I'd say Pusilic and Diaz are about the same, not really much between them. RLC is 27 and hasn't amounted to much in his career. He's our replacement for Tonali and he's 5+ years older.

Reijnders has potential, yes.

It doesn't feel overall 'forward' - we lost our joint-biggest asset and we've not strengthened much.

More of a 'replace numbers not quality' kind of window.

In general, I was frustrated with the dismissal of Maldini. Then left in a state of shock when Tonali was sold.

Today I full understand that this new ownership is about business and not about leaving a legacy.

Milan in general has shrunk into a Dortmund from a Bayern. Yes the target will be a Scudetto, but not at all ?costs?.

The sooner that sinks in to the ?rationale? of how this management is perceived by the wider Milan fan base, the more sense their actions will make.

Suning?s inter are more like Berlusconi?s Milan (pre FFP). Money will be thrown at the squad to attain a Scudetto and more so a Champions League title. And just like Berlusconi, at any cost.


On to Milan?s new signings; nothing to be excited about.

Pulisic is way better than Diaz IMHO.

RLC, if considered as Tonali's replacement, then yes would be a downgrade (although I have a friend who says he's better than Tonali).

But if we also sign Reijnders and someone else in midfield (Gravenberch being mentioned right now), and those two signings in attack I mentioned then we'd have made a very good mercato as far as I'm concerned.

Think you're saying that because we lost one and signed the other. Had Pusilic been our player now gone and Diaz the one we'd just signed, you'd say the same thing about Diaz. Nah, they're pretty even with each other!



Again, with the 'the one we've signed is better' rhetoric. We lost a 80M player and replaced him with a not particularly in demand surplus 20M player. Given English players cost more than Italians that's a huge stretch!



Lot of ifs. Four future good signings can indeed make things better, but we're just not making any marquee additions yet.

I won't count any chickens for now!

Or maybe I simply rate Pulisic higher and I always have. Let's not project our opinions into others. You think they're even, fine. I don't agree with that statement. The pitch will show us.



Actually, my friend who suggested that is an Inter fan. I personally said RLC is a downgrade from Tonali.



Marquee signings? Are you confusing us with Real Madrid? We don't have the capacity nor philosophy to be making such signings.

It already has mate, and you don't agree with the facts which I offered you.



Don't mean to provoke but that's like saying 'I'm not a racist because one of my friends is black'. Doesn't matter who he or she supports, I'm genuinely not interested in the opinions of your friends unless they're Milan fans. Or do you want me to make friends with a Celtic fan for their opinions on things to do with Rangers?



You are correct, we have parity here!



You're being obtuse there for no apparent reason.



Marquee doesn't mean signing Haaland, it means signing players significantly better than what we have, not Pusilic and RLC.

If we're bringing the 'friends' fallacy into this, one of my Milanistis is less impressed with this window than I am, and is bewildered at the fans who are praising this cr*p.

You really love to argue, don't you? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

I mentioned my friend was an Inter fan simply because you were throwing the 'the one we've signed is better' shtick around when you were quoting me on that comment.

But whatever floats your boat, mate. I'm past the point in my life when I bicker with people on the internet over trivial things.

I really like what we are doing in this transfer market so far.

We lost Tonali yes, but we're reinforcing other much needed positions.

Now whether these players pay off or not, I don't know, but I'm glad
we are taking a step forward to actively fill gaps in our squad.

What's interesting is that Tonali's sale generated that revenue that allowed us to be flexible on the market. We are trying to be financially secure in today's market which I understand...Italian football doesn't generate much revenue. I prefer this type of strategy than having a mega squad and then having a megadebt to cover after.

I think what many of us have a problem with is getting over the magical Milan days. That Milan is dead. And a new type of Milan is being born.

This post has been edited by William405: Jul 19 2023, 03:56 AM

I apologise actually for that post, I was in a mood when I sent it and I did take it out on here.

Appreciate your gracious response though (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

We're very close to signing Musah (18-20m)and Danjuma (on loan).

The way I see it, we'll be playing 4-3-3 next season. It'd be interesting to know who will play as DM because Bennacer is out till January, and none of the current players we have can actually cover that role.

who is this Okafor we have just signed?

Our transfer market seems to be officially over with regard to incoming players, and the outcoming players seem to be obvious at this point. So, I'll attempt to summarize here and speculate on how we could play.

Incoming:

1- Tijjani Reijnders Central Midfield 24 years: ~20 million
2- Marco Sportiello Goalkeeper 31 years: Free
3- Luka Romero Right Winger 18 years: Free
4- Ruben Loftus-Cheek Central Midfield 27 years: ~15 million
5- Christian Pulisic Right Winger 24 years: ~20 million
6- Noah Okafor Striker 23 years: ~15 million
7- Samuel Chukwueze Right wing 24 years: ~30 million

Total: ~100 million

Outgoing:

1- Sandro Tonali Central Midfield 23 years: ~80 million
2- Mattia Caldara Central Defender 29 years: Sold (~5 million probably)
3- Fode Ballo Toure Left Back 26 years: Sold (~5 million probably)
4- Ante Rebic Striker 30 years: Sold (~5 million probably)
5- Divock Origi Striker: 28 years: Sold (~5 million probably)
6- Lorenzo Colombo Striker 21 years: Loan (Probably)
7- Marko Lazetic Striker 19 years: Loan (Probably)
8- Ciprian Tatarusanu Goalkeeper 37 years: Free agent
9- Daniel Maldini Attacking Midfield 21 years: Loan (Empoli)
10- Brahim Diaz Attacking Midfield 23 years: End of Loan
11- Zlatan Ibrahimovic Striker 41 years: Free agent
12- Tiemoue Bakayoko Defensive Midfield 28 years: End of Loan
13- Aster Vranckx Central Midfield 20 years: End of Loan
14- Sergio Dest Right-Back 22 years: End of Loan

Total: ~100 million

Regarding transfer costs: We'll be basically even assuming we sell the players I mentioned. Worst-case
the scenario is that we pay 20 million in total. This all means that we are being very responsible with regard to transfers. But, what does this all mean? Did we strengthen our squad or make it weaker? Since we have not spent any money between last year's squad and this one, I would say it's very fair to compare the two squads and the direct conclusion of either A- We improved the squad or B- We worsened the squad is the best indicator of the success of this mercato.

I will say first that the defense remains mainly unchanged (with the exception of replacing Fode Ballo-Toure with another player). This is a strong feat as defensive stability is the key for any good team, and I believe we had a very solid set of defensive players.

Let's start with departures. The main one is Sandro Tonali. We lost a Milan fan, a player that gave his all to Milan. He was decisive in many games we've played providing crucial assists and stability in midfield. However, he often didn't have a partner in midfield that was as consistent next to him. Bennacer was plagued with injuries and Krunic doing well for his level, but not enough. This is why I believe we will switch to a 4-3-3 with a much more dynamic midfield that doesn't rely only on the excellent performance of two players (Will talk about it later). Brahim Diaz is also an important departure, however, the probable switch of formation as well as his adequate replacement being already bought (Pulisic) means that his departure won't be felt. Even though I admit that I really enjoyed watching him play for Milan. All the other departures are basically players that didn't feature much and their departures will barely be felt.

For incoming players:

At the midfield level: Reijnders and Loftus-Cheek: Both very dynamic players, but complement each other. Loftus-Cheek has good technique and physicality. Reijnders is also very technical but will be much more of the controller of the midfield. I believe that these two players with Bennacer in the middle will form a great mix of physicality, speed, and creativity. While Tonali was a monster, I believe this combination of players will provide a much more stable Milan midfield causing bigger problems for the opposition. So, I believe in that part of the pitch, we improved our squad. With regard to replacements, I think Adli, Krunic, and Pobega are adequate. I know the names might sound underwhelming, but I think in this system, this set of players will function well. For example, Adli I think doesn't work in a two-man midfield and doesn't have the skill to play as an attacking midfielder. But, in a three-man midfield, he could provide much better quality perhaps. An important note, I don't think we'll only play 4-3-3, we'll probably rotate with a 4-2-3-1 just because we have an excess of quality attacking players. But depending on the midfielder's injury status, we'll probably rotate between the two to field the best lineup.

At the striker level: Giroud is still a world-class player, but Okafor will probably give him a good run for his money.
Right-wing: We will now have a plethora of options with Okafor being to play there, but Chukwueze will be our starting winger, no doubt. Pulisic will probably also play on the left or right depending on the rotation. He can also play with De Ketelaere in the attacking midfield if we play a 4-2-3-1. The ability to rotate between Leao and Pulisic on the left is excellent. The ability to rotate between Pulisic, Chukwueze, and Okafor is amazing as well. It is leaps and beyond the talent we had on the right! Let's not forget we have Messias and Saelemaekers in case of an injury crisis. Although, I think we should sell at least one of them, they seem to be considered an essential part of the squad at the moment. In that sense again, we've improved our attacking options so much! We have a better rotation, a deeper talent pool, and exciting prospects as well.

All in all, even if all the talk at the end of the day happens on the pitch, we've improved our squad significantly no matter how you look at it!

Finally, let's look at our two best formations at 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1: (and their replacements)

4-3-3:
Maignan/Sportiello
Theo/Calafiori---Thiaw/Kalulu---Tomori/Kjaer---Calabria/Kalulu
Loftus-Cheek/Adli---Bennacer/Krunic---Reijnders/Pobega
Leao/Pulisic---Giroud/Okafor---Chukwueze/Pulisic

4-2-3-1:
Maignan/Sportiello
Theo/Calafiori---Thiaw/Kalulu---Tomori/Kjaer---Calabria/Kalulu
Bennacer/Krunic---Reijnders/Loftus-Cheek
Pulisic/De Ketelaere
Leao/Pulisic---Giroud/Okafor---Chukwueze/Pulisic

My rating for this mercato is 9/10. Our squad is much more balanced and deeper at all positions.

The main reason why I didn't give it a 10 is that we haven't signed any players of world-class level and have lost a world-class player in Tonali. (Although, I believe that Pulisic at his best is world-class and Chukwueze has the potential to be that type of player).

Let me know what everyone thinks!

This post has been edited by William405: Jul 21 2023, 04:13 PM

Didn't see anyone in Italy or Spain protesting in the streets. Only in England.

Supporters of Italian and Spanish teams were happy about it.


Sry, just re-read what I wrote. What I meant to say re Gary is that he was crying like a little b!tch about the SL because the EPL has no reason for it. They celebrate their relegation teams going to other leagues and pillaging them. Now he's crying about the Saudi League doing it to the EPL. So basically this is a small taste of what every other league that needs the SL has gone through due to the EPL

Totally agree with you re the PGA. Corporations are and will always be disgusting.



The Serie A in the 80s and 90s was built on a quick sand foundation. It was never going to last, add to that the total mismanagement by the FIGC and the Lega plus some seriously corrupt owners, and you have the result we see today.

The EPL is just on another level to what the Serie A was back then. This is not a cycle now. The EPL has become an insurmountable entity. And the more time that goes by, the further away they will go. Not only is the TV money ridiculous compared to what Italian clubs get, the fact that some clubs are State owned is a major problem as well. City and NC in a few years will by lightyears away from the rest of the teams in that league as well, let alone clubs from Italy, Spain and Germany. Look at City, they've practically turned the league into the Bundesliga/Ligue 1. They've won it what? 5 of the last 6 years?

NC are basically in year 2 of their project, and they've already broken into the top 4 in a very competitive field.


Chuky practically done now as well. Can't believe we're actually having an efficient transfer window

RLC is the only one I'm meh about tbh.


I agree, about Loftus. Not so hyped on him. We wasted a non EU spot + we now have too many box-to-box mids and no DM...


I agree about Pulisic. And this is coming from someone who really liked Brahim. My only worry with Pulisic is the injuries

To be fair to RLC, he did eat up Tonali and Benna in both games against Chelsea when we played them. But I personally would have added a bit more and gone for Amrabat. Especially when seeing all the other mids we're linked with/signed who are all very similar to RLC. We need a DM desperately imo. We already had issues last season with leaving our defense overly exposed and we've essentially just made it worse with the players we've signed who are all more progressive than Tonali.


Nah, Pulisic is better. Brahim was at certain moments really good, but 75% of the time he was invisible and spent more time on the floor than being productive for us.


He tore Kalulu a new one when we played RB Salzburg in the CL last season. He's the one that scored on us in the first game

Nice post (IMG:style_emoticons/default/king.gif)


Some points:

I don't think this is the end of the incomings. After we signed Reijnders, most outlets were saying we're going to sign 4/5 more players.

Now we know 2 of those will be Okofor and Chuky. With those 2, our attacking line is complete and is 100% an improvement on what we had last season which was basically Leao and a nearly dead Giroud. So completely agree with your points re the attack

I do not agree re the midfield however. I think what was once our strongest department has become our weakest. We won the Scudetto with Kessie, Benna and Tonali. Only one remains, and he will be out until next year. That is a major problem. We don't really have a pure DM available. And whether we're playing a 2-man pivot or a 3-man midfield, it's an issue either way. First off, I don't think any of these players can pull off playing in the pivot. All of them are pretty much box-to-box guys or pure CMs (Krunic and Adli). Tijjani to me looks like a very progressive player from what I've seen. I don't think sitting and dictating is in his repertoire. So for me, whichever way Pioli chooses to go, we absolutely have to sign a pure DM who can shield the defense and keep things ticking over for us.


Ballo Toure is most likely the next one out so a back up LB will be needed.

Just some corrections to your above calculations.

Chukuweze will be 20m + 8m bonuses.
Messias is also on the outgoing list. Hopefully Torino put us out of our misery and actually give us some actual money for him (hopefully the rumours about Singo are not true, we're already too bloated at RB right now and would prefer actual cash to balance the books)

Thanks for the corrections! I agree with your points here. It's not really fair to compare this midfield to the one two years ago. I would prefer you compare it with last year's midfield where Tonali was great, but there wasn't much stability nearby him. However, for sure, I didn't really factor in Bennacer's injury here, which is a huge point. It does raise the need for a new DM. We certainly do have the budget to go for it. And since all areas are pretty much covered, seems like the obvious next signing. Let's see!

I hope we sell Messias. I think he has market value, he isn't a terrible player by any means, just not Milan level.

How would you rate the Mercato? Do you think we have a better squad in general? Do you think we're more competitive for the Scudetto?

This post has been edited by William405: Jul 21 2023, 10:13 PM