He will remain Dolla for me, at least until he sacks Raiola. But he is our GK, so I think we all need to move on.

Hmm, I am not sure about that. If we sell both Bacca and Lapadula 2 strikers have to come then. And if we sell Bertolacci too, then another midfielder must come. As for Mauri, I think we should loan him again and see if he improves.

Agreed.

Besides, I can't hold a grudge against an 18 year old who was simply being manipulated by his scumbag agent.

I don't know if you guys (Danny) know but Suso last night won the best player of 2016/17 season from SportItalia.

Well it's reported we're in talks with Genoa for Lapadula and with Marseille for Bacca (we want 15m for lapa, 30m for Bacca, Genoa and Marseille offering 12m and 20m respectively) I think if the offers they make satisfy whatever valuation Fassone has for them, they'll both be sold.

Bertolacci is a question mark, but I've read multiple reports over the summer linking him to a move. Last I read Genoa want him on loan. So I can see us doing that to try to raise his price should he have a good season

As for Mauri, I don't think he's in any of their plans so they will either try to sell him or loan him out again


I find it hard to believe that this is all on Raiola. The fat f@ck might be the instigator, but I think all that he did was with Dolla's blessing. Which is why he'll forever be tainted in the eyes of many


Conti received an award as well

We need a box-to-box mid as back-up for Kessie. Kucka is leaving, Poli left, who else do we have?



Probably, and he made a mistake. But he's only 18 years old, so I think it's only a human thing for fans to forgive him.

Agreed on Donnarumma. Sorry, I have a memory and find it hard to forget, especially with that kind of preposterous contract being the final resolution. No, I've lost all respect for that kid.

We have Locatelli, Monto, and Sosa for rotation

If we play with a midfield 3 we'll have Jack, new CM, Kessie starting (Hakan can also play deeper in midfield so I can see him and Bona interchanging). Loca, Monto and Sosa will be the subs, maybe we'll bring soemone else, or the plan is to play with a double pivot, so those 6 guys are more than enough imo

A midfield or 6/7 players is ok, imo, especially if the plan is to use different formations (3-man back line or double pivot) I think getting someone for that right wing should still be a priority. Hopefully something happens with that double deal for Keita + Biglia in the next few weeks.

Either way, I don't see Berto as the solution, he's injured 80% of the season and out of form for the rest. We should bring in someone reliable. Maybe try to get Badelj as well, he'd be a great addition for rotation purposes. Definately much better than Monto


I don't see it as a mistake. It was a calculated move that backfired on him and his agent. Sure he still got the big contract in the end, but his image has taken a massive hit over this, make no mistake about it


Agreed

No, last night I was too busy spewing over the wreckage of Rangers.

I heard. My condolences Danny (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

What happened?

Calciomercato.com: Genoa, Fiorentina and Atalanta are all interested in Andrea Bertolacci. Milan want €10m for the midfielder.

Sampdoria's Sporting Director: "Lapadula is a player that we are interested in, but he's not the only one we're looking at. With him, it is important to understand Milan's intentions as well."

Milan have an agreement with Fenerbahce CB Simon Kjaer. He accepted to reduce his salary and will become a backup option for the team. However, before closing a deal for Kjaer, Milan have to find an agreement with Fenerbahce and offload one of the defenders in the squad. Paletta is the closest defender to leave Milan and once he signs for Torino, Milan would accelerate for Kjaer. Furthermore, Milan defenders Jherson Vergara and Stefan Simic will almost certainly go elsewhere [Gazzetta dello Sport]

Conti's move to Milan will be finalized today or on Thursday at maximum, with the official announcement possibly taking place on Friday [GdS].

Crashed out of EL qualifiers to some 3rd rate team from Luxemburg...



Read these comments from F & M during the ongoing press conference being held for the start of pre-season

Fassone: "The target of having 2/3 of the team has been done. The remaining 1/3 is still missing."

Mirabelli: "The mercato is still long. We will form a suitable roster for 3 competitions. We don't know how many players will still arrive."

Mirabelli: "We have done a lot but we still have to do more. We are an open yard, more signings will arrive."


If you take their comments literally, Fassone is basically saying 3 more signings will arive. But I think he's just talking about the first team here. Meaning Conti, CM and a RW/CF

But going by what Mirabelli is saying, I think we can expect a lot more movement than just those 3. I think it will all depend on who will be sold over the next few weeks. The 3 signings Fossone mentioned are a given, the rest will depend on who leaves

I'm thinking:

Out:
Paletta
De Sciglio
Vangioni
Kucka
Bertolacci
Niang
Bacca & / Lapa

In:
Conti
Biglia (or a similar player)
CF
Back up CB (kjaer?)
Back up CM (Badelj/Benassi/Duncan/?)
Back up CF/RW

Yup. The line is that we will now make key decisions to move out some of our players and then relook at our budget. This means, that funds from player sales will play a role now in our remaining budget. My guess is that we have another 20 MM + cash from player sales. So possibly another 50MM to spend? If we sell Niang, Paletta, Bertolacci, Bacca and Kucka. Maybe some of the other fringe players as well.

I think we'll have more than that

Certainly we're looking to sell most of our players for good money. We want 15m for DS, 30m for Bacca, 15m for Lapa, 10m for Berto, 3m for Paletta, 18m for Niang, 10m for Kucka, 2m for Vangioni

Obviously we're high-balling on all of them and we won't get the amount we want in total, but I think we'll get a minumum of another 70m from player sales, and that's assuming we'll get a bit low-balled for out players. But it's good that we're taking such a strong stance on the players we want to sell, rather than the bending over Galliani used to do. We might not get all that from the reported fees I mentioned above, but we'll definitely get a good chunk of cash from sales. Add to that, I still think we have more than just 20m left over from our initial budget

Let's not forget that most of our deals will be made in installments, plus the one for Kessie is loan for 2m and obligation to buy in 2 years for the rest

Fassone also said this in the PC

Fassone: "Milan's financial management is independent. It will be a season of investments, totally covered by the bond issued."

Fassone: "There is still a significant part of the budget to complete the squad."