How's that any better from what we had last season?



Not yet, but who cares. He's a free agent now, not our problem anymore.

Why would I have to answer for that?
If you care what I think. I'd say it's better but my malaise is with the money in the Bacca deal; 30M is ludicrous.
I'm perhaps different than most here in that I'd love to see us sign Bertolacci, Jose Mauri, Maksimovic and Baselli and cut the rancid meat off the wage bill. I'd rather we sign/horde a corps of young, next-gen, high-ceiling players than one-hit wonders entering their 30s. The best thing Juve did was take a chance on a lot of young stars and buy-up all the young talent in italy. If we have the money, we shouldn't waste all our singles on the first name that comes to mind...

turns out the swap for cassano wasn't too bad after all...(IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

If you think Bertolacci, Jose Mauri, Maksimovic and Baselli are good enough to bring us back in the game, then you are seriously overrating their capabilities.

You're right, they're not. But they're probably better than what we have and if Sini ends up being a half decent manager he might be able to scrape a fifth place finish for us this season. Europa League has to be the aim.

This window is not about rebirthing an ailing giant, about getting back the old Milan. It's about giving us the seeds of a project which can start to climb again.

Because we've seen pure and simple what happens when world class/top class/really good (whatever adjective you want to use) players are linked to us - they use us and go off somewhere else.

So we have to start modest before we can get great again.

And modest for Milan is fifth.

Seriously? Except for Bacca who has proven his worth, the rest are all mid-table club players who aren't any better than the various Paletta, Poli, Montolivo, Bonaventura etc. They bring nothing new to the table, especially Baselli and Jose Mauri who are so green they should be enrolled for the Primavera or something. If you want a EL placement, then you should go after more established players. Just because Kondogbia and Jackson rejected us doesn't mean every other player on earth will reject us as well. Bacca and Witsel being the case in point.

First of all, let's call him Sinisa or Miha. Sini makes me think at first he's another person. Twice this they I caught myself thinking who's Sini (- with afterthoughts on the Italian PM Fini).

Yes, we should start modest. But in a different way. What would signing Baselli, Bertolacci, Bacca and Maksimović make this modest start different from the one we had last year? It basically the same mistakes again. Going after overpriced Serie A players who are already formed and quite honestly ain't very versatile brings us nowhere.

Look at Bonaventura. He's a good all-rounder but as a individual he's simply not enough for Milan too be actually good. He, like Nocerino, can be a nice addition if you have at least one star player who excels the team.

What do Baselli, Bonaventura, Poli, Bertolacci bring altogether? Not very much I'd say. They're not classic playmakers, they all have limited creative capabilities. And modern day teams who achieve something have this in common: they try to multiply midfield and attacking creativity. Take Borussia Mönchengladbach. Their success is involves at least 3 creative sources who are omnipresent: whether it is Arango, Raffael, Reus, Kruse, Herrmann. Those players can create and will create because they have the needed technique, vision and precision. They know how to play with rhythm.

Now take Milan and you'll fast find that we lack that kind of players. Menez can only perhaps be considered as one possible source of creativity. Bertolacci and Baselli wouldn't add to nothing, they'd confirm all we have in Poli and Bonaventura already bring/have.

Milan has to try and bring either 1) at least one star player like Ibra who can carry a team on his shoulders or 2) young talents who open up options for the future. By bringing the mentioned players we're going into the wrong direction.

What's the status with Witsel? He's a signing that WOULD excite me.

Apparently Zenith wants 40M, and we are not ready to pay that much (sorry, no link).

FWIW, I am happy with taking a chance on younger players (even if it is a risky strategy). Not so happy about paying a lot of money for mid-age players that are not that great (which appears to be what we are doing).

Think 'mid-age' is a bit harsh for a player who's 26. If that's a reference to Witsel.

I wouldn't pay €40 million for Witsel. It's way too much. We should settle with Zenit for around €30 million, otherwise they can go feck themselves.

What's funny though is how some websites consider Baselli the alternative to Witsel. It'd be the same as saying "I want to sign Messi, but if I'm unable to then I'll sign Giovinco instead". One is a top quality player, the other is a nobody.

If Raheem Sterling is worth 50M (he isn't) Witsel is too. That, sadly, is the going rate for really good players these days.

Money has lost all sense of value in football.

Bertolacci here for medical - that one is done and dusted assuming he passes, Bacca has confirmed he "100%" is going to Milan - just needs the fee, and we're in for Monaco's Adbennour at 20M Euros. We've apparently bid it already.

No, was not referring to Witsel (though IMHO at 26 he qualifies as "mid age" for a soccer player, at least he is decent quality). What we should be avoiding is the combination of not-so-great + not-that-young, particularly when relatively expensive.

Why were we bickering just a few days ago??? This is exactly my point! I agree completely about going in the wrong direction. Sadly that is what we get for trusting the very same man who put us in this situation to turn things around

FWIW, people in Italy seem to think that Miha is a good coach (at least, those I have spoken to). Before we get too negative, let's see how the transfer season goes, and then let's see what Miha can do with the players he has (I still think last year we could have done much better if we did not have a rookie coach). Not to say that I am optimistic (I am not), but there is not much we can do about it, so we may as well wait and see.

This post has been edited by Forza Milan!: Jun 29 2015, 02:12 PM

Because I wanted to give them a proper chance. Now Baselli and Bertolacci seem to be our most probable outcome, while names like Jackson and others fade away.