Summer Mercato

Actually, I've had a strange feeling that Toni would come to Milan soon (by watching France-Italy). I hope this feeling is true ...

well he is over 30 after all, would fit right into galliani's plans.

if I understand correctly our REVENUE will be 30mil less, not our DEBT is 30mil

Originally Posted by GeoTav

Actually, I've had a strange feeling that Toni would come to Milan soon (by watching France-Italy). I hope this feeling is true ...

Stay tuned for Italy vs. Spain.
Maybe Torres will change his mind

Originally Posted by dejan.s

Stay tuned for Italy vs. Spain.
Maybe Torres will change his mind

My feeling about Toni coming won't change ... so if I have a feeling that Torres (and Villa lol) come, how will we do ?!

Little late to be involved in Abate discussion since my friend Giancarlo is already sleeping, but i have to say that i partly agree with him.
I certainly don't agree about the best future player because Abate is not the type to be one of the best players in the world but i do agree that he may become an integral part of a winning team.

I followed him a lot this year. I used to watch most of Empoli's matches because i was following Giovinco, Marchisio and Piccolo and i think i do know what can Milan expect from Abate.

First of all, Abate is way too one dimensional. By this i mean that the boy can not play anywhere else but the right side and can not play any position other than winger/wing back.
I've noticed that sometimes he plays as a pure winger and even though he's good i think he has the characteristics of a wing back. He doesn't have the technique to become anything close to Camoranesi, Mancini or what Donadoni used to be, meaning to be one who'll organize the game from the right side. He's not a great dribbler for sure.
But this guy could make (and will make, imo) a hell of a wing back. He's probably among the 3 fastest players in serie A (if not the fastest), his speed, especially with the ball at his feet is amazing. He takes the ball, he runs with it and in no time he makes it to the danger area and makes a good pass or cross.
Amazing pace, it's really tough to stop him when he's on a run.

Pretty one dimensional in attack, he's all power with great pace and stamina. These are the qualities that make a great full back.

Originally Posted by dejan.s

Kaladze 4, Emerson 3.2, Jankulovski 3, Favali 2, Oddo 2, Simic 1.8, Brocchi 1.2, Kalac 1 (mil eur)

Cordoba 3, Zanneti J 3, Cambiasso 3, Julio Cesar 2.5, Maicon 2, Chiellini 0.9, De Rossi 1.75, Mancini 1.45, Vucinic 0.6, Frey 1.5, Amelia 1, Di Natale 0.65, Quagliarella 0.65...

No wonders we don't have money for transfers. We pay too big salaries, to some players.

Obviously Galiani's calculator was broken when he offered contracts

I can't believe some of those wages, that's an absolute joke. No wonder we can't get rid of players like Brocchi or Simic when they earn more than De Rossi! We could cut some of those wages in half for a start and if people moan kick the 'deadwood' out and bring back more youngsers from loans like Abate.

Tony, it seems to me you are going to be over crowded in the forwards department. You already have Trezeguet, Del Piero, Iaquinta, Palladino (though i think he might have been sold/loaned), Giovinco, Amauri and yet today there are rumours of Juve getting Podolski & Huntelaar! I know Trezeguet might be off, but i think you're just being greedy now!!

I'd like to see us with Arshavin & Huntelaar, i think there's a chance of getting both for what we might have to pay for Adebayor.

Silly season rocks!!

Thinking of going to the beach today myself!

Who knows? Maybe I will see Galliani.

Originally Posted by Tony29.

Pretty one dimensional in attack, he's all power with great pace and stamina. These are the qualities that make a great full back.

I think being able to defend, make tackles and an ability to read the game from a defensive point of view would be qualities just as important to make a good full-back.

@Tony29

Naa, it makes sense. He could be good fullback if he's still hungry to learn how to defend well (which I think he is). No one could imagine Serginho could finally play as regular fullback in Carlo's formation even in that time Carlo put Cafu on the right side. The point is : Serginho did improve his defensive skills even he was pretty old to learn something new.

Logically Abate could improve much better than Serginho as Abate is very much younger than Serginho (when Serginho was trying to get regular spot on left fullback).

Originally Posted by Jim_UK

I think being able to defend, make tackles and an ability to read the game from a defensive point of view would be qualities just as important to make a good full-back.

Of course, but at 21 you work on these things to improve. He's far from bad in this department, eventhough he was rarely used there. His speed makes it very hard to whoever plays ML in opponents side to easily pass through Abate. Like Zambrotta. He never played in defense until he was 25 but he had the characteristics to do that, Lippi saw that and Zambro became the best. His athleticism and stamina made a great full back out of Zambrotta and i see the same characteristics in Abate.
Actually, i'm pretty sure a coach like Ancelotti already knows this and he'll be using Abate in that position.

Originally Posted by Jim_UK

Tony, it seems to me you are going to be over crowded in the forwards department. You already have Trezeguet, Del Piero, Iaquinta, Palladino (though i think he might have been sold/loaned), Giovinco, Amauri and yet today there are rumours of Juve getting Podolski & Huntelaar! I know Trezeguet might be off, but i think you're just being greedy now!!

Del Piero, Trezeguet, Amauri + one of Iaquinta/Palladino will be Juve's forward line. It's only media crap about Podolski and Huntelaar.
Giovinco can play support striker and left winger but he's a pure attacking midfielder, a playmaker. Like Kaka in Milan, Totti for Roma in the past and Arshavin for Zenit/Russia.

Hey Jim, we all know the guy but i believe you know him much better, so please tell me what you think about Xabi Alonso.

Edit: Sorry for double post, i always forget that people invented edit button.

I've been away for a while, so to stay updated on the goings-on here about I read the latest pages. Someone mentioned we've been linked with Jô of CSKA Moscow. Here's the story (from tmw ):

http://www.transfermarketweb.com/ind...ad&idsel=18096

€25 mio. is a lot, but it could probably be lowered considerably. I'm a bit unsure about him. He's a big fella (1.89 m), just what we're looking for, but also he's young (21), so we wouldn't have to buy someone new after 2-3 years (like if we bought Drogba), so that way he'd be a good investment. Of course he isn't as proven as Eto'o et al. but he's done quite a bit for a guy his age. He's been a regular for CSKA for more than 2 years and has scored a lot in Russia (which is a pretty hard league to score in) according to wiki his stats are 30 goals in 52 games. Also on the positive side he's brazilian - and he has already scored against Inter .

I myself can't watch the Russian league, but i've seen him play in the CL, and thought he did well (considering his team were underdogs in nearly every game). I'd definately say he's improved since a year ago when he played in the Youth World Cup and was completely overshadowed by our very own Pato .

He's been linked a lot with Man City, but because he's in third-party-ownership-deal like Tévez, and the FA won't allow those deals, his move has stranded. So if we want him now would probably be a good time to strike. Obviously he isn't the ideal player for us (wih his youth and all) but if Eto'o is too pricy, Drogba likewise (for his age) and Mutu not really the player we're looking for + Adebayor won't move (and would be insanely expensive), then maybe Jô wouldn't be that bad. Personally I think he'd be a better choice than Adebayor (who is apparently our main target).

Or: (I just got this idea) Galliani could have a meeting with Thaksin and say "alright you can have Jô, but then back off of Ronaldinho!!!" how sweet that would be...

I think Alonso is superb and i can't believe Liverpool are willing to let him go. He had a tough start to last season with an injury that kept him out for a long time and when he came back he had to try and dislodge Mascherano & Lucas who were doing a really good job for the team.

Given the way Liverpool were set up last season in a 4-2-3-1 formation, he played at the base of the midfield with Mascherano (when he was playing at least) and orchestrated alot of attacks, just like Pirlo. It's no coincedence that Liverpool are alot 'slicker' when Alsonso plays with his wide range of passing. He doesn't have a lot of pace, but he's more aggressive than i thought he'd be.

It's an obvious comparison, but he is the Spanish version of Pirlo and in the slower paced Serie A (when compared to the 100mph Premiership) i think he could really thrive. His vision and range of passing really are superb and he's usually very accurate with both passes and shots ... plus when he hits a shot it's usually like a rocket because he has a great technique. He's ambitious too & not short of self confidence, which you can see when he tries to lob the keeper from his own half in most matches (something he's done twice for Liverpool).

If he can adapt to Serie A (no guarantees i know) and settle in, then i think he'll be easily on a par with Pirlo, he has the exact same qualities the Italian has. I just think it's a joke Liverpool are willing to let him go and for who? Gareth Barry? I mean he's good and a stronger runner/better defensively than Alonso, but in terms of technical ability he's miles away from Alonso. I guess Liverpool are just hoping that his good England partnership with Gerrard will continue at club level. I won't mind too much if they buy Villa to partner Torres

Galliani is the DUMBEST manager in the world. So now it's Ade or nothing? PLEASE don't anyone tell me it's a smokescreen! I would believe it if this were the first public statement he made regarding a striker. But he's made many communications in the past stating we would sign a Drogba, Ade, Eto'o, etc. If he's trying to influence negotiations and lower prices by saying it's either Ade or nothing, then he did the EXACT OPPOSITE by mentioning those players in the first place. Galliani should just SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He keeps making public statements which do nothing but alert teams of our desires which obviously are going to impact how teams negotiate with us. As a professional manager, he should be more discreet about what the transfer strategy is and keeps things quiet until he's ready to make a move. But no, he rather blab and make boastful statements to get fans excited which puts pressure on him to actually come through on his promises which in turn drives the prices of our targets up. Seriously, other teams must have a great time dealing with our retarded boss.

I said this last summer on this site, but I want to play poker with Galliani so bad. His fat mouth would make me a millionaire. My only satisfaction in this mercato is that we haven't heard all these stories about how Milan are selling record setting season tickets. Last year fans believed and were hopeful and Berlu and co. took the fans' money straight to the bank. Now it seems that there isn't going to be as much money coming this year and I for one am extremely happy these fat cats are going to start hurting.


And to be clear, I'm not being negative over the transfers we've made so far. i actually am one of those who thinks things were going well. What infuriates me so much is the absolutely juvenile way Galliani conducts himself in the public. We will sign this player; we need at least one striker, if we sell Gila then two; we will focus on winning the scudetto. And now: we can't compete with Germany; we have a cash crisis; Ade or nothing.

This is all very similar to last year: we are European champs and we will strengthen our squad; you'd be shocked about some of the players that have expressed interest in joining Milan; mister X; a great champion will arrive. That was soon replaced by: we will try to sign player X otherwise our squad is fine as it is.

I hate Galliani with all my heart....