AC Milan for sale!

Very true Gabriel. In the end of the day, all I want to see is a passionate owner who is willing to do all he can to make the club great again. Maybe the reason why people insist on Italian ownership may be because they want a new owner to have some knowledge about the club history, tradition, playing style, etc, etc...which really, with a club of our stature, even foreign owners will be very well aware...

Originally Posted by Graeme C

report from Goal.com

The Rossoneri have struggled for form on the field this season, and according to the latest reports, there are problems off it as well...
Sep 23, 2009 3:33:02 AM

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Pressure at Milan is mounting from many angles than is traditionally expected from such a world-class side.

Coach Leonardo is under pressure by the Italian media to perform, there are talks of playmaker Ronaldinho retiring, as his best is behind him, and there is always the subject of why Kaka left for Real Madrid.

But one that has snuck up is that Milan members have not renewed their memberships from last season, and the club has lost approximately 15,000 paid-up fans, according to TMW.

The 2008/09 season saw Milan sign 41,606 subscribers, and the year before 42,179.

But this year, only 25,984 have joined the Rossoneri bandwagon, 15,622 less than this time last season. It is also the lowest membership figure registered under the presidency of Silvio Berlusconi.

It has only been three times in Berlusconi's 25 years at the helm that Milan has dropped under 40,000 members: 36,624 in 1985/86, 37,297 in 2006/07 and 39,489 in 1998/99.

The Italian giants take on Udinese on Wednesday night.

Originally Posted by jornazi

As to jornazi"s post regarding supporting another club if we look like Arsenal or Man City, don't wait dude....go ahead and switch allegiance now.

Arsenal are publicly owned, Man City was bought by a Sheikh...personally I don't support Milan because of who owns the club, I support a club that I have grown to love like no other, for footballing reasons.


can you share the football reasons that u loved milan for?

The CL quarter final match against Ajax in 2003. i didn't know who berlusconi was then, and and even if i had known, it wouldn't have made any difference. cos that night, the emotions my then 12-year old heart felt at different points in the game, were really strong. The truth is, it doesn't matter who runs the club as long as they run it well. its just a shame, that the team doesn't give the fans much joy any longer and the management doesn't seem to be bothered. so if an Arab sheik, or Jewish consortium, or a Russian billionaire is willing to bring back the old days, they're welcome in my opinion.

Interesting news:

apparently the court of justice in Italy has ordered Finninvest to pay 750 million euro as a fine for them bribing a judge in 1990. I'm not too sure whats going on with this topic, but it seems to be major and other Berlusconi companies seem to be involved as well such as Mediaset and Modanda (I dont know how to spell it, but its a magazine company).

more trouble for milan. this may, just may lead silvio to selling milan.

Originally Posted by hitmannq8

Interesting news:

apparently the court of justice in Italy has ordered Finninvest to pay 750 million euro as a fine for them bribing a judge in 1990. I'm not too sure whats going on with this topic, but it seems to be major and other Berlusconi companies seem to be involved as well such as Mediaset and Modanda (I dont know how to spell it, but its a magazine company).

more trouble for milan. this may, just may lead silvio to selling milan.

Hmmm....beginning of the end, or opportunity beckoning?

Thing is, Berlu has a "teflon" quality about him, and maybe if it goes to appeal etc etc, it might slide off him, and just evaporate into nothing....

Will the Italian people develop a sense of "righteous indignation" and seek to ensure he pays, or will they see him as persecuted and "forgive" this tresspass?

€750M is not pocket change, but smacks of a sum that may just be set because the judiciary know it will be bargained down to a fraction of the initial amount...

Further, as electronic media overtake the print version in terms of earnings and relevance, how are his print media companies coping with the transition?

It would be good for an Italian member (or alternately, an Italian speaking member) to give us some insight into Berlu's overall financial health, not only in terms of the aforementioned issue, but on how the recession is affecting his overall financial well being as well.

Indeed hitmann....this is a troubling issue, and could possibly be behind Berlu's reluctance to spend in the mercato, and possibly, the sale of Kaka....

What we really have to hope and pray for, as I have said before, (ad naseum) is that, if/when he sells, that he finds a buyer that really really has money, doesn't burden the club with the cost of the aquisition (a la Liverpool and Man U) and is also willing to spend said funds on the club.

The plot thickens...

Saw this link in the "Banter" thread, thought I would paste it here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009...st-cir-damages

Food for thought, especially regarding the public outcry....

From what I remember, when Berlusconi got re-elected last, the first thing he did was put in a law so that he doesn't get prosecuted - can any Italians confirm this? and could they tell us whether or not this 750m prosecution will stand or not?

You're right Warro - this could mean Milan must be sold to a new investor, or if Berlusconi does not want to sell - we could be in deeper trouble than we were..

EDIT: this seems to be much bigger than I first thought..every news website has it on their main headline.. tomorrow it'll be all over the news. Berlusconi is in trouble --- I'm not sure whether I should be happy or not?

this is massive notizia and its da il giornale!

Indeed hitmann, this is something to think about:

From what I understand he has put such self-protective legislation in place, but I'm not sure if that offers him "immunity" from this type of suit...not sure how Italian law works, and if there is a difference between criminal and civil cases as in the US, and as such, if he is protected from criminal, and not civil....

Until we know more about the nature of the case, all we can do is speculate...plus, his daughter has come out to say that they will appeal...who knows, maybe the judge handling the appeal is in Berlu's pocket!

We have to wait and see how this unfolds...I for one will reserve judgement, and refrain from celebrating, or mourning, until the situation and probable outcomes become more clear.

Either we'll end up by investing 0 euro in the summer again, or we'll have new owners. Of course Im all for new owners since we sold Kaka' and we saw that things are over in here as far as normal managment is concerned.

Lets just hope possible new owners will invest properly ( as they would be taking a club that is not in red and has BALANCED ****ing BOOKS!) in a new team with 7-8 new players coz that is what we need.

Yeah initially I thought yes he has to sell , but after about 4 seconds of thinking I thought what if he doesn't sell or what if he wins on appeal . Berlu has dodged alot of bullets and to see him dodge this one will be nothing new.

On football-italia.net it said Rezart Taci is interested and not put off by a £680 million. Does anyone know anything about Taci I know he is Albanian and an oil tycoon and 38 , but how much is he worth if he did take over.

I was waiting on your post mrki!!

I only hope and pray that its as easy and straight forward as you outline...

As the saying goes: There's many a slip betwixt cup and lip!

I also agree that we will need about 7 or 8 new players to be truly competitive again, with the obvious condition that we rid ourselves of the "dead-weight".

Berlusconi thinks about Milan sale Tuesday 6 October, 2009 --from Football italia( channel4)

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Silvio Berlusconi is seriously considering selling Milan as one of his companies is in big trouble.

Berlusconi's holding company Fininvest has been ordered to pay around £690m in compensation for its controversial takeover of the Mondadori publishing house in the early 1990s.

Considering Fininvest's annual turnover, Berlusconi needs an injection of cash if he is to deal with this decision quickly and easily.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Milan are currently valued at around £650m, a figure that doesn't frighten Albanian oil magnate Rezart Taci.

The 38-year-old was very close to buying Bologna in the summer, but pulled out at the last minute.

La Gazzetta now believes Milan strongly influenced his thinking.

There is also interest from the Arab Emirates, but nothing from inside Italy.

If Milan were to be sold they would become the first Italian club to fall into foreign ownership.

Berlusconi has been in charge of Milan since 1986 when he picked the club up from near bankruptcy and ushered in an unprecedented cycle of dominance.

His entrance into politics has hampered his ability to run the club, though, as he can no longer be seen to spend lots of money on Milan when the economy is suffering.

that Taci guy is known as a Milan fan, so I assume he would want the best for Milan unlike berlusconi. I'm all in for a new owner like him!!

Siamo Liberi,! Siamo Liberi Forza Milan!

Most likely, the fine will be lowered drastically, but neverthless, I felt that Berlu was going to bail from the club very soon anyway.....
Not being racist or biased, but I feel an Arabian Prince is not the solution for Milan... An Italian or European would be desirable, but are there many willling investors from that part of the globe? Perhaps Chinese, if someone there is interested in Milan (I know for a fact that milan is the most popular team over there).....?