Summer mercato 2009

I to was very dissapointed by what Pato said. It smells alot like an attempt to get an improved contract. Think about it, he (his agent) knows that the Milan board simply can't afford to even think about selling him now, it would be a tragedy for every Milan fan, and from a sporting point of view aswell, considering how unpopular Berlusconi and Galliani are following the Kaka sale. Therefor he can put some pressure on the board, or at least lay the foundation for an improved contract after he has set the CL on fire next year.

Other than that the whole interview sounds strange to say the least. First he says that he's not certain about his future, and then he says that he wants to win the Champions League, and that we have a great group and that Ronaldinho is a phenomen. I would love to read the whole thing because it wouldn't be the first time goal.com etc. manipulate quotes.

edit: And I don't want to gloat, but you guys should've bought a Nesta 13 shirt like me

But firstly i must change my avatar wich i had keeped as much as i am a MilanMania member.And of course to edit my profile in favorite players list.

**** you Kaka you lied to me and the hole rossoneri fans.I love you but now i hate you! You and B&G.

I just want to mention that I'm seeing some people say that selling Kaka at this moment is the best possible decision that could ever be made, and then go about talking about "IF Leonardo can whip Ronnie back into shape".

Whats with all this crap????
If you guys have forgotten, Ronnie's been pure crap for the past 3 years, 1 more than Kaka, if you keep saying that he hasn't been his best in the past two seasons.

And another thing, RONNIE IS OLDER THAN KAKA FOR *** SAKE! I would put Ronnie's decline at a faster rate than Kaka, no doubt about it. If it were possible to whip Ronnie into shape, it would have been faster to whip Kaka back into shape, and yet neither really happened!

Now lets wait and see if Pato decides to leave as well. Then some people on the board will be going "Oh, he'll decline fast enough".

Just quit it with this bull$hit. You're not convincing anyone.

ooh please, just don't begin with new "pato-saga", i need a little rest just calm down about pato....

Originally Posted by GeoTav

Stop asking for a sale of Seedorf and Pirlo ...
The situation was clear: we sell Kaka', Ronaldinho, Pirlo, or Seedorf !!

Now we sold Kaka', let's keep other players and let's bring good additions to that roster to have a competitive team and competition for each position (forcing the starting players to play well).

Rosoneri_11, buy shirts without number/name on the back next time !!
Anyway, the same thing happened to me with Gilardino ...

I really dislike what Pato says ... even if I understand the fact that he is maybe very close to Ancelotti. Anyway, he won't ask advices to Ancelotti as a Chelsea coach but to Ancelotti as a man I think, and I don't think that Ancelotti wants to kill Milan (by taking one of the most promising players) ?

About the amounts invested, I put it again, you will understand why we can use money:

- 60M debt

+ 15M from Gourcuff
+ 65M from Kaka
+ 40M from CL qualification
+ Budget initially planned for this mercato but we will never know what was the amount (let's imagine 20M ?)
=> Addition of these amounts: 120M + potentially 20M

++ 36M that can be used for wages (wage of Kaka' for 4 years of contract that can be partially used for the next players)

So that lets us with officially 60M to spend on the next mercato, maybe a bit more ...

Wages shouldn't be a big issue since when players come Milan must also spend money for wages and as rossoneri 11 said, it should be a long-term money which can't be combined money from you listed above IMO.

And about the debt, do Milan have to have zero debt? If not, Milan should be able to pay in instalments.

Well at first I was very dissappointed, angry, and distraught at the club for having sold Kaka, but now that I've had time to think about this properly, I think we made the right move (in the medium to long run at least). Here's why:

1) Berlu no longer has extra cash to inject into the club due to the economic crisis (his assets are probably worth nothing now), so the only way for the club to rebuild would be to generate it's own income thru the sale of players. Who could we sell? Our entire midfield, or one player?

2) I'm sorry to say, but with the players we have, we can afford to play without Kaka. We have R80 and Seedorf in the AM role, Pato as second striker, and we will buy a powerful first striker. If need be, Pirlo could be as AM and R80 could be pushed as striker.

3) Kaka was never loyal to Milan. There is a reason why his contract has been bumped up 3 times since he's signed with us. HIs greedy father keeps entertaining offers from other clubs, then threatens us, and forces us to increase his salary. I'm sorry but if I have to keep dealing with this kind of crap every summer, then it might be best to say goodbye. After all, only a greedy agent could land a six year contract for a 27 year old worth this much

4) If you recall the negotations with Man CIty, their major complaint was that Kaka's father had no interest in their project, all he wanted to know was how much they would pay him. So, as far as I'm concerned, Kaka's love for Milan only went so far as we paid him. He agreed to go to Madrid because they are of the same caliber and offered him more. If you recall, Silvio did say the final decision was up to him. He refused Man City---we didnt twist his hand, although we were getting twice as much. If he refused Madrid, he would still be here, but on the same contract.

So all in all, I wave a fond goodbye to Kaka. He will never accomplish in Madrid what he did in MIlan, no other club could give him what we and our fans did, but in the end, it was his choice, and from that, we will be even stronger. FORZA MILAN.

At least Sheva had balls to tell us right from the start that he will leave Milan, not like Kaka lying us that he will stay when he knew he'll go to Real. It's a really pathetic and disgraceful thing to do. But who cares at least we'll see new faces for next season, fresh young blood filled with enthusiasm to play for Milan.

Originally Posted by Warro Bantan

Would money motivate anyone of us to become Inter fans? In the end, I am forced to answer that question myself...and the answer is: NO!!

If you love a club that much, shouldn't u be willing to make sacrifices for the club? Instead of putting your aspirations ahead of it? Especially when the club made u into the player you are? What is the real difference between £9M per year and £9.5? Seriously....a Bently?

Well, I may not become an Inter fan for money, but if Inter were to offer me a big contract to play for them (like that would ever happen, even when I was younger!) I would play for them.

It's different for a player than for a fan. This is the player's livelihood. We can't expect players to have the same loyalty because sports have become such a big business and there is so much money involved. I agree that at some point (and certainly Kaka had reached that point) there is not so much difference in a million here or a million there. But that is the player's decision to make (or maybe in this case his father's). I won't criticize him for making the move or for making even more money than he was already. But I am disappointed that he continued to proclaim that he would be staying at Milan even after these negotiations were apparently well under way.

I defend Berlu's actions only from an economic/lockerroom perspective: Can Milan "afford" to continually raise Kaka's salary (while not doing so for his team-mates) in the face of offers from other clubs? Beckham (although he is the Trojan horse of Madrid) shows that in this day of materialisim, one can make monetary sacrifices (his to the tune of $10M) to stay/go where u want....where was Kaka's willingness to (and get this) remain as one of the highest paid players in the world, at current salary? Or even take a pay-cut to stay?

On the other hand, couldn't Berlu find an extra half a million £s to keep him? Or would that mean increasing everyone else's pay everytime AS, Marca, or the Daily Mail printed an article? We already have the highest wage bill in Italy, if not Europe...

In all this, let's not lose sight of the facts. Just as Berlu ushered in a new era in club football management and ownership, when he bought Milan, so too have the Russian oligarchs, the Middle Eastern Oil barons and, the US capitalists(though theirs with questionable fiscal results).

Berlu is no longer among the elite financially, he is in the 2nd tier, no longer able (or willing?) to make the investments necessary to stay with the pack in this ever escalating, expenditure driven chase for silverware...were he, then the Kaka saga would have had a very different ending.

Well, Silvio remains among the financial elite (he's not far below Abramovich on the list of billionaires), but he obviously isn't willing to throw his own money around now that there is so much money in the game. Maybe this is smart in the long run. I don't know. To quote myself from another thread:

It is true that money has become a pox on the game. This was inevitable. But Milan is actually in a better position for the long run than are a lot of other clubs. Did you see the debt figures for the Premiership that came out the other day? It was staggering, particularly the debt of the "Big Four." This is not sustainable and if some clubs continue to spend freely, they will find themselves buried under a mountain of debt. I'm astonished at the financial position Liverpool is in, yet they are claiming they'll still spend more than any English club than Chelsea this summer. It's madness.

So maybe taking a more financially responsible approach will pay off for Milan in the long run.

Money, in the absence of strategy, does nothing however, increasingly, strategy in the absence of money also pays scant dividends. So there must be a vision working in tandem with expenditure, in order for any club to succeed on the biggest stage. Which begs the question: will Milan strategize and spend wisely? Who knows? Early days in this mercato yet.

These are challenging times for any club, and now moreso Milan. With a new coach, the loss of a key player, and only hazy, insubstantial news as to aquisitions, many of us must worry as to not only what the short term future of the club is, but the long term one as well. With, or without Kaka, a new inexperienced coach was always a challenge...and yet, this isn't the concern of most (though I confess it remains my biggest concern, especially in a league that seemed to invent the tactical approach)...the majority of us are wondering who we will buy with the £80M from the sale of arguably 2 of the best creative midfielders out there...

Only time will reveal that, as well as the impact this monumental mercato will have on the club's future. Let's not forget that Platini's plan to exclude debt ridden clubs from Uefa competition is a very real threat...yet the finer points of this rule have yet to be elucidated, and further, would we still watch the UCL without Man U, Liverpool, Inter, Madrid, Barca and the other clubs who, due to their huge debts would be excluded from the competition?

This is the key. The money from Kaka needs to be used to rebuild the squad with younger, fresher players. Like you, I have misgivings about Leonardo's lack of experience. I can only hope that he has a lot of good help as he learns. But one thing I don't question is his eye for talent. So hopefully he will be the key to finding the right players to move Milan forward despite the financial crisis that is only now beginning to rock football. There is an opportunity here to turn this into a great positive. Fans have been bitching and moaning for at least the past two seasons about the age of Milan's squad (for even longer, really, but everyone was happy with the Champions League victory). But with the spiraling player market clashing with the collapsing financial market, these are dangerous times to be throwing money around loosely. Selling Kaka -- if the right steps are now taken -- could be Milan's salvation, rather than its downfall. Only time will tell.

In this time of rapidly changing circumstance, I can take great pride in my alliance and identification with a true legend and symbol, a true icon, and like San Paolo, will remain a Milanista, for life....come (and go) who (or) what may.

With this, I could not agree more wholeheartedly!

Why the **** are some of you so extatic that we'll buy Dzeko?! He is a great and promising player, ok he might be. But we sold most likely the best player in the world ( I'd say with Messi and C.Ronaldo ) and that player cant be replaced.

What do you expact from our current midfield? You think Pirlo will cross 20 balls per season and Dzeko will score 25 goals? And that Pato will play well as a RW coz Dinho needs to play as a LW ( as Brasiliero said, he is completely finished player ).

Geo you say Berlusconi will not sell Milan coz he wants Milan to be sucsasfull again? Yeah... that is what he is trying in past 4 years, so obvious ( sarcasm).

And stop ( most of you ) being naive and stop talking about debt of 60mln! Who the hell knows is it true! Inter has no such thing obviousely, or does Juve. They dont complain about money. Only our 11bln president needs to cover "debt" that can be recovered by CL quaters and sale of Yoan and Seedorf and Oddo, Dida, Boriello...

Get real people.

Who do you suggest we get as target man then? Adebayor? Trezeguet? Who else? If we wind up getting a young, promising player who was top scorer in his league and highly rated, how can you complain without first giving the player as chance to prove himself?

Originally Posted by Ryo

Whats with all this crap????
If you guys have forgotten, Ronnie's been pure crap for the past 3 years, 1 more than Kaka, if you keep saying that he hasn't been his best in the past two seasons.

Why do all the Ronaldinho haters persist in saying he has been crap for three years? Last year he didn't have a chance to play regularly. The season before he was plagued by injury. Okay, consider that crap if you want. But in the 2006-07 season (the first of the past three) Ronaldinho scored 24 goals for Barcelona and finished third in the FIFA World Player of the Year voting! Apparently your standards for what qualifies as "crap" are pretty high!

And another thing, RONNIE IS OLDER THAN KAKA FOR FUK SAKE! I would put Ronnie's decline at a faster rate than Kaka, no doubt about it. If it were possible to whip Ronnie into shape, it would have been faster to whip Kaka back into shape, and yet neither really happened!

Kaka is not old. Neither is Ronaldinho. He's just turned 29. There are many great players who are 29 or older. People over 25 don't have one foot in the grave. And it's not a matter of "whipping him into shape." Nobody can do that. It's a matter of Ronaldinho taking an opportunity to prove himself again after TWO mediocre seasons (hampered by injury and lack of a regular spot in the lineup) and being inspired to play great football again. Nobody is expecting him to be as good as he once was. But if he can play at a high level and provide a decent stopgap for the next couple of seasons while a new squad is built, he will be very valuable indeed.

Im saying you all think Dinho can play what Kaka' did. Like you suddenly forget in what shape Dinho is. Im not complaining aboutr Dzeko, he is a good player. I SAID SO.

I hope you all understand that Pato is now destined to play on the right coz Dinho CANT switch sides as Kaka could. Ribery would be a different story.

Ronaldinho was the one that needed to be sold, not Kaka'. Also, why do some people suddenly think Pirlo, Ambro, Seedorf will fly on the pitch next year together with ronaldinho? Its nor realistic.

----Pato---Dinho---
--------CF----

Its sucks! Pato's shoot is cutten off, Dinho cant switch sides as he could 5 years back. You'll see.

mrki, ok Kaka left and the fans are not happy about it... But what can we do? We can't get him back... Life goes on, we can't keep thinking about him. That's why we should think about buying new players that can replace him even if he is irreplaceable and I think Dzeko would be a decent replacement. I hope you're not claiming that we should not buy any players because Kaka left.

No, I think the issue here is who should have been sold to generate some money to rebuild the squad? Kaka only? Or Seedorf, Pirlo, Gattuso, Ambrosini, Kaladze? ANd all of those players wont even equate half the sum we got for Kaka. If I was Berlu, in the best interest of Milan, I would sell Kaka. And with Dinho stepping in full time, Pato playing regularly AND a strong new striker signing, we should be very competitive again.

Originally Posted by mrki

Why the **** are some of you so extatic that we'll buy Dzeko?! He is a great and promising player, ok he might be. But we sold most likely the best player in the world ( I'd say with Messi and C.Ronaldo ) and that player cant be replaced.

So you will only be satisfied if Milan takes all of the money from the sale of Kaka, adds a bit more, and buys Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi? What would be the point?

Remember, Milan seldom buys players who are already great. Milan makes great players. Sheva was in pretty much the same boat as Dzeko when he came to Milan, where he ended up replacing George Weah and became arguably the greatest striker in the world. This isn't fantasy football. Milan must take the money from the sale of Kaka and invest in several young, talented players to rebuild the squad. Everyone around here has been bitching and whining for so long because Milan is "too old." Well here is an opportunity to change that. Why not wait and see how the money is spent and what the Milan team looks like next year and the year after before jumping off a bridge or something?