New rumours about Jovic today, but I read that we might convince Madrid on the basis of a simple loan, no right to purchase.

That's also how we got Brahim. Which sucks, obviously. If he shines with us we'll just see him return to Madrid without having any possibility of signing him. Cos apparently Madrid believe a lot in him.

I've always felt the same way, believe me...

Dry loans do suck, for the mere fact that they disrupt the side's chemistry at the end of the loan period. But so it goes sometimes.

It's a two way street, we develop their kids, and in turn we get our positions filled on the cheap... It's a temporary solution no doubt, but even if they do actually perform well and they got to go back to their club... At this stage it's likely to mean we accomplished our club objectives. Which in turn would mean we have a bit more clout moving forward in the market, as we reestablish ourselves as a top club, we'll be more of an attraction to players, not to mention we'll probably have CL football to offer.

And if of course, they didn't fit the bill... They f<vk off... Simple.

We just can't afford to allow ourselves emotional attachment to these loanees.


EDIT: this is all me searching for a silver lining...

This post has been edited by TriniKing_CE: Sep 4 2020, 10:20 PM

I am not real happy with the Diaz deal, but I can (kind of) see the logic. Get someone (that in theory is) good for the role, make it to CL, and with the extra money buy someone next year.

AFAIAC the situation with Jovic is different. He is a striker, so he would be coming in to act as a "vice Ibra". Zlatan has ... what? 1 year left? 2? Part of the value of having Ibra is that he can train his replacement. But ... what is the point of training someone who will go away? So I would rather we leave space for Leao and/or Roback. Or someone else with potential that can grow into the role.

Watched Italy play today (had the TV on during my meetings, one of the benefits of working from home, I guess :-))

Not overly impressed by Chiesa ...

This post has been edited by Forza Milan!: Sep 4 2020, 11:41 PM

Told you (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

It's okay, we're good, we have maldini and roback (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Who the hell is Roback?

You are not watching milan friendlies? A youngster we got.

Btw, milanapp is putting milan friendlies for free

It was an interesting game, watched most of it :-). The game was intense, more than you would expect of a friendly. The 4-1 result is not reflective of what went on. There were times when Monza looked better than us (two of our goals came in late on great individual performances, and we can thank Theo for saving us from Monza tying 2-2). The team had some good moments ... and times that were cringe-worthy.

Pagelle (CM and Rossoneri Live:
- A. Donna - 6 (CM), 5.5 (RL). I started watching after the 1-1 goal, but I can see why he is 3rd choice ... at best

- Calabria - 7 (CM), 7.5 (RL). I think he did well. Interesting how he seemed to play as CM after Kalulu came on. Unfortunately, if we sell someone he is more likely to leave than Conti (as he will generate a plusvalenza while Conti will be a loss on our books).

- Kalulu (came in late to replace Calabria) - 7. Did better than the game against Novara and scored a very nice goal. Not convinced we can count on him. He is fast, though.

- Bellodi - 6. I thought he did quite well for a youngster. However, he is going on loan to Ascoli.

- Duarte - 5. I think both CM and RL are being generous. Generally a bad performance, and he is credited for being responsible for all 3 goals we took in in two friendlies.

- Theo - 6. Played the full match. I think he did well, but he got "dinged" on not being as fast and effective as in the past.

- Kessie - 6 (CM), 7 (RL). CM dings him for being less involved in the action than he normally is.

- Pobega (came in late to replace Kessie) - 6.

- Benna - 5.5 (CM), 6.5 (RL). Dinged by CM mostly because he is lacking form.

- Krunic (came in 2nd half to replace Benna) - 5.5 (CM), 6 (RL). Did better than I have come to expect from him.

- Roback - 6 (CM), 5.5 (RL). I did not see the Novara game (where apparently he did wonders), but I was not overly impressed. Yes, he is very young and Monza played well defensively.

- Laxalt (came in late to replace Roback) - 6

- Paqueta - 5.5 (CM), 6 (RL). I was not impressed.

- Diaz (came in late to replace Paq) - 6 (CM), 6.5 (RL). He had a couple of interesting moments, but he obviously needs time to fit in.

- Maldini - 6.5 (CM), 7 (RL). His goal was rather impressive, and he seemed to gain confidence after that. However, I do not believe is ready for prime time.

- Samu (came in late to replace Maldini) - 6. A few good exchanged with Diaz.

- Ibra - 6 (CM), 5.5 (RL). I think CM is being generous, he has had better days.

- Colombo (came in late to replace Ibra) - 7. His goal was impressive, other than that he did not do much.

All in all, some of our young players may not be starter material (yet) but they are close, which means they could help with "depth". I would give them a chance to mature and improve, rather than spending money on mid-level talent (which is all we can afford for some key roles) or geting more players on a dry loan. After watching this game, I think a solid CM and someone to replace Samu are the highest priority right now. Paq and Duarte need to go. Krunic also needs to go if we bring in a 4th player for the double pivot role.

This post has been edited by Forza Milan!: Sep 6 2020, 12:22 AM

Not really.

Failed miserably to get that to work for me. Ended up watching on ESPN.

Just to add to this my thoughts about certain players.

Maldini certainly isn't ready for big time neither is Roback. But, Maldini I think will be a player for the future with us. He has a simplicity to his game which is quite and showed that could score the nice goals. I see him more of a trequatrista in the future perhaps though.

Colombo's goal was amazing, I really like his player and his mentality. I think he's something we should really look into in more details.

Donnarouma's brother is no good at all, even for a 3rd choice keeper and for his wages...but anyway.

Agreed.

I think the best thing for Maldini is to loan him somewhere where he can get decent playing time, I don't think he will get enough space with us.

I think between Colombo and Roback (not to mention Rebic and Leao) we have enough cover for the CF role. I would rather give the youngsters an opportunity to develop than spend money there on someone like Jovic or the like.

In other news ...

Looks like the Dolla-Raiola circus is restarting. The rumor is they are asking for 10m, 30m release clause, 2 year contract. With no hurry to close. I fear this will not end well ...

Linked to Bale. I really hope that does not happen. This is no longer the same player who used to terrorized EPL. This is the player that refuses to go on matches and sleeps while he is on the bench. Injury prone and lazy. No thanks.

Watch our youngsters in action against Monza