seen enough of him to know if he's a good player or not, however the majority of people in here seem to rate him so i guess it might be a good option.

The mob rules and all that