Summer mercato 2009

The most saddening news of recent days was Pato's comments that he will see about his future later in the summer...it's sad that he didn't commit to us.


I've had a few conversations with other fans and other people, alot of people actually think Kaka's departure is good for Milan for many reasons. 1) Cause we were too dependant on him, now we will be forced to play like a team 2) Will give us some much needed cash to spend on a bunch of players.

I personally haven't liked Kaka's performances in the last 2 years, he has been very inconsistent. Oh yeah and don't be surprised if Kaka would suck at Real, cause Milan like to sell players once they know that there's something wrong with them (ie. Sheva). It could very well be true that the MilanLab found out that Kaka's knee injury was never going to get any better....

Originally Posted by hitmannq8

The most saddening news of recent days was Pato's comments that he will see about his future later in the summer...it's sad that he didn't commit to us.


I've had a few conversations with other fans and other people, alot of people actually think Kaka's departure is good for Milan for many reasons. 1) Cause we were too dependant on him, now we will be forced to play like a team 2) Will give us some much needed cash to spend on a bunch of players.

I personally haven't liked Kaka's performances in the last 2 years, he has been very inconsistent. Oh yeah and don't be surprised if Kaka would suck at Real, cause Milan like to sell players once they know that there's something wrong with them (ie. Sheva). It could very well be true that the MilanLab found out that Kaka's knee injury was never going to get any better....

Are you saying we pulled a Redondo on them? :p

Originally Posted by Gabriel489

Well, I just read an article on Channel4 and the title is LITTLE MILAN.

I really don't think Serie A is as bad as what Galliani is saying as INter and Juve seems to be building on their team. I mean if Morretti comes out and say I have to sell Maicon and Ibra b/c of the economic crisis, and Secco comes out and say the same about Chellini and Givonco. Then the league itself is in trouble.

It is too bad that Berlu just does not want to invest in Milan, while still wants to be the owner.

Great points, Gabriel...
It´s funny to see people calling Kaka out as the one to blame.
As you said, why Inter isn´t selling Maicon or Ibra??
Why juve isn´t selling Chielline or Jovinco?? They are Serie A clubs or not?? Why they don´t need to sell their stars, and still are buying great players(like Diego). It´always easy(and cheap) to call a player mercenary...

Most disgusting is to see people criticizing him for the smiles at the press conferece...have you guys watched the press live?? You guys saw the jokes the journalist were telling Kaka before the press??

Kaka smilling scene was before the press, with journalists joking a lot with him about the move. It´s not surprise that people outside Brazil believe in every "new messi", "new Kaka", "new Robinho" that european press say...

it´s sad to see people that never saw the press calling him for the smille. I saw all the questions and kaka as clear. He grow as a São Paulo player and fan, and always had in mind to play for a big in Europe. He chose Milan over others offers at that time because as he said, was the best(team) of the bunch.

He was clear: He wanted to stay, and didn´t ask for a raise(Even Galliani said that last week). They try to sell him to Manchester City, he said no, because it was not a big team. He said to Berlusconi and Galliani that if they want to sell him, he only accepted a move for a BIG team: and Real Madrid was his first choice if they want o sell him.

He was clear, he didn´t ask for a raise, or to be selled. But our managment wanted(for some reason) to make cash with him(financial problems? We will never know)

And one more time, for the ones that are talking nonsense without to see the entire press conference: Kaka was clear: You want to sell me? Ok, but I will chose the club, and his choice was R. Madrid. Kaka didn´t demande a trade or a raise on his wages. He was glad at Milan. What he demanded was the right to chose the club to be sold...Imo, more than fair enough

Btw, It´s to much false moralism(and a cheap shot) to want Kaka to accept M. City offer...He is a top-3 in the world, a bright person, and he clarly isn´t a retard...Enough is enough.

For Milan taking the Man City offer would have been better and I don't think if the team was "willing to sell" then Kaka would have refused to go to Man City. If indeed he at least is partially motivated by helping Milan as has been said by him and others then it's clear Milan lost here.

As for the smiles, to me it doesn't matter any way no matter what the reasons. He is free to even laugh at us, results on the pitch and being the strongest we can be on the pitch is my concern.

As for asking for a raise, to be frank even if he asked it wouldn't be automatic. A good percentage of our problems now are high salaries not transfer money so we can't splash around raises for ever.

Brasileiro is right. Some of you are just being silly now. Top players want to win and to be successful, and at the wage levels they get in their prime, only an over-rated fool (*cough*Robinho*cough) is going to spend the next five years enjoying battling it out for that sixth European spot from England when they could have spent it battling for a CL championship. Swimming around in a vault full of cash, Uncle Scrooge style, probably get's old after the first few times. You can't hold anything against Kaka...hell, Milan wanted to sell him for a year. It's not nice being a mere bargaining chip or commodity, but one assumes athletes are used to it in a way. He is gone and he ain't coming back. It's done.

I am looking forward to see what happens next. In the past Milan always managed to sell players at just the right time, even if it didn't seem that way at the time, and buy players on the up. The last three or so years have been pretty weak in that regard (One can point to the economy, but there were recessions in the late 80s and 90s that didn't affect the team that much. If a guy is smart enough to get laws passed indemnifying him from future presecution, he's smart enough to know how to shop in a bad economy. That is, if he still cares for the ego and prestige boost owning a successful team brings.). With the exception of Pato, who've we bought that's been anything above just average?

Maybe we've pulled another trick and will see players like Hernanes (who is supposed to be very good), Dzeko (who is very good) and a raft of young defenders (pretty much anyone but the vastly over-rated Mexes) arriving and this last few weeks will seem like a bad dream. Maybe Ronaldinho CAN just turn it on and off like a lightbulb, and will tun it on to show Dunga he's still in the mix for 2010. Who knows? Then again, it could be No-Gol-ivera all over again. It is entirely up to the ownership and management at this point. We've got a great tradition, years of success and a great track-record in team building, so we probably owe it to the team to take a wait and see attitude. That's the attitude I'm taking.

Unfortunately, I have very little confidence in those in charge, judging from the last three or so years. But I still want to believe.

First of all we don't even know if the Manchester City offer was 100 M euro's, for all we know it could've been the same as Real Madrid's offer. Back in january there were rumours of 60M, 80M, 100M, 120M, 150M euro's, 100 M euro's just seemed to be the one that got thrown around the most. In fact Manchester City officials said afterwards that the figure wasn't anywhere near that. I also find it absurd that people complain that we ONLY got 67.2 M euro's for him. Kaka is the SECOND most expensive player in the history of football and we're in the middle of a RECESSION!! The fact that he peaked two years ago, and has been injured alot during the last two years, makes it even more crazy.The one who's the most to blame is Florentino Perez for artificialy inflating the prices of footballers by offering sums of money that his club doesn't even have.

Anyways, that's all history now. It looks almost certain that we will get Dzeko, as I mentioned earlier, the fact that we are even considering him makes it certain that will play a 2 striker formation, which again makes it almost certain that we'll play 4-3-1-2. Right now it seems most likely that we'll end up with a front trio of Pato and Dzeko with Ronaldinho behind them. Now I don't really mind Ronaldinho, contrary to what alot of people said, I think he looked very motivated in the last couple of months. Every time he came on the pitch he looked like he was willing to fight for his place. But IF we are going to replace Kaka, the only player that can do that, and is available is in my opinion Antonio Cassano!

I don't see where anybody implied we should have gotten more money. Going by the reported numbers, Man City's were all higher (I personally don't recall seeing lower numbers anywhere). Not sure how anybody can argue that from a financial point of view alone Man City wasn't better for us....any way Christian I agree, it's all history now.

Originally Posted by Christian

First of all we don't even know if the Manchester City offer was 100 M euro's, for all we know it could've been the same as Real Madrid's offer. Back in january there were rumours of 60M, 80M, 100M, 120M, 150M euro's, 100 M euro's just seemed to be the one that got thrown around the most. In fact Manchester City officials said afterwards that the figure wasn't anywhere near that.

Oddly enough I had just been reading an article from a Manchester City site (complaining about Platini being silent through all this after being vocal against the alleged City move) that said exactly that:

No-one can remember any such figures emanating from inside the club and it just wouldn't make proper business sense to tell the world's media how much you're bidding before negotiations have even started. Ultimately, Mr Platini and all the others who slated the blues following the collapse of the deal were suckered into believing mindless paper talk and made up figures.

He's right, of course. The figures being thrown about in the media were absolutely ridiculous. Hell, the figure Milan actually admitted to getting from Real Madrid is a ridiculous figure!

I also find it absurd that people complain that we ONLY got 67.2 M euro's for him. Kaka is the SECOND most expensive player in the history of football and we're in the middle of a RECESSION!! The fact that he peaked two years ago, and has been injured alot during the last two years, makes it even more crazy.The one who's the most to blame is Florentino Perez for artificialy inflating the prices of footballers by offering sums of money that his club doesn't even have.

Well, I just said it, but I'll say it again -- it's a ridiculous amount of money! No one player is worth that much. Perez knows it. He's just counting on the publicity and the image of Real Madrid as the world's big powerhouse. It makes him look good now, but in the end his galactico policy will fail this time just as it did the last time. Hopefully they will buy Ronaldo, Villa and every big name player they can, fail miserably because they don't know how to build a team (only a roster) and eventually go bankrupt and be relegated to Spain's second division. It would serve the arrogant bastards right.

Anyways, that's all history now. It looks almost certain that we will get Dzeko, as I mentioned earlier, the fact that we are even considering him makes it certain that will play a 2 striker formation, which again makes it almost certain that we'll play 4-3-1-2. Right now it seems most likely that we'll end up with a front trio of Pato and Dzeko with Ronaldinho behind them. Now I don't really mind Ronaldinho, contrary to what alot of people said, I think he looked very motivated in the last couple of months. Every time he came on the pitch he looked like he was willing to fight for his place. But IF we are going to replace Kaka, the only player that can do that, and is available is in my opinion Antonio Cassano!

This is the exciting part to me. The past is the past. Now Milan must look forward and use every ounce of their scouting prowess to build a young, dynamic squad that will be not only a serious contender for many years in both Serie A and in the Champions League, but a team that will proudly be champions.

This is the last bit I will write about the Kaka' saga.

In my opinion, we are being a bit naive about this whole affair.

The groundwork for Kaka's departure was laid down in 2006, when we, bruised from Calciopoli and a points deduction, had to endure him and his father meeting with Calderon.

Tuttosport, which is right maybe twice a year, broke with that story and most of us paid no attention to it.

On the heels of that clandestine meeting, Milan renewed Kaka's contract for the first time. In the press conference Kaka' said, "Yes, I met with Real, but Milan were the first to know about it."

That meeting showed two things:

1) Kaka's father was willing to listen to Real Madrid and their offer, undoubtedly emboldened by Milan's post-Calciopoli predicament.

2) Real Madrid could buy any player by virtue of ridiculous contracts and their nearly celestial status (Franco the criminal notwithstanding)


Bosco Leite's willingness, whether right or wrong, proved that while Kaka' may be angelic, his agents are like most people in this world--greedy.

After failing to sign Kaka', Calderon said, "Galliani told me that they're nervous because of Calciopoli, and in the future we may be able to do business." This was probably a lie, considering how much Galliani loathed Calderon.

Roll on 2007. Milan win the CL, and suddenly Kaka' staying is almost a foregone conclusion. But that summer, Real started a staggering offensive. It was thoroughly unscrupulous, and it mobilized AS and Marca. Report after report of Kaka' telling Berlusconi, "at least listen to their offer", or posing in the Real jersey.

Kaka' comes back from his vacation and says, "The door to Real Madrid is closed, but it was never open because I have a contract with Milan." Then, very tellingly, "I cannot say I am Rossonero for life because if, in the future, Milan decide to sell me, there is not much I can do."


At the end of that summer, Kaka' gave an interview to Sky I believe, in which he stated, "Milan for life? That depends on Berlusconi."

This coyness and the measured responses showed two things:

1) Kaka' knows how to play the game.
2) He wouldn't exactly slit his wrist at moving to Real Madrid.

World Soccer then interviewed him that same summer, and he deferred to Providence: "I want to stay at Milan. But only God knows my future."

Bosco-->Berlusconi-->and now God.

Kaka' meanwhile began the season in earnest, and in the beginning of 2008 he renewed his contract yet again! He expressed his commitment: "Now I can say, I am Milan for life."

A few weeks later, he confessed that "after Athens I did think of leaving." But wait Kaka', did you not say in the summer of 2007 that it depends on Berlusconi whether to sell you or not? Perhaps he was hinting that only Berlusconi could sign him away; most likely, however, he was hinting that he wanted another pay rise, which he duly received.

Bosco, doubtless thrilled at his own cash cow, slept easy.

We don't make the Champions League in 2008, and Kaka' stays. We buy Ronaldinho. I had a feeling back then that he was brought in to replace Kaka'. And it seems I, and I am sure a few others, have been proven right.

You all are looking at this from January 2009 onwards. Perhaps Milan did make an error of judgement then, but Kaka's entourage are consummate manipulators. The 'entourage' that follows Brazilian players is insidious because it positions the player between his family and his professional life.

This departure was three years in the making. The saddest thing is that Calderon appears to be the most prescient now. In 2007, when the Kaka'-Real affair was at its apex (or nadir depending upon your perspective), he had said, "Sooner or later Kaka' will come to Madrid."

Brasiliero, the problem isn't his move itself, it's more because of all his declarations in the past ... things like "I want to be the next captain", "I want to be like Maldini", etc ... if in his mind, a move was possible (which was so), this kind of declarations was just useless, as well as the reason why he stayed this winter reporting to what he said ("fans convinced me to stay").

Then, of course, he is now a Madrid player, we will all look sometimes at what he does there, but we will all hope that he doesn't win anything in his new team.

Oh, and about players sold, rumours are about Maicon going to ... Real Madrid, and Ibrahimovic to Barcelona (of course, when Real Madrid splashes money, Barcelona tends to follow). Is it because of the crisis or because of the will of the players, I don't know and I don't care ...

Originally Posted by Hasan Rossonero

This departure was three years in the making. The saddest thing is that Calderon appears to be the most prescient now. In 2007, when the Kaka'-Real affair was at its apex (or nadir depending upon your perspective), he had said, "Sooner or later Kaka' will come to Madrid."

Looking back, maybe it would have been better had Kaka gone to Madrid in 2007. The money may not have been quite so much, but it would have bought more and Milan was in the position of being European champions. But best of all, it would have saved us from the three-ring circus that came to town every mercato since.

Great post, by the way!

Originally Posted by Hasan Rossonero

This is the last bit I will write about the Kaka' saga.

In my opinion, we are being a bit naive about this whole affair.

The groundwork for Kaka's departure was laid down in 2006, when we, bruised from Calciopoli and a points deduction, had to endure him and his father meeting with Calderon.

Tuttosport, which is right maybe twice a year, broke with that story and most of us paid no attention to it.

On the heels of that clandestine meeting, Milan renewed Kaka's contract for the first time. In the press conference Kaka' said, "Yes, I met with Real, but Milan were the first to know about it."

That meeting showed two things:

1) Kaka's father was willing to listen to Real Madrid and their offer, undoubtedly emboldened by Milan's post-Calciopoli predicament.

2) Real Madrid could buy any player by virtue of ridiculous contracts and their nearly celestial status (Franco the criminal notwithstanding)


Bosco Leite's willingness, whether right or wrong, proved that while Kaka' may be angelic, his agents are like most people in this world--greedy.

After failing to sign Kaka', Calderon said, "Galliani told me that they're nervous because of Calciopoli, and in the future we may be able to do business." This was probably a lie, considering how much Galliani loathed Calderon.

Roll on 2007. Milan win the CL, and suddenly Kaka' staying is almost a foregone conclusion. But that summer, Real started a staggering offensive. It was thoroughly unscrupulous, and it mobilized AS and Marca. Report after report of Kaka' telling Berlusconi, "at least listen to their offer", or posing in the Real jersey.

Kaka' comes back from his vacation and says, "The door to Real Madrid is closed, but it was never open because I have a contract with Milan." Then, very tellingly, "I cannot say I am Rossonero for life because if, in the future, Milan decide to sell me, there is not much I can do."


At the end of that summer, Kaka' gave an interview to Sky I believe, in which he stated, "Milan for life? That depends on Berlusconi."

This coyness and the measured responses showed two things:

1) Kaka' knows how to play the game.
2) He wouldn't exactly slit his wrist at moving to Real Madrid.

World Soccer then interviewed him that same summer, and he deferred to Providence: "I want to stay at Milan. But only God knows my future."

Bosco-->Berlusconi-->and now God.

Kaka' meanwhile began the season in earnest, and in the beginning of 2008 he renewed his contract yet again! He expressed his commitment: "Now I can say, I am Milan for life."

A few weeks later, he confessed that "after Athens I did think of leaving." But wait Kaka', did you not say in the summer of 2007 that it depends on Berlusconi whether to sell you or not? Perhaps he was hinting that only Berlusconi could sign him away; most likely, however, he was hinting that he wanted another pay rise, which he duly received.

Bosco, doubtless thrilled at his own cash cow, slept easy.

We don't make the Champions League in 2008, and Kaka' stays. We buy Ronaldinho. I had a feeling back then that he was brought in to replace Kaka'. And it seems I, and I am sure a few others, have been proven right.

You all are looking at this from January 2009 onwards. Perhaps Milan did make an error of judgement then, but Kaka's entourage are consummate manipulators. The 'entourage' that follows Brazilian players is insidious ecause it positions the player between his family and his professional life.

This departure was three years in the making. The saddest thing is that Calderon appears to be the most prescient now. In 2007, when the Kaka'-Real affair was at its apex (or nadir depending upon your perspective), he had said, "Sooner or later Kaka' will come to Madrid."

Thanks for the story I think all these are really coming together well to fit the puzzle.

Originally Posted by Rick

Milan won the Champions League only two years ago. Do you really think that players now see Milan as a "second tier" club just because Kaka was sold? Yes, the tax rate (I'm not sure why Berlusconi can't do something about that) and the economy make it more difficult, but things are tough for almost all clubs. There are never guarantees when you buy a player and sometimes it's impossible to satisfy fans who complain if a player is over 25, yet want only players who are already proven at the highest level brought in. But Milan has always been good at finding players such as Sheva, Kaka, etc., and helping them to achieve greatness. If you're only going to be satisfied with Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi, then you're right -- Milan won't be able to attract such players at the moment. But Milan can find players who are on the verge of greatness and help them achieve it.

No offense mate, but I think you might have misinterpreted my last arguement a bit. I never once mentioned that we needed absolutely to get proven stars. They're near impossible to get anyway since their clubs know it'd be either suicidal tactically to release them, or it didn't make sense financially.

The ones I've always been worrying about are those so-called "players on the verge of greatness". One good season doesn't necessarily make you a really good player, and unproven talents are always hits-or-misses, but mostly misses. My last arguement was based on all the potential stars that were emerging from their respective leagues which we bought and ended up playing crap for us. In that list I put down Vogel, Dhorasoo, Olivera as well as Coloccini. All of those mentioned were such talents when we bought them, but did absolutely nothing but waste space for one or two seasons and in the end had to be sold. Pato was an absolute gem of a find, but you remember we did pay around 12 or 14 Mil just to bring him over, and he was the only one of the unprovens that have so far actually made it for us on the pitch in more than just a substitute appearance. Flamini is the only other actual "steal" that I can say has been up-and-coming that has proven to be an asset to our team, and that one came about simply because Uncle Fester didn't want to lose his head last year when we got kicked out of CL. To be honest, I really don't care whether the player is under or over 25 or whatever, all I ask for is an assurance that the player isn't just a one-season-wonder who signs for us and suddenly doesn't know how to play football, kind of like Gila and a bunch of the "talents" we had to let go of.

And yet it all comes down to the same arguement. The big clubs are also buying these so-called players that are on the verge of greatness. At Man U or Arsenal, if they buy you, its more than likely they'll play you (Macheda and Nasri being my respective examples there). We all knew Gorky had talent, and yet he didn't even rate so much as two dozen substitutes appearances and a handful of starts in over two years for us. We can't even make any assurances to any "up-and-coming talents" that they'll get the chance to shine, simply based on our track record going back about a decade now. What makes us a better proposition than those big clubs?

To the question about who earns the highest now in Milan after Kaka left : According to this site, Ronaldinho earns the highest now (6,5 mil euros per year). After that it should be players like Dida, Kaladze, Pirlo, Gattuso, Nesta, Inzaghi and Seedorf according to this data, but the data looks like from season 2006/07, so I don't know if there were new contracts for those names after season 2006/07.

Milan should manage the wages of players really carefully since the tax in Italy is really big. If we look at the data from Inter and Milan from the second source, the difference (netto) is 10 milions which should mean that Milan must provide 20 millions more than Inter. Well, 20 millions is really big! This not yet a comparation between italian clubs must spend for wages and spanish ones.

What surprised me is that the top earner in Madrid (before Kaka transfer) are Raul and Ruud Van Nistelrooy with 'only' 6,4 mil euros per year.

Originally Posted by Hasan Rossonero

This is the last bit I will write about the Kaka' saga.

In my opinion, we are being a bit naive about this whole affair.

The groundwork for Kaka's departure was laid down in 2006, when we, bruised from Calciopoli and a points deduction, had to endure him and his father meeting with Calderon.

(rest of post)

Terrific post, Hasan. For your last take on the issue, you said a mouthful.

Kaka was quoted on Calciomercato today as saying, "When the possibility of going to Real was proposed I accepted immediately." Doesn't sound like a man who was forced out for the sake of improving our finances, does it?