Winter Mercato

Originally Posted by Bosniaco

I cant belive people are actually liking the Cannaaro link. The guy is 35 years old !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

man lets get pannuci too..... pannucci--nesta--cannavaro--maldini.... the best defense ever...
in 2000

Originally Posted by hitmannq8

Cannavaro is ideal! hope the deal would go through, then we can use him as bait for Santacroce

What ever happened to using money as bait? Napoli would never be interested in letting go of potentially one of the best defenders around for Cannavaro (By the time we have used up what little he has left to offer).

Yea Cannavaro has definitely not been at his best...don't know how much of Madrid you guys watch but I watch a decent amount and he's definitely not what we need.

By a team like Madrid now, who play offensive football with offensive formation (4-3-3) but lack of defensive players (DMs or defensive fullbacks), the CDs will never look good. Part of defence which can be looked good is only the GK.

Are you guyz crazy???????????

Cannavaro is ****TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT now

a 36 y old defender

What a ****ty team we have become

We NEED 2 out of the folowing 3

Agger Santa and Zapata

Nooooooooooo Cannavaro PLSSSSSSSS

Too much complaining.

It's true that Cannavaro has been bad in Madrid and he has been at most a decent defender in La Liga but nowhere near the word "great". From what I've seen, and I've seen a big ammount of Real games in the past few years.....Cannavaro has made plenty of mistakes and is far away from the player he was when in Italy.

Now, those were the negatives of the past few seasons in Spain........but I still think he is a good defender. He still has great tactical awareness and organizes well. If protected by a solid midfield (something he hasn't had in Real) he can still be a great CB even at 35. (Please keep in mind that at 35 Maldini won the CL and was alongside Nesta the best CB in Europe) Canavaro has been playing at the highest level and has always kept himself in tremendous shape so I don't see why he can't be good for us for a year or so. On top of that he has always kept his solid performances for the national team so that is a proof that he still has something to offer.

Now keeping that in mind.....Let's stop looking at the age, but judge by the ability of the player. Cannavaro at present......even if nowhere as good as he once was is
#1: still a good defender;
#2: better then the defenders we have now so therefore an upgrade
#3: probably the best available and possible option.

Look at #2 and #3 before posting a reply please and honestly think if that's right or wrong. I know we all want Zapata (who if we are looking at form.....the guy's been injured for longer then he has been playing good football in his career but that's besides the point), we all want Santacroce, or Agger, or Chiellini, or Mexes, or ........etc. But the fact of the matter is that it's January market, most of these players play for well supported clubs and have a good status in their club.

-Napoli WILL NOT sell Santacroce unless we offer a huge ammount of money although how big the sum....we don't know because apparently they don't need money and are building for the future so it will take a lot to tempt them.

-Udinese will probably sell Zapata, but they've been in bad form so they will probably decide at this point to keep him untill the summer so they can stay in Euro contention. Another problem about the transfer is that obviously he has been injured for so long, that it a HUGE liability of how the hell he is going to help us in January?

-Liverpool might decide to sell Agger, but they certainly won't be forced to do it for a small sum. They are in the running for the Premier League and they do need the deep squad. They also are reportedly in a little financial slump, but that doesn't mean they'll gift us Agger. We will have to pay up big for him, I think think as big as 17/18 mil Euro. He played against Chelsea the other day so he is obviously still a dependable figure at Liverpool. They won't just give him to us.

So there you have it....my view on the 3 most mentioned players here but the reality of the possibility of these transfers is sour and this simply isn't football manager. The market is what it is at this moment and we must go for the best possible solution for this moment. There are sometimes when we can blame the managment, but there are others when we just have to understand the reality and not act like spoiled children.

I know that the managment made a huge mistake by not buying a solid CB, but somehow I doubt the way to fix that is to splash out a lot of cash on a player in Janurary who MIGHT help us. I am saying MIGHT simply because out of the mentioned only Agger might be a dependable enough option even if there are a lot of question marks around him as well. I already gave my two cents on Zapata....and as far as Santacroce goes, I love the way he plays. He is a very good defender with a solid base to become a great one. But let's not jump into this hype all too soon and splash out all we got. After all where are all the people that were cursing the managment for not buying Ilsinho, Cicinho, Marcelo, Sobis....etc.
Let me make this clear, I DO want us to buy Santacroce and I hope that it happens but I simply don't think that it's possible to do that for as much as he is actually worth and we will be milked for all we got by Napoli for him therefore the move seems impossible at the moment. There are just too many obstacles and things to consider regarding Santacroce that it might be way too soon to jump inside the fire. Let's at least wait untill the summer.

I am not saying that Cannavaro is the best and let's get him period. But judging from the situation he might not be as bad as it first seems. Let's not forget that the club already made an investment in Thiago Silva so we already have a signing comming in the summer. I do want another CB to come in the summer preferably Santacroce or simply a world class defender........but right now none of those are available and Cannavaro might just be the best bet to stabilaze our defence. Add to that a healthy Nesta (I pray that it happens) then our defence might not be as bad as it looks all of a sudden.

Sorry for the long post.....it just seemed like an interesting subject.

Very strong analysis Nefremo! I agree with you about the level of how realistic it is to buy each other; but I also wonder how realistic it is to actually get Cannavaro. The key is I think Real still needs him, and unless they are absolutely stupid, they won't let him go when they are still in for Champion League.

At the end of the day, I don't think we'll be able to acquire the right person for next year for our DC; someone as a temporary solution perhaps but definitely it's unlikely that we will be able to buy someone we really want.

Originally Posted by Jeff

Very strong analysis Nefremo! I agree with you about the level of how realistic it is to buy each other; but I also wonder how realistic it is to actually get Cannavaro. The key is I think Real still needs him, and unless they are absolutely stupid, they won't let him go when they are still in for Champion League.

At the end of the day, I don't think we'll be able to acquire the right person for next year for our DC; someone as a temporary solution perhaps but definitely it's unlikely that we will be able to buy someone we really want.

Thanks Jeff. I never really mentioned that because I just wanted to respond to the people who say that he is no good and lets go for this player that player so I just wanted to point out that he probably is the best option right now. You are probably right that Real needs him and I never put that in perspective. At the same time however they'll lose him for free in June so this might be a chance for them to make a few bucks from him. So looking at that, he might be a good solution for us and there is also a good chance that Real will want to do business even though they can really use him for the remainder of his contract. The fact of the matter is that we haven't heard anything else besides that article from Channel 4 for the time being so after a few more days and few more rummors we can hopefully know the realistic opportunity of that option as well.

Great post,nefremo.

Cannavaro is probably the best available and sensible solution for midseason reinforcemnt.And I think he's got alot left in his tank. Are you sure his current contract expire next june? If we can secure him under 5Mil. That will truly be a Chrismas present.

Originally posted by Jim Uk
Unless Dossena suddenly turns into a confident talented player, we should stay well clear of him. Surely we can get a defender or two on loan? No need to waste millions on mediocre players in January. Not many decent players become available in the winter period, so if we're to get mediocre players, i'd rather it be mediocre players we can hand back in the summer rather than being stuck with them on a 4 year contract!

What about Sirl from Zenit, he's a pretty useful left-back.

Who is this Sirl? any detail information? Here in china we don't see lots of euro football other than italy,england,germany,spain,french league.

for defense.. i'd rather us buy cannavaro than next 'new thing' u want proven defenders. of course you want high prospects like santacroce, but u cant just poach them. they take a while to come free cause good defenders r hard to find.

cannavaro is not my first choice by any stretch but he is proven world class, RARELY injured and id rather take that then flavor of week kaladze-clone. Wait it out and when a nesta like player frees up (like he did w/ lazio) JUMP in.

defense is something were exerience matters more and counts for more than athletism

The people who want cannavaro to join must take some things in mind.
One of the major problems of this team is that it is too old, the players have won it all and they look unmotivated. it seems like they can only motivate themselfves for the big games. we cant have another 35+ player in the team, not even a 30yo + player!! we need some young players who still want to win and fight for it!
+ Why spend money on canna now and sign another defender next year while we can just sign one now... with no money wasted on canna. why again looking for the short term option. why doesnt galliani ever think about the future of milan, this idiot is destroying a beautifull team.
There are many good defenders on the market, players who are at a good age and can be here for many years. we dont need more experienced players as we have enough of them, we need young enthusiatic players!!
some names: Alex, Mexes, Ivanovic, Agger, Zapata... all good defenders and they are available.
Please silvio and galliani stop this ridiculous project of signing ex-players, what do you want to prove?
To be honest I really cant understand why they are doing this sh*t, theyre really destroying AC Milan. we are the joke of europe these days

Alex - we can't sign him as he is a non-EU....we don't have a spot for him right now and we can't wait untill the summer as we need help in the back NOW

Ivanovic - We tried, Chelsea didn't want to do business....they only wanted to loan him with no option. Now it's even more unlikely that he'll leave because Alex openly said that he will probably leave Chelsea..........They will certainly not sell both Ivanovic and Alex. Forget about this guy for now, he is not leaving Chelsea

Zapata - as mentioned earlier he has been injured for so long, how is he going to help us in January. We don't know his condition or anything. If Arsenal had a bid of 14/15 mil euro rejected in the summer (that's what rummors were saying this past summer and fall) then how much does it take to buy this player who by the way hasn't made a single appearance due to injury this year. Are you suggesting that we pay 20 (just a number judging at Arsenal's rejected offer) for a player that hasn't played and then ask him to save our backline? That's not a smart move.......we should let him come back from injury at Udine and then evaluate the situation.

Agger - probably the safest option but is he available and for how much? Read my above post to see why I don't think his signature is possible at this moment.

Mexes - are you sure he is available? I think there is not a single possible chance that Roma will sell him to us right now. Maybe in the summer, but that's a whole different topic that'll probably come up a lot during the summer.

If Milan had been Arsenal, it probably wouldve been okay to buy a 36 year old player.. however, we, under no circumstances should add to the long list of 32+ year olds.. i am in no way saying that old players cant cut it at the top.. but there is a need for balance.

Originally Posted by nefremo

Alex - we can't sign him as he is a non-EU....we don't have a spot for him right now and we can't wait untill the summer as we need help in the back NOW

Ivanovic - We tried, Chelsea didn't want to do business....they only wanted to loan him with no option. Now it's even more unlikely that he'll leave because Alex openly said that he will probably leave Chelsea..........They will certainly not sell both Ivanovic and Alex. Forget about this guy for now, he is not leaving Chelsea

Zapata - as mentioned earlier he has been injured for so long, how is he going to help us in January. We don't know his condition or anything. If Arsenal had a bid of 14/15 mil euro rejected in the summer (that's what rummors were saying this past summer and fall) then how much does it take to buy this player who by the way hasn't made a single appearance due to injury this year. Are you suggesting that we pay 20 (just a number judging at Arsenal's rejected offer) for a player that hasn't played and then ask him to save our backline? That's not a smart move.......we should let him come back from injury at Udine and then evaluate the situation.

Agger - probably the safest option but is he available and for how much? Read my above post to see why I don't think his signature is possible at this moment.

Mexes - are you sure he is available? I think there is not a single possible chance that Roma will sell him to us right now. Maybe in the summer, but that's a whole different topic that'll probably come up a lot during the summer.

once upon a time we were AC Milan! we could get what we wanted, even in january. why the hell is it impossible to sign bench players from other teams?
But you are correct about alex and zapata. We shouldve signed a defender in the summer, silvio and galliani made one hell of mess in recent years and its hard to fix it in january.
some more names, dont know if they are available or not, but they could be options. Santacroce, Gonzalo, Naldo, Kompany. Players like that must be looked at before an emergency option like cannavaro.