Summer mercato 2009

Originally Posted by Hasan Rossonero

I think what he is saying is that we'd all like for our owner to splash the cash. However, that is beyond our control, so rather than complain, we have to see what he does this summer.

I can understand the frustration, but as the days go by, I get the sense that Kaka' was sold for several reasons. Money was one of them, but his injury had something to do with it as well IMO.

The more I hear about concerns over Kaka's knee, the more I think you may be onto something there. Truthfully, I thought Kaka was never fully healthy last year. Maybe had Real Madrid not been so concerned about making a big, chest-thumping, look-how-big-our-penis-is spectacle, they might have waited and been a little bit more certain of Kaka's health. We'll see.

As for brk's comment, I think you're right that he was just showing frustration over all the "the world is ending" doom-and-gloom negativity. As you know, I've been trying to preach patience myself.

But there is an extraordinary amount of this going on.

Whether any of us agrees or disagrees with the departures of Kaka and Gourcuff, the fact is that b1tching and complaining about it isn't going to undo it. We have to take the purchase of Cissokho and the pursuit of Dzeko as a sign that Milan finally wants to do what the same people who are now b1tching about selling Kaka and Gourcuff have been b1tching that Milan should do for years now -- bring in younger talent instead of older players. We need to have faith in Leonardo's ability to judge talent (even if his lack of actual coaching experience may concern us).

And I have to laugh at the notion that Milan could have done this by selling Pirlo, Dida and Seedorf, as some seem to suggest. I think if you look back over this thread you'll find some who have suggested Milan could get 30 million euros for Pirlo and 15 million for Seedorf. Really? If you think that highly of them, why would you want to get rid of them so badly? The fact is that these are all players who are on the downside of their careers. You might be able to get 15 out of Chelsea for Pirlo because of Carlo, but that's about it. Nobody wants to invest big money in Milan's aging stars. Kaka was the only one with the star power and market value to bring a ridiculous fee.

Originally Posted by ACMILAN1983

By the way, 4 years ago when I joined the forum one of my first posts (possibly my first actually) was about Daniel Alves. Back then hardly anyone knew anything about him and I said how I think he's a great prospect that reminds me of Cafu. I advocated signing him and I got replies generally laughing it off, people assuming I had been playing CM. Fact is, looking at it today, it seems I wasn't off the mark in suggesting him. Cissokho is a young and highly promising player at the moment. While we're simply referring to him atm as a 21 yr old promising player, who's to say that within a couple of years we won't be talking about a world class talent?

This is the whole thing. People want Milan to buy players who are at least as established as Alves was when he left Sevilla, but they want Milan to pay less than what the market is for a Cissokho. It's just not realistic. Surely it would have been nice had Milan beaten Porto to him six months ago and gotten him on the cheap, but then everyone would have been b1tching "Well who is this guy? That's a terrible buy!"

We're not going to play with a bunch of kids next season. Cissokho and Dzeko are young and could build a part of our future. However, we still have guys like Nesta, Rino, Pirlo, Zambrotta and Abbiati in the side to provide balance.

There's the key. You need to keep some of your experienced players to guide the younger guys. If Milan brings in three or four talented young players this summer to play with the guys you mentioned, then they can gradually add more young talent in the coming mercatos and build a young, dynamic team that can compete for championships for years to come.

Originally Posted by Christian

Well the difference is that Atletico Madrid are playing in La Liga, while Lyon are in Ligue 1. No offence to Ligue 1, it has produced it's fair share of great players, but if we're gonna pay 30-35-40 M euro's for a player from Ligue 1, then he better be setting the league on fire, and let's face it, that's not exactly what Benzema is doing.

He's still a young talent, and in a few years he might be the next Trezeguet or Henry, but I still don't see what he has done that would justify a 30 - 40 M euro's transfer.

He signed a contract in Lyon ...
Just look at the prices of their players when they leave: Lyon constantly asks for enormous amounts of money to sell a player ... it's actually smart, if Aulas says Benzema is worth 60M, he will sell him around 40-50M which is still more than what the player is worth.

My first instinct was to put this in the Cissokho thread, but as I read through it I realized it was about something bigger.

Calcio Debate: Aly Cissokho - The Perfect Signing To Start AC Milan's Life After Kaka

Milan couldn't have asked for a better left-back to go about rebuilding their squad, writes Goal.com's Sulmaan Ahmad...
15 Jun 2009 13:35:43

Yesterday morning, I got a call from none other than Carlo Garganese. He tells me, "Milan have signed Cissokho," and I respond with a kind of bewilderment that most Milan fans have been experiencing over the past few weeks.

Losing Ancelotti, though probably for the best and encouraged by a sizeable contingent of Rossoneri fans, still felt like being jilted, with the club having gone out of their way to stand by the coach as he sunk into insignificance, only for him to jump on the first train out of town.

Or maybe that was planned. Maybe the season-long vote of confidence from vice-president Adriano Galliani was a smokescreen while the directors readied a revolution behind the scenes. What can't have been put down to pre-planning, you'd hope, was the sale of Kaka to Real Madrid.

It wasn't enough to see the bench growing mould at San Siro, to see Giuseppe Favalli move so slowly that cobwebs started forming between his one leg and the other, to see Milan fail to perform with any kind of conviction on a consistent basis. Now, they were selling their best player, one of only two in the entire squad who can still manage a sprint without keeling over and coughing up semi-digested food last seen in 1974 afterwards, and one who had designs on seeing out his whole career with the club.

With Calcio on a continuing slide of financial deterioration, it was as though Milan had no choice. All the fans could hope for was that, like when Juventus sold Zidane to Madrid in 2001 for a world record €73m, the money was spent on the best players money could buy to restrengthen all over. The fans, having long lost faith in the higher-ups at Via Turati, were not optimistic.

It is as fitting an evaluation of the manner in which Milan have been run in the past few years, then, that when I got the call from Carlo, I heard not Cissokho, but Sissoko.

To me, this seemed much more Milan. A middle-of-the-road signing in a position they already have stocked and over-stocked that would solve about as many problems for them as a new suit would for Raymond Domenech. Being a scruff is the least of his problems.

Imagine my horror and stunned surprise, then, when I came to realise the signing was not Mohammed Sissoko from Juventus, but Aly Cissokho, from Porto. Make no mistake about it, this move will prove ingenious.

I would be loathe to credit Adriano Galliani with this signing. It's so far from his usual mark that it would honestly have been less surprising to see Roberto Carlos, at 36, donning the Rossoneri jersey next season. Cissokho, surely, was a signing inspired by Leonardo.

Whoever it was, Milan need to keep going back to them for advice for the remainder of the summer. Cissokho, still only 21, made something of a name for himself against Manchester United in the Champions League quarter-final, completely dominating the left-flank in both a defensive and offensive capacity, but he's a lot more than a one-tie wonder.

He is another in a long line of golden French-African talent, of Malian descent, and he has risen through the ranks at such speed that he provides living proof that talent - real talent - stands out at any level, in any league, in any country.

Having started his career with Guegnon, in France, he was in a side that faced relegation to the third tier of French football in 2007-08, right about the time Milan were failing to get into the Champions League. He was snapped up by Vitoria Setubal and adapted seamlessly, setting alight the Portuguese Liga in just half a season.

Porto swooped in January, and the story was set to repeat itself. His star performances attracted the attention of a handful of clubs in Europe, with Tottenham thought to have been closest to signing him before, out of nowhere, he found himself at San Siro to the tune of €15m, with Porto having only paid €300,000 six months previously. His rise has been so meteoric that you're almost expecting him to sign for Real Madrid in a €30m deal in January.

This is not a No. 9 or No. 10; Cissokho plays in a position that, in most orthodox formations, is about the least significant position there is on a pitch. From full-back, he has been able to make such a compelling case for his own brilliance in such a short space of time and command a fee as high as €15m with very little top level experience - it is testament to pure athleticism, work rate and natural ability, as well as Porto's incredible scouting network and outstanding ability to get sky-high profits on their every sale.

A player like Cissokho is a real bonus in the Italian game, where wingers are scarcely utilised and there is so much more potential for full-backs to impose themselves on games. Cissokho's ability to single-handedly dominate his flank with powerful defending and roving attacks, topped with a tremendous and underrated cross, could soon put him in the same bracket as Maicon at Inter - he has far more many years ahead of him.

Thiago Silva and Cissokho in the bag, with maybe Edin Dzeko to come - certainly, Milan look like they've got the action to back up all that talk, and not a day too soon. The names might not be as big as Vidic, Lahm and Benzema, but we could talk about unavailable, overrated and overpriced options all day, Milan are so far making the best moves they can, and no fan could ask for any more than that.

We have to hold up our hands in recognition now and acknowledge Milan are finally getting it right. They may not quite be Pirlos, Rui Costas, Seedorfs and Shevchenkos - certainly not yet - but Leonardo might just have some legends in the making, and won't they just be ready to prove it when they're inevitably drawn against Real Madrid in the Champions League next season.

Sulmaan Ahmad, Goal.com

http://www.goal.com/en/news/1717/edi...ng-to-start-ac

one of the best articles i've ever read on goal.com so inspirational !

it gives us hope for better future

Hopefully we sign Dzeko, cause we have been blowing our trumpet about him, only to witness another 'failure' and take another hit to our reputation and getting idiotic Brazilian presidents mocking us....

Originally Posted by GeoTav

I don't want Beckham to be back as it seems he played some role in the departure of Kaka' in Real (Kaka' said that Beckham explained him how it was in Real).

Plus, his loan spell here can be described as underwhelming at best. In the end, he didn't do a whole lot for us on the pitch.

However, we still have guys like Nesta, Rino, Pirlo, Zambrotta and Abbiati in the side to provide balance.

Three of whom are coming off lengthy stays on the injured list, though.

Dzeko will be signed this week

Originally Posted by Bosniaco

Dzeko will be signed this week

Your personal feeling? The sentiment in Bosnia? Soothsayer?

Are you Dzeko?

Originally Posted by Bosniaco

Dzeko will be signed this week

Btw, how do u pronounce his name?

Do u just take out the 'D' and pronounce it as 'Zeko'?

Originally Posted by Rick

The more I hear about concerns over Kaka's knee, the more I think you may be onto something there. Truthfully, I thought Kaka was never fully healthy last year. Maybe had Real Madrid not been so concerned about making a big, chest-thumping, look-how-big-our-penis-is spectacle, they might have waited and been a little bit more certain of Kaka's health. We'll see.

Kaka looked pretty good in the Conf cup vs Egypt today.
Scored 2 goals (one a penalty) and was very lively.
Not sure how serious (or if) the lingering injury may affect his long term prospects though.

Pato didn't look too sharp though. Was disappointed with his performance overall.

Originally Posted by zafrul

Btw, how do u pronounce his name?

Do u just take out the 'D' and pronounce it as 'Zeko'?

After you see this you will know how to pronounce his name. I am so jealous that he will play for Milan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1uck8UC9pU

Originally Posted by tardissun

Kaka looked pretty good in the Conf cup vs Egypt today.
Scored 2 goals (one a penalty) and was very lively.
Not sure how serious (or if) the lingering injury may affect his long term prospects though.

Pato didn't look too sharp though. Was disappointed with his performance overall.

Sigh... Yeah, Kaka looked pretty good... But 1 thing tho, he doesn't look as dangerous as he used to tho... I think he's lost a yard of pace...

Originally Posted by zafrul

Sigh... Yeah, Kaka looked pretty good... But 1 thing tho, he doesn't look as dangerous as he used to tho... I think he's lost a yard of pace...

NOPE He hasn't...Egypt were just quick to cover up space...

Originally Posted by zafrul

Btw, how do u pronounce his name?

Do u just take out the 'D' and pronounce it as 'Zeko'?

its pronounced Jeko and spelt Dzeko

Originally Posted by brk

For god's sake, mrki, give it a rest. You don't own the team so stop talking as if they're burning your money. Berlusconi bought the team in the late eighties and he can do whatever he god damn well pleases. If you care so much, raise the money and buy the team yourself. If you can't, then shut the **** up about the finances and support the team.

Can't agree more, brk.