Printable Version of Topic

Posted by: han2503 Jun 2 2022, 09:10 PM

All Summer Transfer talk here

Let's hope it's a good one

Posted by: han2503 Jun 2 2022, 09:12 PM

Btw, Papa Berlu is hopefully going to help us fund transfers this summer by being a silent investor and taking some excess players off of our hands


Monza being linked with Caldara and Colombo

Hopefully they take them on permanent deals. We should also try to get them to bite on Ballo-Toure and flip Messias to them as well

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 2 2022, 11:43 PM

Reports linking us Enzo Fernandez of River Plate. CM, 21 years old. 6 goals and 5 assists thus far in 16 games in the league.

Saw a few clips of him on YouTube, guy looks incredibly impressive. His release clause is set at 18mil.

Posted by: CrazyMilanFan Jun 3 2022, 02:47 PM

it between him or renato i suppose, Renato bid is 12 million and probably a deal would be possible in 15. Doubt, we will go for both, we have Adli and then pobega could be staying as well.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 3 2022, 03:08 PM

Renato is pretty much done from what I've been reading.

So if this kid come it would be as an added bonus in the midfield. We're going to have a packed schedule next season, especially with a WC wedged in that the majority of our starting 11 will be involved in. We need to make sure we have quality on the bench as well next season, especially if we're aiming to do well in the CL while staying competitive in the league

Kessie and Bakayoko are both gone for next season. Renato is not exactly a like for like with Kessie, but if we're switch to a midfield 3, I'd rather we go for someone who can rotate with Bennacer a holding mid rather than another creative box-to-box player.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 3 2022, 03:10 PM

3 years for a player like Di Maria is too much. A season as a stop-gap option would have been okay, but not 3 years at that kind of money. Juve can afford to do suicide deals like that one, we cannot.


As for the RW, as long as it is not Zaniolo or Berardi, I'm open to any name.

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 3 2022, 06:01 PM

Not a fan of Zaniolo?

Posted by: han2503 Jun 3 2022, 07:14 PM

He's just not been the same since his injuries. Lost his acceleration, his stats this season are mediocre considering he only missed something like 5 games. Plus his knees are both shot.

For the money Roma want he's not worth it.

Plus he seems like a hot mess off the pitch as well. Have you seen the stuff with Zaccagni?

Posted by: han2503 Jun 3 2022, 07:18 PM

Longo saying we're close to finalising the deal for Sanches.

Let's just close this thing out. Don't know what's happening with Botman but it does really seem like we've cooled things down a bit. I really hop it means we're going after Bremer.

We have Pobega at Toro. Sky said today that he's going to come bac for next season, but I really think it's a good opportunity to use him as leverage with Toro to take Inter out of the running. Pobega is never going to be a top CM. Juric seems to really value him and his price is pretty high atm after a good season at Toro. It will only plummet if he spends next season on the bench for us.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 3 2022, 07:26 PM

Mkhitaryan off to inter.

I really wonder what their strategy is here. They keep signing these old players and not for low salaries either. They need to make 80m profit this transfer market according to what I've been reading. With Dybala also most likely joining for 7m per year.

I know they're going to offload some big contracts this summer. But still, doesn't seem like such a smart strategy. It's not like they have a young squad, and they're just adding a bit of depth and experience.

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 3 2022, 09:41 PM

Honestly, I think it's a very smart move. He's coming as a free agent, at a 3.5m short-term contract it's more than acceptable. They needed a sub for Calhanoglu in midfield.

Inter need to earn 60mil this summer, and they're going to achieve that via 1-2 luxurious sales. Most mentioned names are Bastoni and Lautaro.

Dybala seems like a done deal. The Lukaku scenario it's never going to take place. It's too impossible.

Last I heard Tottenham are about to offer 90mil for Bastoni, but I don't believe it.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 4 2022, 11:23 AM

They could get a sub of similar quality for much less salary imo. Miki is really on a downward trajectory and it's going quick.

If I was an Inter fan I'd be p!ssed if they sell Lautaro to get Dybala.

I doubt it's 90m but I'm sure Conte would want him over there so I wouldn't be surprised if they make a big offer. Either way, I think the Inter squad is getting weaker this summer. They've already lost their biggest clutch player from last season.

I think Juve are going to be the biggest rivals next year. They're making some interesting moves. Their only problem is Allegri and his terrorist football.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 4 2022, 11:28 AM

Gazzetta seem pretty persistent about this Zaniolo link FFS!

Now they're saying we're offering 25m + Rebic...

I really hope we don't f@ck our budget for this guy

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 4 2022, 11:36 AM

Yes, I agree with you. I was a big fan of him pre-injuries, but I've seen him many times during this season (was even at the stadium for the Conference final) and he's just not the same. Maybe it'll eventually come back to him, but for that money we can get better.



Bro, you need to forget about this Bremer stuff. He's not coming.

I see no reason why we should go after Bremer if Maldini has been stalking Botman for so long. He even has an agreement with the player. The only possibility of him not coming is if we don't reach an agreement with Lille because Newcastle will start offering +40mil and sh*t. Fucking Premier clubs...

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 4 2022, 11:38 AM

Too early to speak. Marotta is a guru, I'm sure he'll conjure something up. If Inter only lose on between Bastoni and Lautaro and manage to replace them with Bremer or Dybala, then they'll maintain their overall squad quality.



I'd never give up Rebic for Zaniolo. Not to mention we need someone as versatile as Ante. If Leao gets injured, who subs him? Krunic?

Posted by: han2503 Jun 4 2022, 11:44 AM

Ha, didn't know you went to the final. Too bad for you Jose was involved






Can you just let me enjoy this possibility for a bit?

I'm just saying Bremer is the smarter option. And Paolo is just a smart guy...

Plus the crying Inter fans will do will be so worth it even if Bremer turns into a flop (not possible). First the Scudetto and now the CB they've been rumoured to have agreed terms with for months now


State owned EPL clubs at that...

We'll see what happens. The Elliot link to Lille is great for us. This is why I'm happy they're keeping a minority share in the club. They wield a lot of influence. Especially if you're in their debt.



Btw. Botman seemingly does not want to go to Newcastle, so whatever they offer to Lille now, unless they convince him, it won't really matter.



Final comment. Bring on the Super League and f@ck UEFA.

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 4 2022, 02:48 PM

I would call the whole Mbappe renewal ordeal as THE WORST thing that's ever happened to football. You're offering to a player you already own, about to become a free agent, 130mil just to renew, and 30mil annual net salary? WTF???

A club like PSG that made 224mil of losses last season. Yet they manage to pull these moves thanks to the fraudulent way the Arabs manage the club. And UEFA lets it happen as if something normal. Absolutely disgusting.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 4 2022, 03:34 PM

This is why I supported the SL from day 1.

Only fans of the EPL were against it, because that's a Super League in and of itself. Add to it state backed clubs and it's even worse

PSG are in their own stratosphere of disgusting.

I think within the next 5 years the SL will happen and UEFA will have to bow down to it.

Posted by: Rossoneri7 Jun 4 2022, 08:46 PM

Looks like the new owner of Milan has given Maldini a war chest. Elliott stated that they chose Redbird for their business acumen, in that Milan will continue to be managed in a sustainable manner. I.e. no over the top buys and to live within Milan?s salary cap.

The warchest would most likely be coming from newly injected capital and sponsorship deals. The visibility Redbird have in marketing would bring in better sponsorship deals.

I am excited for what is to come now. As at first i was skeptical when Maldini said those comments.

Milan are linked with a lot of interesting names, but I hope for a stellar signing. An Ibrahimovic type of player with more fuel in the tank.

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 5 2022, 12:53 PM

Two days in a row I keep reading rumours about Nkunku. Honestly, it kinda sucks cos we all know it's impossible to get him so they're just teasing us.

I think the best possible player we could get this summer in attack is De Ketelaere. With Botman, Renato, De Ketelaere and Origi I would be more than happy. Delighted.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 5 2022, 12:57 PM

Lang also being mentioned a lot. If Rebic is really going to be sold, I could see them bringing in a back-up for Leao.

Those 4 will make it an excellent window either way

A LB backup is also critical this window imo. We need to be able to give Theo a rest now and then as well as cover for him when he's unaviailble. Ballo-Toure clearly isn't the solution there

Posted by: han2503 Jun 5 2022, 01:04 PM

I think 100m will be enough to have a very good transfer market. We don't need to spend huge sums. The ground work has already been done by Maldini and Massara for players like Botman, Sanches and Origi. They'll probaly cost around 50m all together.

De Ketelaere will be a bit high, probably around 35m. We might be going for Lang as well which will probably be around 20m.

Factoring in a couple of sales like Caldara, Alexis/Rebic (hopefully not Rebic, but I understand why they might want to cash in), Ballo-Toure, Krunic (don't know if we'll sell him but with Adli and Pobega as well as Sanches coming in, I don't know if Krunic will have space next season. Plus some salaries going off the books and Zlatan's reduced wages. We'll have some extra cash to bring in a back-up for Theo and complete some important renewals (Leao, Tomori, Tonali, Bennacer, Kalulu, should all be renewed in the next few months. Without breaking the bank. That's a budget in line with what Elliot has been giving Paolo and Massara to work with.

Given the excellent work done by management for us to have such a strong foundation of young players, we don't need to have big summer spending sprees, just upgrades every summer for certain areas.


I think next summer is when we'll go all out for a striker imo. Especially if we cover all the weak points this summer, with the expected names.

Posted by: Rossoneri7 Jun 8 2022, 09:08 PM

Sanches is a done deal.

Botman is a little complicated as EPL teams Newcastle, Spurs and United had placed bids higher than that of Milan, while the player himself is pushing for Milan only.

Origi, apparently will sign beginning of July when his contract is expired.

Am i missing something else?

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 9 2022, 10:25 AM

Gazzetta today write that we'll have 100m to spend this summer, which is precisely what I've been saying we'll be spending (spent 75m last summer, can't see why we can't spend 100m in this one).

On the other hand, apparently we met with Raspadori's agent yesterday. No, just, no.

100m = Botman (30m) + Renato (20m) + Origi (0m) + De Ketelaere (30-35m) + Florenzi's redemption (4.5m). That's it. Whatever remains we can spend on some low-key signing or another loan.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 9 2022, 03:47 PM

Florzenzi will be coming for lower. Just read we agreed a 2.5/3m deal for him with Roma

Raspadori is okay for me. Prefer him over the other 2 Sassuolo guys. Still not a 30m player imo so no worries there about getting him for that money.

Botman I think is going to turn into a saga. Which is funny because I assumed Renato would be the harder deal but he seems practically done. While Botman is going to be an issue from Lille's side with Newcastle and PSG offering more than us. Our trump card is obviously the fact that the player seems set on Milan.

I think we'll go for Lang as well from Brugge. Just a hunch. Only thing remaining if we get all these done is a backup for Theo. Soo 100m + anything we get from player sales should be more than enough to cover all these moves

Posted by: han2503 Jun 9 2022, 03:48 PM

I think those are the first 3 major moves we'll make. Which would be an excellent start imo

Still need 3 more players to complete the squad and to make some sales as well.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 9 2022, 06:51 PM

Botman issue getting complicated according to Romano.

Honestly. Just swoop in and take Bremer from under Inter while they're wasting time on Dybala. Not that complicated

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 9 2022, 07:20 PM

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 9 2022, 08:28 PM

Mediaset - In the evening, AC Milan transfer market men are expected to have talks with Botman's agent to try to find the right solution to bring him to the Rossoneri. Bremer remains in the background, but Inter are still ahead.

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 11 2022, 03:04 PM

In Belgium they're saying Noa Lang to Milan is a 100% done deal. Maldini is only waiting for RedBird's OK.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 12 2022, 05:10 PM

I feel like our transfer market atm is at a standstill.

Nothing will happen until management renews and they have a clear idea on what the budget will be


Re Botman, NUFC are offering 55m for him. I think that's curtains for us on that front. Once again. Bremer is there. I know you prefer Botman x-off, but unless the player pushes an only Milan agenda, that's not going to happen. And I really don't want us to sour our business relationship with them either. We still have the Sanches deal to conlude. plus any business we want to do with them in the future.

55m for him is a great opportunity for them.

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 12 2022, 05:44 PM

I've been reading a lot of these comments lately. I think you guys need to realise that it's only the 12th of June today. No team has made any official moves yet. Actually, we're the ones most far ahead in terms of clear ideas and player negotiations.

Origi and Sanches are 100% done deals. Botman, Bremer, De Ketelaere and Lang are clear targets. They just need time, so be patient. The budget has already been fixed months in advance. It's not like clubs decide on a whim how much they want to spend for the summer campaign. It doesn't work like that.



I don't believe the 55m figure. The most reliable figure I've read is 40m, whereas we're offering 30m. The only solution at this point is if we increased the offer to 35m with bonuses and the player pushed for the move. But I think it's very unlikely to happen at this point, so I'm starting to give up on Botman.

As for Bremer, he has an agreement with Inter. Again it boils down to whether we can offer more money to Torino than Inter. But today Tuttosport reports of a serious interest of Tottenham for Bremer. So that alternative could fall apart as well.

Corriere linked us with Pablo Mar? today for the CB position.

Posted by: Rossoneri7 Jun 13 2022, 07:53 PM

Looks like both Botman and Bremen will not be destined for Serie A this summer.

Milan should keep faith in Kalulu and Kajaer ? sign a decent back up for the pair, and focus the funds on other aspects of the pitch.

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 14 2022, 11:56 AM

Botman pushing for a Milan move, Newcastle getting impatient and want an answer by the end of the week.

Interesting fact that, according to Mediaset, Newcastle's offer is nowhere near the 50m previously reported, but actually at 30m pound.

On the other hand Lille are not happy with our offer, which I presume should be around 25m max.

I mean, come on! Ryan Gravenberch, one of the most talented and promising youngsters of last season was signed by Bayern from Ajax for 25m. Lille really need to get back to reality. Botman is not Nesta.

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 14 2022, 01:19 PM

Florenzi's redemption has been finalised at 2.7m against the initial 4.5m agreed upon. Messias is also close to being permanently signed for 4m.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 14 2022, 07:45 PM

Inter look to be ahead of everyone atm in terms of deals. Dybala practically done, same for Bellanova, advanced negotiations for Asllani and they have an agreement with Bremer. So they're going to move quickly. Obviously this could all be offset by making 2 big sales later on. But we'll have to see. My issue with waiting around is that you waste pre-season. I know it's only June, but the pre-season starts in July as far as I know, so I really do hope we start to see some official announcements soon

As for the budget. If the ownership change didn't happen, I think Sanches would have been concluded as quickly as Maignan was last season for example. But the takeover did change things. The budget under Elliot could have been a certain number but it could be higher or lower now. We don't really know what's happening. Of course these things are planned ahead, but these are special circumstances that we're going through


Regarding the CB position. Kalulu and Tomori were the best CB duo in the league last season when they started playing together. This really isn't a do or die situation for us. So if Botman or Bremer come, I'd be excited about it, but if we just gave Romagnoli the 3m salary he wants I'd be fine with that as well. Either that or bring in someone young and promising. This is an area where I fully trust Paolo et al in whatever they choose to do.


We'll see. Botman seems to be set on coming to Milan. I doubt he wants to make take a step back at this point. Newcastle are no where near breaking into the top 4 right now.


30m is fair. We shouldn't go above that as we have more pressing positions to address


Good move for Florenzi

I really do not see the point of keeping Messias unless we're going to flip him onto Monza or some other mid-table side.

That left wing is seriously crowded with sub-par players atm. I'd only keep Alexis of the bunch because he's a multi-purpose player that is still very young.

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 14 2022, 08:04 PM

Only Dybala has been defined. The others are being negotiated. We already have Origi and Sanches coming in 100%. And don't forget Inter have to sell 1-2 of their top players.



Actually, it isn't much the ownership change but rather the internal problems within Lille that's delaying Sanches' signing. As you may or may not know, a faction within the club wants to pospone any sales post-June so they fall onto the next financial year, whereas another faction wants to cash in right now. The ownership's decision is expected shortly. Either way, Sanches is expected to have his medical with us next week last I read.



Again with this Romagnoli talk. Guys, he doesn't want to stay. He wants to be a starter in a club where he feels important and make it into the NT. It's not an issue of money, it never was. But here he'd be 3rd choice, even 4th if Kjaer gets back in good shape.



I think the club wants to monetise from Alexis. He has good mercato abroad and we could get some 12-15 mil from him like with Hauge. I'd be fine with Messias as sub if we get a top winger.

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 14 2022, 08:13 PM

Fresh update. Apparently I had not understood it correctly. It wasn't much a decision of Lille's ownership but rather that of the Direction Nationale du Controle de Gestion which monitors the accounts of French clubs. They had frozen Lille's possibility of buying and selling players due to their financial problems, but just a few minutes ago they accepted Lille's proposed contingency plans, so Sanches and Botman now can be freely sold on the market.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 15 2022, 08:10 PM

The rest are pretty much done as well (Bremer aside). Now there's talk of Lukaku coming back on some rediculous loan which I don't know how it's possible that Chelsea are going to go along with. Ridiculous numbers like 10m for the loan. After they paid nearly a 100m for him. Makes absolutely no sense why they would give Inter this kind of hand-out

If they get Lukaku, Dybala and keep Lautaro, that's worrying. And how the f@ck can they do all this business with all these players earning over 6m per year in salaries when they're broke?? Chinese sponsorships keep dropping like flies atm for them, Suning can't inject capital into the club, yet they can throw around these kinds of salaries...

Origi and Sanches are both great additions, don't get me wrong. But Inter could be making 2 marquee signings in the attack. Our weakest are is the attack yet I can't see us making signings of that caliber on the LW or in the AM position


Yeah, I know about the issues with Lille, but the ownership change I think has also put things a bit on ice for us. Otherwise, simple deals like the Florenzi one would have been sorted earlier. At least that's what I think


Romagnoli is just the simplest solution. Not getting Botman now would be disappointing, and it would leave us a man short at CB.


We'll see. Still makes no sense to me that Messias is going to cost us around 7m total when he's already 31 years old and had a sub-par season with us. Even as just a back up. For me it makes more sense to keep Alexis.

Whatever happens, 2 players from that position need to be moved on. Samu and one of them have to go.


Let's see.

We've been reading about "decisive steps" for Sanches for a month now

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 15 2022, 08:23 PM

https://ibb.co/P5qMYwh

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 16 2022, 06:22 PM

Apparently Lille have blocked Botman's movement towards us unless we match Newcastle's offer. They're offering 30m pound plus bonuses which translates to roughly 40m euro. We're offering instead approx 30m bonuses included. So there's a 10m difference.

I mean, at this point I really don't know what's gonna happen. Botman's will is the most important factor, cos he's the asset being treated, but Lille on the other hand are in severe financial difficulties and for them 10m extra could make a world of difference. So, I sort of can understand their iron hand in the matter.

In other news, both Lukaku and Dybala to Inter seems very close to happening. Dumfries should go to Chelsea, and PSG are about to offer 70m for Skrinar. But they can use part of that money to sign Bremer.

If we don't strengthen the team properly this summer Inter are going to walk the league. I mean, a Lukaku-Dybala-Lautaro attack is unparalleled.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 16 2022, 08:03 PM

Yeah, they're going to be stacked upfront.

Don't know how they can manage all those big salaries though.

Lukaku for me is the difference maker. Lautaro is always up and down and Dybala has the body of a 12 year old girl. If Lukaku returns back in his pre-move shape, then it's going to be even more difficuilt than it was already this season to keep pace with them, let alone beat them to the title again


The fact that the management contract extensions have not been announces yet and we're now past mid-June is also worrying...

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 16 2022, 08:46 PM

Sanchez and Vidal who have the same high salaries will leave, so they're simply replacing them. Plus Perisic who was their 3rd biggest earner also left.

Posted by: Rossoneri7 Jun 16 2022, 09:50 PM

Milan?s transfer affairs will start after Origi is signed, medical is imminent.

I would think Milan have firmed up their squeeze on both Sanchez and that De Ketelaere kid.

Botman will end up at Newcastle, so a search for a defender should not be Milan priority. The priority should be RW, Asensio or Lang or Faivre.

If a decent CB comes in as a backup, then it would be a job well done.


@han to measure Milan against inter is not healthy at this moment. They have to weaken other areas of the pitch. La Joya is not decisive nor is he a player to depend on. Lukaku will be a decisive impact upfront. Otherwise, inter would be weakened all over.

Milan on the other hand will be strengthened. Redbird?s chairman had confirmed they want Milan back and competing for more silverware. While Elliott stated their decision to go with Redbird is primarily driven by the desire to continue acting in a sustainable manner. If you translate that into words, it means Milan wont be entering into bidding wars and Milan wont be derailed from its project of bringing in fresh new talent with huge upside. Of course an experienced player here and there, the ones that make the difference as leaders and add value and experience. It is a brighter future indeed.

Posted by: Rossoneri7 Jun 16 2022, 10:17 PM

Also something very important to take note of ? Milan closes its financial year on June 30.

So taking into account the prize money and CL participation money, it will be a positive year end for Milan.

Transfers could very well happen after June 30th so as to present Uefa with a fortress balancesheet depicting positive cashflow and a profit, but tainted by outflows for signings could very well be the reason only Origi is most likely to sign before July 1st. All other targets could be closed post that date.

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 16 2022, 10:30 PM

Sky reporting we're offering 10m for Sanches, Lille are asking 20m.

It's gotta be BS. I mean, everyone and their grandmas were reporting Sanches as 99% done, now this.

But in the unlikely chance it's true, we really have to wake up. Offering 25m for Botman when Newcastle are offering 35-40. Now 10m for Sanches? Even Saelemaekers is worth more! Nah, it's gotta be BS.

We can't hope to sign the Botman's and Sanches' and De Ketelaere's of this world with peanuts.

Posted by: Rossoneri7 Jun 17 2022, 04:42 PM

Latest updates:

- Bennasser is unhappy at loosing his starting position at Milan and United are preparing a second offer to sign him.

- Maldini and Massara renewals are in danger due to Gazidies given wider authority on behalf of new owners. Negotiations with the pair of directors are very difficult.

- Leao is close to signing a contract till 2026 worth 6M.

- Botman is keeping his stance firm in rejecting Newcastles offer to him. He will only listen to Milan.


Of course news reports change from day to the next, hope all is cleared with Maldini and Massara. I see these two as the true heroes of Milan?s success. It would be sad if Milan dont renew Maldini, the house of cards could crumble, as he keeps the lantern shinning to be inherited to next generation of legends.

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 17 2022, 05:37 PM

The Bennacer bit doesn't surprise me in the slightest. The guy needs to be a regular starter yet Pioli preferred Kessie over him so many times during last season. If there is one player I would start in every single game, it'd be Bennacer. The most underrated player in Serie A.

Regarding Maldini and Massara, from what I understand they want to be given full authority on signing players. Apparently there's a very cumbersome chain of command when it comes to spending, so whenever Maldini wants to sign somebody, he has to go to Gazidis to ask for permission, then they have to wait for the funds to be given the green light etc. I guess after a while it becomes annoying, and for a sporting director it doesn't give you enough freedom to move on the market.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 17 2022, 09:27 PM

All this reporting about the management's contacts is coming from places like Corriere which aren't really reliable. So I don't know what is going on but to not tie down Maldini, Massara and Moncada would be a truly shambolic start for the new ownership...

Just makes no sense to limit a management team that has brought impeccable results with barely any budget. It's already past mid-June now. Forget about players signings and extensions. We need to get this sorted out ASAP. Origi will be the only transfer going through before these contracts are sorted out because he's free and the deal was agreed a while ago. Just really worrying

The report on Sanches from Sky is just strange, I really don't think they know what is going on at Milan. And his has been the case ever since the new management took over.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 17 2022, 09:29 PM

Bennacer has to be one of the players we make sure we keep. And we need to remove whatever release clause we put in the original contract

Kessie is gone now, and we'll most likely switch to a 4-3-3 similar to what we were using at the end of last season. Bennacer was unplayable in April before he got injured against Inter then he lost his place again. Plus AFCON and a feww other niggling injuries and he was in and out of the team, but it's not like he was frozen out. He still played a very good number of minutes.

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 17 2022, 10:04 PM

It's hard to predict what's going on right now. Things could very well go smoothly, M&M will renew, and we'll end up signing Botman, Sanches, De Ketelaere and Origi. Or things could go differently...

The best thing to do is switch off any notifications, stop reading websites, and come back when the league starts. I'm honestly getting tired of this.

Posted by: Rossoneri7 Jun 17 2022, 10:13 PM

Bennacer is an essential element to the team.

Being offensive both in fullbacks and the attacking trident, Milan need a Bennacer type tracking opposition, killing counters and restarting plays. Yes he had been injured and whatnot, but that is part and parcel to an athletes life.

It is imperative that these reports are rebuffed by offering him assurances he will retain a starting role.


Also, wheres that Adli kid gonna fit in and is Milan bringing back Pobega? Think with the Sanchez like and those two, its gonna be a tussle for Bennacer to receive such assurances.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 18 2022, 05:40 PM

Now there are reports coming out of France that PSG are interested in Sanches. If we lose out on him I'll tear my hair out I swear.

This new ownership is already raising red flags for me. How do you not move heaven and earth to keep a management team that has brought insanely good results?? Just ridiculous that we're moving into the final 2 weeks of June and their contracts have not been sorted.

All while all the market operations seem to be at a complete standstill and oil clubs like Newcastle and PSG are sniffing around our targets FFS!

I honestly cannot do what you're saying. I can't switch off, because now I'm f@cking worried about where we're heading. I really hope we do not undo 3 years of impeccable work within the space of a few weeks


Adli will be rotation for now. Pobega is box-to-box, Adli is more of a creator

Bennacer has to stay. Simple as. We've let 4 key player walks for free, it cannot keep happening. Ad he has a release clause in his contract as well so that's also an issue that needs to be corrected.

This BS with the management better be sorted out be next week

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 18 2022, 06:22 PM

I don't think it's that simple. Don't forget until the signing takes place we're still owned by Elliott, and even then Elliott would continue to own a minority stake.

The main divergence is between Maldini-Massara and Gazidis-Elliott. Paolo wants more competencies, more freedom to operate. Elliott doesn't want to allow that. Hence the long-@ss time it's taking to conclude the renewals. If it was just up to Cardinale, things would have been resolved swiftly.

There are rumours that Maldini had already talked to Investcorp in advance, and they had assured him of a top responsible role and a lucrative budget. Then Elliott changed their mind and went for RedBird, hence Paolo's infamous interview to Gazzetta afterwards.

It's a shitshow right now. I'm fairly confident in the end things will resolve, but time is running out and we're missing important targets we had blocked for months. It's unacceptable and very, very irritating.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 19 2022, 01:16 PM

But I don't think it's that cut and dry. I do think RedBird are involved in all big decision making because they are in effect the new ownership and whatever decisions taken now while still under Elliot will be formative under them. So while Elliot are still technically the owners of Milan until September, I'm sure all decisions Gazidis takes as CEO come with their stamp of approval as well. And I would think that their stamp is more important than Elliot's seeing as they are the ones who answer for these decisions and not Elliot down the line

I don't know what cause Maldini to come out and speak like that, if it was the change or something else. But when Paolo speaks, one has to listen and consider what he's saying very carefully. That for me already had raised flags. Now we're heading towards 2/3 of the month being over and still no renewals to the key men who are responsible for our recent success. It's just not a good look so far.



If anything is going to happen, it has to be done this week. We risk losing Renato if this stuff keeps dragging on. And if they're offering him big money as well as a bigger transfer fee to Lille we can wave goodbye to him as well. I really do hope the ground work Paolo did with him and Botman is enough to hold them off from going to these other teams, at least for another week and they will wait for us before making their final decisions.

The fact that Botman is still a Lille player when a club that has all the resources available to them like Newcastle want him, is a good sign.

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 19 2022, 10:31 PM

Yes, but bear in mind a preliminary agreement is not final until there's the closing. Right now it's not RedBird alone calling the shots, but RedBird and Elliott together. And whatever requests Maldini might have, RedBird are not just going to satisfy him and sh*t on their partners in this project.

That being said, Maldini seems to have installed a very good relationship with Cardinale already. It's being mentioned that the renewals might finally come this week. They should be for two years with option for the third.

On a side note, Sanches just posted this comment on Twitter: "Choose the best for your soul, not your ego"...

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 20 2022, 02:39 PM

Finally some official words. The absolute silence of the last couple of weeks was becoming worrisome.

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 20 2022, 08:36 PM

https://sempremilan.com/milan-summer-budget-maldini-not-happy

45-50m? What are we, Lazio? This is beyond ridiculous. I hope it's just usual journalism BS.

Posted by: Rossoneri7 Jun 21 2022, 10:23 AM

Scaroni stated that the change of ownership is the reason for the delays. He indicated that he is not worried about Maldini and Massara renewals. He also mentioned Gazidis will continue at least till his contract is up in November.

Di Marzio concurs that Redbird is the main reason for the delays. However is confident Maldini and Massara will remain, once their ccontracts are signed the transfer activity will speed up. He further goes on to mention an alternative to Sanchez, Enzo Fernandez of River Plate. Maldini/Massara prefer Sanches, however if PSG are persistent they will move to plan B and C. With regards to Enzo, Benfica and Wolverhampton have already bid for the player, but he is waiting for Milan as his priority.


What I can gather here is that the club has plan A, B and C. If one doesn't work they already identified another a while ago. Hence it is not a 'scrapping from the bottom of the barrel' or scavenging for a stop gap.


This is elevating news.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 21 2022, 09:00 PM

True but again, the Maldini-Cardinale "good relationship" story comes from the media. Who have proven that they know absolute zilch about Milan at this point

The Gazzetta interview for me is the only thing I can go off of since it's actual quotes coming from Maldini and that interview did not paint a serene picture.

Let's see what happens, we're heading into mid-week and things have not been resolved yet. The media said they'd renew this week. They also said a lot of stuff re budget, targets and other BS when the future of the management is uncertain which makes absolutely no sense


Scaroni isn't the most trustworthy person. Strikes me as the smarmy type. Until I see an official announcement I won't relax


No way that's the budget. And it still wouldn't make any sense since the narrative of the media right now is that they're about to renew. So if the issue was that budget then that would have had to change for Paolo and Massarra to agree to new deals

Longo started this report btw, and while I rate him slightly higher than some for Milan stuff, I really do not think any of these journalists know what the budget will be


Sanches has to be closed. He's a must. We've been working on him for around 7 months FFS!! I'd rather we leave the Botman deal and focus on him. We're already strong in defence. We just need another player to round out the bench. The midfield however is high priority with the loss of Kessie. Especially if Pioli want to keep using a 3 there

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 21 2022, 09:23 PM

It doesn't come from the media. It was Cardinale's own words from an interview he released on the Financial Times.

"For me it was very important to conquer Maldini. We ended up spending three and a half hours together. It was great."

Regarding the budget, Tuttosport today reported we'll have a budget of 60m. Longo yesterday said 45m. Gazzetta two weeks ago said 100m. These journalists are a bunch of hypocrites. Italian journalism has truly reached rock bottom. Whenever they don't have any information about a specific story they start writing BS after BS just to fill their columns. Pathetic.

Posted by: Rossoneri7 Jun 22 2022, 11:42 AM

Paolo and Massara signed renewals with Milan.

Official communication expected today.

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 22 2022, 07:11 PM

No reports whatsoever of any renewals yet.

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 24 2022, 07:43 PM

Botman to Newcastle done deal for 45m bonuses included.

Can't say I can blame anyone for this. That is an insane amount that we could never match.

Now before anyone jumps the gun and says we need to focus on Bremer, just don't forget that he costs a shitload of money as well.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 25 2022, 11:33 AM

We'll see. We are on day 25 of June. 1 week before their contracts expire basically and still silence. Paolo was seen boarding a flight to Ibiza...

Just not reassuring atm. This should have been sorted out weeks ago. Botman got tired of waiting, and Lille were pushing him to take the Newcastle offer. We couldn't give him guarantees. So I don't blame him for making the choice he needed to make. The same will happen with Renato if PSG send in an official offer (so far they haven't according to Di Marzio). I'm not that worried about losing out on Botman. Just bring in a promising CB for the future and we're sorted there. Someone with a similar profile to Tomori but with a bit more imposing physique would be ideal. The key is that whoever it is is quick and athletic. CBs like Romagnoli should be avoided.

I really hope we do not lose out on Renato. He's the one I was most excited about. Because he'll transform our transitional play. Just have to get that done.


They still keep saying 30m when linking him to Inter. Which makes absolutely no sense. If that is really the sum we should put our hat in the ring. If he's a lot more than that then it does not make sense that Inter would sell Skriniar only to spend more that 3/4 of that money on Bremer.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 25 2022, 11:37 AM

Btw, talks for Ziyech are on going, and it seems pretty serious if both Romano and Di Marzio are reporting it. He'd be perfect for our RW, maybe he's not a young prospect like a CDK but he'll be a huge upgrade in that position

Not to mention we could probably do a loan + option deal which would give us more room to maneuver in terms of budget while sorting out a huge headache in that RW area

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 25 2022, 01:32 PM

Difficult to sort out easily such a messed up situation. It's not a simple renewal, but a delegation of authority from Gazidis and Elliott to Maldini. In addition, Paolo wants reassurance on the budget. He's tired of scavenging for players, and he thinks a team that just won the scudetto and wishes to improve should increase their spending.

I totally agree with him on this matter. But Elliott are the owners until RedBird take over, and RedBird themselves wish to pursue the same philosophy.



Forget about Bremer and forget about Inter. If we couldn't sign Botman then we won't sign Bremer either. Acerbi's name being thrown around ( ) alongside Thiaw and some other nobodies. Also, Romagnoli's renewal is being considered again.

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 25 2022, 01:33 PM

If we could get him on loan then excellent, otherwise I wouldn't spend 25m on a 29-year-old.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 25 2022, 05:13 PM

But these are things they knew ahead of time before the change of ownership went through

I don't know, it just seems careless to leave this until the last minute when you have a management team that has been so effective and the new owners are obviously on the same page with wanting to keep them on. Then I don't see what the problem is.

Paolo is not asking for City/PSG type budgets FFS. Just something decent to work with and more say. That is a no-brainer if you are serious about advancing the project.


Ziyech would do great in Serie A. And perfect for us in that he's an AM/RW. I don't think this it would be 25m but close to it. The loan + option formula gives us a chance to see how influential he could be on the team without sinking a lot of money in the deal

Posted by: han2503 Jun 25 2022, 05:14 PM

Btw, no way we'd even consider Acerbi.

This is not 2009.

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 25 2022, 05:31 PM

I think the change in ownership negotiations overshadowed the issue of Maldini and Massara's renewals. But in my opinion they should have been offered new contracts as early as January given their excellent work.

The problem is that Paolo has established some demands that Elliott does not seem to want to satisfy. Like full authority when signing players and an ideal budget. In my opinion, this has been the nucleus of negotiations in the past month. Paolo does seem to have Cardinale's backing but not so much Elliott's. They never had a good relationship when you really think about it.

What would be an ideal budget? For me it would be 100m, easily. Or at least 75m like last summer. Anything less is hypocritical. I mean, Botman alone cost 40m to Newcastle. How are we expected to compete with that?



It'd have to be at least 24m because that's how much Ziyech weighs on Chelsea's books right now. And English clubs rarely take on losses on disposal.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 25 2022, 08:34 PM

WTF did I say this???

Di Marzio saying talks ongoing with his agents. FML!!

So all the budget will be going to midfield and attack. So it probably is true that it is limited. But why not just renew Rmagnoli? We're basically signing a deteriorated version of the player we're losing...

Posted by: han2503 Jun 25 2022, 08:39 PM

We'll see, I don't want to start being overly critical or doubtful of this new ownership when they haven't even really taken over the club as of yet. But these things jus reek of incompetency for me. We've already wasted a month of the transfer window. And when you consider the Botman and Sanches BS it makes it even worse

Yeah, the budget has to be decent. 45m is the budget of a mid-table team. Our management and scouting has done wonders but even that is going too far.


I think Ziyech is worth that amount. Especially if it's on a trial basis. He's a quality player. How many quality players can you buy below the sum of 35m in today's football?

I know he's 29 so that's not ideal but he has 4 top years left in him imo so His age at this point doesn't really worry me, especially if we're pursuing CDK

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 25 2022, 11:45 PM

Acerbi would be the worst possible signing. A player I have always considered garbage, seeing him now at my club??? No, please, just no. It's like teasing us with Botman and then stabbing us in the back.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 26 2022, 12:27 PM

Exactly.

If this is the plan just give Alessio the 3.5m he wanted and be done with it.

I understand not wanting to spend big on a CB after finishing the season with the best defense in the league. Mostly thanks to that ridiculous partnership between Fik and Kaluli which only became a thing later on in the season. So we don't really need a top level CB just someone to complete the defensive line. But Acerbi is just not the solution.

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 28 2022, 04:58 PM

According to Le Parisien, Sanches has said no to our offer because he wants to join PSG.

If it's true then f*ck him. Always playing hard to get with his salary demands, now he's willing to sell his soul and play for the most fake and soulless club in the world.

We should have just gone for that Enzo Fernandez guy who honestly looks amazing. To think Benfica got him for 10m + 8m of bonuses. Probably gonna sell him for 80m after a couple of years like they usually do.

But it's 28 June today and Maldini and Massara haven't yet renewed. Nothing official yet. Unbelievable. We're losing players on a free, losing our objectives that we had blocked months ago. What the hell is this club doing FFS??? It doesn't even feel real that we won the Scudetto only a month ago.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 28 2022, 08:24 PM

This is what I've been saying for weeks now

Ever since Paolo had that interview with Gazzetta something seemed off. This change of ownership really screwed us over.

Renato is gone. Now we have to look for a replacement for Kessie still, an AM, RW, CB, LB. A lot needs to be done and our targets are no longer available. Let's see if we can manage to close for Ziyech, CDK and maybe Lang. Because if not, I fear the 45m reported budget was maybe generous if that's even possible

At least news filtering out this evening is saying that the renewals for the management are done

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 28 2022, 08:35 PM

Where are you reading these news, man? Cos I got nothing as of right now.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 28 2022, 09:16 PM

Nico Schira posted it

He's pretty reliable

@NicoSchira: ✅ Paolo #Maldini and Ricky #Massara have completed their renewal with #ACMilan. Contract until 2024 with option for 2025. Official announcement expected in the next hours. #transfers

Posted by: han2503 Jun 28 2022, 09:20 PM

So p!ssed off about Sanches man! Should have wrapped that up as soon as the season ended. As soon as the Lille management moved over to PSG we were f@cked

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 28 2022, 09:23 PM

Schira is as reliable as my friend's dog. But Mediaset also now says that an agreement has been reached. Still, until I read something official I won't sigh out of relief. This mercato has made me lose any sort of faith in Italian journalism.

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 28 2022, 09:24 PM

Botman and Sanches, two deals Maldini worked his @ss off for months, gone like just like this because Elliott are a bunch of fuckers.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 28 2022, 09:26 PM

Hmm, I find him to be reliable personally, especially when he announces stuff like that, it's usually done.


Yep and we even lost out on the plan B for Renato because we've been stuck in quick sand all of June...


Let's see. I'm going to try to find my zen about this. I trust Paolo, Massara and Moncada to pull a couple of rabbits out of the hat

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 28 2022, 11:24 PM

I watch him on an Italian TV show often, always spits the usual generic BS every newspaper writes.




But even if they renew, the fact it's happening so late really puts huge question marks on the overall atmosphere within the club.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 29 2022, 01:34 PM

But when he usually posts these definite tweets it's usually done. Let's see. We might end up without a management team by Friday.

So typical for us to turn everything into a f@cking never-ending saga. We'll go through this same type of BS all summer for all the signings.

Renato to PSG nearly done as well. Nearly shed a tear. I was looking forward to him the most out of all the names we've been linked with


Yes, this is what I've been saying all month.

These should have been sorted out before the season ended. Especially if RedBird wanted to keep the same trio

Posted by: han2503 Jun 29 2022, 01:43 PM

Btw, we've extended the deal with Puma, it will be for 30m per year and they get naming rights for Vismara. A good improvement. We really need to milk sponsorships for all they're worth especially now.

Emirates also needs to be drastically improved or we should change sponsor on the front of the shirt as well.

Starting next season we have 5m from BitMex, 8m from WeFox, 30m from Puma and if I'm not mistaken it's around 20m for Emirates. Plus we've signed on with eSoccer for the training kits and that's a pretty good deal as well, over 20m if I'm not mistaken. So we are making progress. Obviously it's peanuts compared to clubs like Real or Barca who get over a 100m from Nike/Adidas. But at least we're starting to exploit some of these avenues a bit more.

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 29 2022, 02:40 PM

Sorry Han, please don't take this the wrong way, but who gives a sh*t! The numbers and all are looking great, but fans don't care about any of that. Fans care about the results on the pitch, about Maldini and Leao renewing, about signing Botman, Sanches and all our other objectives. Instead we continue to increase revenues but become stingier every summer with our spending.

I'm sick and tired of losing deals for peanuts, of the salary cap, of this policy of letting players leave for free. I feel like we're at crossroads right now, and we could either take the path of becoming a great club in Europe again, or continue to operate as a sustainable business with no ambition.

The only entity in all this that is benefitting from such politics are Elliott. And nobody please mention the Scudetto, cos that was all Maldini, Pioli and the lads. We could have finished 4th for all Elliott could care.

Anyway, it's Wednesday afternoon and still no signs of any renewals in sight...

Posted by: han2503 Jun 29 2022, 03:47 PM

But getting the revenues up will help in all that you mentioned. We are operating within a very tight parameter because revenues are worse than what teams at the bottom of the PL get, let alone the clubs we want to compete with.

Inter for example keep doing back-flips, summersaults, and every other maneuver in the book to keep signing these high cost players, who are long-term strains on the finances, yet they've achieved the same thing as we did. And in the long run it will become even more unsustainable than it already is. They got lucky on the Lukaku deal, but they're basically paying 18m just to have him for this year only. They'll have to go back in and re-negotiate with Chelsea next summer, and I don't think it will be easy or cheap, so everyone saying that they screwed them over, I think in the long run Chelsea will come out the winners. Do I think we should operate in this manner? Maybe it's less frustrating but I don't think it's a sustainable approach, not in Italy where revenue steams are as dry as the desert.

So I am happy to see all these deals being improved getting more cash flow in, maximizing the potential of the brand. Especially considering where we were just 5 years ago. Basically having lost all our big deals which were still there since the Berlu days, we even were without an official motor partner for a while there after Audi was lost.

So I get all of your frustration. This Maldini saga has been seriously f@cking annoying, and now that we're in the final 2 days of the contracts with no word yet, it's even more concerning. Because something is just not sitting right with me. We had Botman and Sanches wrapped up. I can only imagine that the guarantees we had given them were no longer there. I've been banging on about this ownership switch since that Paolo interview, and you were trying to be the voice of reason there. Now that we're in the final straight, I want to wait to see what happens. We've waited this long, 1 and a half days won't kill us.

Posted by: Rossoneri7 Jun 29 2022, 09:38 PM

Reports Maldini and Massara have signed extensions till 2024.

Then no signing done yet.

Then Milan miss out on Botman as he heads to Newcastle for medical.

Then Maldini and Massara signing imminent.

Then PSG enter the picture to sign Sanchez.

Then Sanchez only want Milan.

Then minority shareholder skyblue or whatever files lawsuit against Elliott for disclosing info on Milan without their consent to Redbird. Stalling takeover.

Then Sanchez wants PSG and not Milan.

Then Maldini and Massara leave headquarters of Milan without signing.

Then Gazidis comes back to Milan headquarters after taking a leave which started after Milan won Scudetto.




I wonder what tomorrow will bring?

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 29 2022, 11:45 PM

The problem is that the increase in revenue isn't being proportional to an increase in spending on the market. So, management can boast these new deals all they want, as long as fans don't see results by increasing the quality of the team then it will mean nothing. Just business.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 30 2022, 01:07 PM

But we have increased the quality of the team though. Look at the squad we had before Elliot took over

And you might just say oh that's because of Paolo. But Elliot have given him decent enough budgets to be able to accomplish what he did along wit Massara and Moncada. All while all the revenues were really terrible. So I do expect to see incremental improvements now that we're improving the revenue streams.

And look, we're all p!ssed off about the handling of the management's contracts. This has been truly mismanaged imo. But it seems like today things are going to move in the right direction from what I've been seeing. So let's see

All these reports about players, budgets, renewals, etc. All they've shown us is that the media literally knows nothing about what's happening behind the scenes.

As long as we get the critical renewals done (meaning Maldini, Massara, Moncada, Leao and Bennacer), I will be calm about the rest. Beleive me, no one is more p!ssed off about losing Sanches than me. But they'll find someone else. Just like we've done continuously when the first target cannot be brought in. Remember the Kabak/Simakan saga? In the end we ended up with Tomori and look how great that turned out.

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 30 2022, 09:38 PM

It's official, Maldini and Massara have renewed. At fucking last.

Posted by: CrazyMilanFan Jul 1 2022, 06:01 AM

finally now let hope they get the team ready for next season

Posted by: Rossoneri7 Jul 1 2022, 07:51 AM

Climax of Scudetto on the last day, renewal of Maldini on the last day, ?. This trend continues, then Mr X on the last day

Posted by: han2503 Jul 1 2022, 04:13 PM

I pray that that will not be the case FFS!!

Let's try to do all the major business in July and have all the important players available to Pioli for most of pre-season.


Another thins, the Lille president said that the only offer for Sanches has been from a "beautiful European club" and that PSG have not made any sort of approach for him, neither formal or informal. So I don't know. I really hope we can get this over the line. Sanches' Instagram activity has mostly pointed at him coming to Milan, practically liking every post from our players and Rafa also replied to one of his post with the red and black dots. So I really do hope that this is all just media BS trying to connect non-existent dots because some of the Lille management have moved over to PSG.

I'm very happy to see this management renewal saga finally behind us. Let's hope for a less stressful transfer window.


Give me Sanches, Ziyech, CDK and I will offer a puppy to the football gods

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 1 2022, 06:01 PM

Leao actually removed his comment on Sanches' Instagram so there's that.

The way I see it is that we've made an official offer to Lille, but we haven't still reached an agreement with Sanches, mostly because his old coach at Lille might become PSG's new coach, and also his old sporting director at Lille has joined PSG. In other words, they want him. They've talked to him, but no official offer has been presented yet to Lille.

Hence, I don't think it's media speculation. There's definitely something going on. When Sanches posted a few days ago "Choose the best for your soul, not your ego", all Milan fans believed that the soul was Milan. But now the way I see it, he could have been saying "Choose the best for your soul i.e the people you have worked with in the past and that truly value you", "not your ego i.e. the word you have given to Maldini or the desire to join the Italian champions, or something along those lines".

Obviously this is just speculation from my part, but I don't see Sanches joining us anymore. His salary demands have also been a constant nag. The guy thinks too highly of himself, when in reality he comes from two failures in Germany and England. A couple of good seasons in France don't make you a superstar.

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 1 2022, 06:05 PM

Fresh from Sportmediaset:

Posted by: Rossoneri7 Jul 1 2022, 07:52 PM

That last part is the cruelest han

But in all honesty, with Maldini onboard I am more confident in how the summer will pan out. Regardless of the targets. The top top priority is the AM and RW positions, secure those and then find a CM and CB. For CM I believe Bennacer should not be neglected, so bringing in someone like Sanchez (whom I was impressed with at the Euros and would definitely suit Milan well in the CL) would only serve to push Bennacer for a transfer out of the club.

That said, I would keep trust in Maldini to produce a team worthy of elevating Milan.

Today we celebrate Maldini, who is the person all fans find synonymous to Milan. This especially during this transition of ownership (yet again).

Posted by: han2503 Jul 1 2022, 09:53 PM

We'll see. I'm not saying that there's nothing going on. Obviously there is. But reporters made it sound like the deal was basically done when in reality PSG have not even approached Lille. Di Marzio reporting it sort of made me lose hope but not this opens the door just a sliver.


Hmm... We'll see. This multi-investor thing doesn't give me confidence either....


Sanches would mean we switch to a 3 in midfield imo. You can't play just him and Tonali as holding mids. And Bennacer is too good to leave on the bench

Posted by: han2503 Jul 1 2022, 09:54 PM

Florenzi purchase official

Mirante extension official


Finally things are now going to start moving along a bit.

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 1 2022, 09:54 PM

It's perfect. More money, less debt. It's how Chelsea were bought.

Posted by: han2503 Jul 1 2022, 09:58 PM

You think so? Isn't thin what happened with the Chinese ownership as well? Plus it's more cooks in the kitchen as well

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 2 2022, 11:03 AM

Bro this ain't Kitchen Nightmares

The more investors you find to pledge their money the better. Trust me. What happened with the Chinese crook has nothing to do with this.

Posted by: CrazyMilanFan Jul 2 2022, 02:34 PM

What do you guys think of dybala move??

Posted by: han2503 Jul 2 2022, 04:52 PM

Just a figure of speech

Just meant that the more people RedBird owes money to in the deal the more problems that could arise. At least that is what I got from the article you posted, that this Indian investor would be there to help finance the purchase rather than be a part-owner and therefore more billionaires backing the club



I honestly don't really trust anything with regards to this. I do think that talks with Inter have slowed down because of Lukaku (I read that in total they spent nearly 30m between loan fee + salary + agent fees, which is insane for a skint club like Inter). So the media is just creating a bit more spice to the story.

I like Dybala a lot and think he'd fit in better in our system rather than Inter's but his age and injury history give me pause. Plus he's not the type of profile I see Paolo going after tbh

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 2 2022, 08:08 PM

Not a big fan. I think he's a washed up player who's been very mediocre in the last 2-3 years. Not to mention his injuries.

Plus I think he fits much better in Inter's two-striker system. People keep considering Dybala a #10, but in reality he's a second striker. He's not an AM. Even the Brahim comparison some people make is wrong. Brahim works his @ss off, runs and presses like a madman. Dybala is somebody who mostly walks on the pitch when he doesn't have the ball. Never dream of him tracking back to help the midfield.

I'd rather get Ziyech on loan and buy De Ketelaere. And hopefully we get Sanches as well.



It wouldn't exactly be a loan, though. Rather, he would partecipate in the investment and become a co-investor in the club. Cardinale has been very active in the last few weeks to raise the necessary capital needed for the purchase. In turn, this creates a conglomerate of wealthy investors that would inject fresh money when the club needs it, and it also decreases the amount that RedBird needs to borrow from Elliott to finalise the deal.

Last I read, RedBird had collected 600m, and are close to collecting another 300m. Meaning that from the 1.2b purchase price, only 300m will be loaned by Elliott in the form of a vendor loan. This was before this Indian guy talk, though.

Posted by: han2503 Jul 3 2022, 02:10 PM

I wouldn't say he's washed up per se. I think his injuries are a major concern for sure. But he has been stuck in the Juve football cemetery for too long. Allegri even managed to make a tank like Vlahovic look mediocre within a few weeks

I think Dybala would fit, but he's not worth the 6m+ he's requesting. For 4m I'd take him


So basically they would be shareholders? Not other companies just loaning the money to RedBird?

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 3 2022, 02:54 PM

Oh come on, man. You have a good understanding of tactics. How would a Leao-Dybala-Ziyech line provide any sort of equilibrium to the team? Tonali and Bennacer would be left at the mercy of the opponent.

We need someone like Sanches or De Ketelaere in that AM slot, not Dybala. Not to mention his overall physical condition is very precarious.



Basically.

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 4 2022, 03:13 PM

Looks like we've reached an agreement with Chelsea about Ziyech regarding the formula of the operation: loan + obligation to buy. The parties are discussing on the amount. We offer 5+20, Chelsea want 5+25.

I think our offer is very acceptable. 30m for a 29-year-old who comes from two lukewarm seasons is too much.

Posted by: William405 Jul 4 2022, 07:22 PM

Kessie to Barca official.
Adli to Milan official.

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 4 2022, 08:23 PM

Adli has been official since last summer man.

Posted by: William405 Jul 4 2022, 11:40 PM

Oh well true 🤣🤣🤣

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 5 2022, 10:06 PM

More and more confirmations about our concrete interest in De Ketelaere. They're now saying Pioli called him on the phone personally. Our first offer of 20m was obviously rejected, but it was just a first move to open negotiations. Now they're saying we've increased it to 25m. I think at 30m plus any potential bonuses it could be settled.

I really, really hope we sign this guy. He gives me very good vibes. I really like his movements and passing, seems very smart on and off the ball. A Leao-CDK-Ziyech offensive line would be amazing, and a huge improvement from the Brahim, Alexis, Messias etc. mediocrity of last season.

Posted by: CrazyMilanFan Jul 6 2022, 12:17 PM

leeds have outbid us for De Ketelaere

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 6 2022, 12:31 PM

I know. They've offered 30m, which, as I said, is what we'll eventually end up paying for him. Plus any bonuses.



Obviously.

Posted by: CrazyMilanFan Jul 6 2022, 02:26 PM

All at Milan management like the player, we are offering 20m i think we should just quickly raise itnto 30 because that seems reasonable in today's day and age. I think they are even mentioning Southampton now. I hope no bigger name comes in with the offer

Posted by: han2503 Jul 6 2022, 08:51 PM

Whether he'd fit or not is the least of my concern regarding him because he's a great player. His fitness is the biggest question mark. Especially for the amount he wants


This is getting tedious now. We've been reading this same BS for 2 weeks now. We better close this ASAP so we can integrate him into the squad


Let's see. I think if we really believe in him we'll get it done/ Just as we did with Leao and Tomori for example, we were willing to invest bigger sums because they believed the potential was there


Doesn't want to go there from what I'm reading

It's really sad, the situation we now find ourselves in. Being outbid by f@cking Leeds! And these Prem fanatics where b!tching about a super league

Posted by: han2503 Jul 6 2022, 08:53 PM

We're apparently going to make the Messias deal permanent.

I really don't get this. He was pretty average throughout the season, he's nearly 30, has no resale value and we have so many bodies in the RW position we really need to offload 2 with Ziyech potentially coming in

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 6 2022, 10:22 PM

I think we're signing him precisely because he has no resale value, whereas somebody like Saelemaekers could provide us with a decent 15m.

And let's be honest, between the two Messias was the better player last year.

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 6 2022, 10:34 PM

It's the Serie A in general. I read that Brentford are about to sign Aaron Hickey from Bologna for 22m. Fucking Brentford, man!

Anyway, I wanted to bring some evidence about how pathetic Italian journalism is nowadays.

Sportmediaset reported today an article on their front page which read "Milan, be aware of Leeds: huge offer for De Keteleare!". So, I went inside the article and at some point it read "The English club, in fact, would be willing to pay 35 million euros plus 5 bonus into the coffers of Brugge, as reported by the Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws."

So, in turn I went and found that article by this Het Laatste Nieuws source, translated it into English, and at some point it said "In the meantime, Club Brugge received a concrete offer from Leeds United in recent days. Italian sources yesterday spoke of an amount of 30 million euros with bonuses. All together, however, the transfer fee can easily reach 35 million".

So, let me get this right. Sportmediaset cites this Belgian paper, which in turns cites Italian sources as their source. And in addition, it says the offer is 30m that with add-ons could reach 35m, whereas Sporrmediaset reports 35+5 from the same source.

I mean, this is plain ridiculous.

Posted by: han2503 Jul 7 2022, 04:08 PM

I don't see any club coming with that offer for Alexis tbh. His season wasn't strong enough. Messias makes no sense because he has no resale value imo. It's not like he offers much on the pitch and it won't be easy to sell Alexis and Samu in the same window, so we're just bloating up the squad imo.

Plus I think Alexis is far more versatile and can be used in various scenarios. While Messias is pretty one dimensional and basically has no margin for improvement.


Well, that's my point the EPL IS the super league already. With their bottom half sides capable of matching bids made by top clubs from all the other leagues. Barring Real Madrid and PSG.

It's not just Serie A that cannot keep up. La Liga, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 teams just cannot match the spending power of EPL sides. Add to that some EPL sides which are on steroids like City, Newcastle, Chelsea and you have this huge imbalance that being widened with each passing year.



Journalism in football is really terrible and has basically become clickbait material rather that actual reporting

There are few people I actually trust with news related to Milan and even then the percentage is not as high as it was in the past. Ever since the new management came in it really does feel like no one has any real source from inside the club unlike the time under Galliani and then Mirabelli

Posted by: William405 Jul 10 2022, 05:01 AM

I'm really not happy with the transfer window. We lost Kessie and Romagnoli. We haven't signed really direct replacements. We didn't sign Botman. We're really not as active as we should be. Juventus already signed Pogba and Di Maria which will do great in serie a. Lukaku is back to Inter. No way we can sniff the Scudetto without marquee signings...who are we attracting? No big names after a Scudetto...

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 10 2022, 09:44 AM

To be honest judgments should be made at the end. We could very well sign De Ketelaere, Ziyech, Renato Sanches and another CB, who alongside Origi, Adli, and the return of Pobega would make it a very successful mercato IMO.

Posted by: han2503 Jul 10 2022, 12:55 PM

Only if all this happens though

I'd really like to see some movement this week because now we're just making the usual mistake of letting things drag on

At least get Ziyech and CDK done.

Sanches is a question mark. I don't know if all the PSG stuff is media BS or Mendes trying to get a better deal for him or he actually wants to go there. He'd be perfect for our midfield. But at this point either get a definite answer of yes from him or move on to someone else. We need 1 more dynamic mid. Pobega and Adli are probably going to be impressive this season, but we just lost a starting mid, we have to make sure we replace him especially with the other teams getting stronger

Posted by: William405 Jul 10 2022, 03:55 PM

So, our rivals are signing pogba, lukaku, di maria and you think these signings will be enough?

Posted by: William405 Jul 10 2022, 03:55 PM

We need a MARQUEE signing.

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 10 2022, 05:49 PM

Pogba is a washed up has-been. Di Maria is coming on a one-year contract because he only cares about the WC. Lukaku is coming on loan after a disastrous season. Do not paint them as marquee signings.

Besides, Juventus need a revolution right now. In defense they are thread-bare. You can't compare their situation to ours. Inter are also signing a lot of loans and free agents.

De Ketelaere, Ziyech and Sanches are functional to our project. They add exactly the kind of depth we need, especially the first two. If we get them we would be filling the holes we had last season. The question is whether we will actually sign them all or not.

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 10 2022, 06:11 PM

I wholeheartedly disagree. We do not need marquee signings. We need quality and functional players.

Posted by: William405 Jul 10 2022, 07:29 PM

I find it hard to agree with you. No matter what their past season was, we all know they are WC players. Pogba will do well in Juve. So will Di maria and Lukaku, I can bet on that. Yes, these players that we will sign are important for our project. But, it's not enough I'm afraid. Ziyech is maybe the most important player and I don't think anyone ever considered him world class. De Ketelaere is probably good for the future, but I don't know about him being an immediate impact.

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 10 2022, 10:44 PM

First of all, marquee signings cost an arm and a leg, and require 7-8m yearly salaries. We have a salary cap so that is out of the question. You should know that.

Secondly, we just won a Scudetto without any marquee signings so that goes to prove you do not need big names to be successful. You just need to invest in quality players. Sanches, Ziyech and De Ketelare would be top quality signings that would comfortably double our potential.

The problem is that we are taking way too long and might end up losing on a couple of them at this rate. That is my only worry.

Posted by: William405 Jul 10 2022, 11:35 PM

I hope you are right. I'm really worried about the quality of the opposition this year.

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 11 2022, 09:10 AM

Now newspapers are saying that Ziyech is only an alternative if we don't sign De Ketelaere. Like, WTF!

Posted by: han2503 Jul 11 2022, 03:58 PM

Inter have improved this year, no matter which way you look at it. But they have also crippled themselved by letting Perisic leave and now Skriniar is on the way out as well. Lukaku could be important for them, but goal scoring wasn't their issue last season, it was mostly self implosions, one player cannot fix that imo

Juve are a non-factor imo. This isn't me trying to make an over the top statement. They just do not look good at all to me. Di Maria was barely playing last season. He'd have been good for us because we already have a very set system and he'd just be a cherry on top of it, but at Juve the squad is a mess imo. The defense is pretty bad, De Ligt about to be sold on top of that, the midfield has been mediocre for a while now and Pogba is going to have the same issues he had at Utd with Juve imo. He looked great in the old Juve midfield because he had other great mids next to him like Vidal, Pirlo and Marchisio, capable of covering his short comings. Same as he does with the French NT. Now at Juve they have a Roma/Lazio level midfield. I don't think he'll be a huge factor for them tbh


The 3 players x-off mentions will imo take us to the next level. Are they big star names? No, but that doesn't matter. As long as they ft into what Pioli wants to do, that's all that matters. Because all 3 are quality players, they will give us the added jump we need compared to last season where we won the Scudetto with basically a handicap on the right side a no striker aside from the big games where iroud showed up big time.

I read somewhere that Lukaku cost Inter nearly 30m just for a season long dry loan, that is insane. And they still have to close out the year with an 80m+ profit. They're most likely selling Skriniar, which is a big blow because imo he's their best defender. De Vrij is declining fast and Bastoni is similar to Bonucci in the way that he needs a strong CB next to him or he crumbles. They might get Bremer but Toro apparently want close to 40m for him which still leaves them short off the mark in terms of the balance sheet which needs to be at +80m.

We'll see how everything turns out. I think the names we're currently linked to would be perfect in terms of making a leap forward. The only problem is getting them actually done, rather then being one step close every day with nothing happening


Agreed


Inter are still going to be our biggest challenger this season. I think there will be a gap between us and the rest


I think we can all agree that none of them know wtf is going in.

Di Marzio is still the most reliable and he's said we're going after both.


Samu off to Valencia btw. Thank you Rino!! Still loyal to the Rossoneri colours

Posted by: han2503 Jul 11 2022, 04:18 PM

Caldara going to Spezia, loan + option for 3m (we just cannot get rid of this guy, another excellent piece of business bu Leonardo)

Duarte off to Turkey permanent deal for 2m

Samu they're saying we rescinded the contract with no severance, so that's 7m off the books for next season

Maldini Jr going to Verona on loan

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 12 2022, 10:32 AM

Looks like De Ketelaere is almost a done deal. We have offered 28+3 mil + Jungdal and Roback.

Posted by: han2503 Jul 12 2022, 08:37 PM

Looks like we still need the ok from Brugge. Let's see. Can't see us going any higher than that tbh


Really hope we can get Ziyech done as well. Don't know wtf is going on wit Sanches. This PSG talk is really a head scratcher as I doubt that they would be penny pinching if they really wanted him and wouldn't easily outbid our 10m offer. For me it feels like him and his agent want a better offer form us and are using PSG to make it happen... Because if PSG wanted him and he wants to go there, it would have been done by now

Edit:

Case in point, just now this was posted

“PSG do not show a significant interest in Renato Sanches & already have 7-8 players in this department. It is very unlikely he will go to Paris. Milan seem to be in pole position and another important club has a real interest in him.”

After yesterday some French media reported that he had an agreement with PSG

I really do think this is all Mendes trying to get the best deal he can for himself and his client

Posted by: Rossoneri7 Jul 18 2022, 06:13 AM

CDK waived good bye to Club Brugges after the game yesterday.

He is destined to leave with Milan in an advanced position to pick him up for ?30 + 5 bonuses.

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 18 2022, 11:16 AM

Dybala to Roma official.

Posted by: William405 Jul 19 2022, 04:14 AM

Surprised not a bigger team snatched him.

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 19 2022, 02:51 PM

Nobody wanted him. I guess I'm not the only one who thinks Dybala is overrated as sh*t. Perfect player for a club like Roma, though.

Posted by: William405 Jul 20 2022, 12:36 AM

Juve bought Bremer

Posted by: William405 Jul 20 2022, 12:37 AM

Yeah, but still, you'd think someone would take the gamble on him!

Posted by: William405 Jul 20 2022, 12:37 AM

Juve sold De ligt

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 20 2022, 07:49 PM

Bremer > De Ligt. Easily.

Posted by: han2503 Jul 20 2022, 07:50 PM

It p!sses me off to see other teams basically complete deals within the space of a few days. While we've been reading "One step closer to Ziyech" One step closer to CDK" for nearly 2 f@cking months now!!!

I'm really starting to question wtf Paolo was fighting over during the renewal process as it is clear right now that the budget is not there. Berlu and Galliani are f@cking burning money on Monza FFS!! They're spent over 50m this summer, while we've spent a grand total of 6m on previously loaned players!

I'm really starting to fear that the rumored 45m budget talked about in June was an over estimation at this point. We can't seem to close any deals, we're waffling on contract renewals, we've wasted nearly 2 months of the window with not a signing to speak of. Just really worrying signs right now.

We need 4 players (minimum) to make sure we're still competitive next season. A CB, DM/CM, AM, RW and a back up LB is also needed but we can swing without if it comes to it. We have not secured a single signing to cover any of those areas....

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 28 2022, 03:52 PM

Just get it over with already! The most tiring and bothersome transfer saga since I've been a Milan fan.

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 29 2022, 01:12 PM

CDK is finally done. Player is expected in Milan between tonight and tomorrow.

FINALLY!!!

Posted by: William405 Jul 29 2022, 08:04 PM

Expensive signing!

Posted by: William405 Jul 29 2022, 08:05 PM

Think the price is worth it? Let's see I guess.

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 29 2022, 08:40 PM

It's a bargain. Players like De Ketelaere are being paid insane money nowadays. Just think that Man Utd signed two days ago Lisandro Martinez (who???) from Ajax for over 60m.

CDK is an extremely exciting prospect. Can't wait to see him with our colours.

Now we can also finally concentrate on signing those Romagnoli and Kessie replacements.

Posted by: han2503 Jul 29 2022, 08:52 PM

Amen to that. Felt like I was on a hamster wheel with ever step supposedly being the decisive step forward that lead to nowhere


Hallelulja!!



Agreed.

Once again, great business from Maldini and Massara. Fees for players have just become insane and simply unsustainable for Serie A clubs who are cursed as members of a terribly run organization. Thankfully we managed to get this done, even when there was a club like f@cking Leeds who were offering over 40m and a better salary to the player

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 29 2022, 09:21 PM

Starting and secondary line-ups thus far:

Plus Mirante, Bakayoko, Saelemaekers, Zlatan and Lazetic.

We obviously need to sign a CB (Tanganga and Ndicka being the primary names) and a DM (this Chukuwuemeka kid being linked the most).

Posted by: han2503 Jul 29 2022, 09:41 PM

Midfield and CB areas obviously a big worry, Have to replace Romagnoli and Kessie ASAP. And injury and we're completely derailed

Posted by: Rossoneri7 Jul 30 2022, 01:24 AM

Both a CB and a CDM will be brought in. The targets identified and Maldini/Massara are discussing/negotiating behind the scenes.

This CDK soap opera teaches us an important lesson in how they go about their business. I would not expect them to act on impulse. They have a main target and a fall safe target. They know what elements is needed in building this team as they know what the coach needs.

The more I zoom out and look in I see teams like inter digging deep holes in their balance sheet, while Milan are building a fortress of a balance sheet.

I like the way the dup are working.

@han Re- Messias signing, I honestly believe he deserves it. He is a player that doesn?t complain, keeps his head down and works for the team. Last year he was an outsider, this year he will be very much familiar with how to team functions and will be an asset for sure in providing quality/depth. Not a ballon d?or contender for sure but a great option to have coming off the bench.

Sales? I think with Kessie, Romagnoli, and Castillejo gone Milan have done enough. Saelemakers isn?t that bad, I don?t mind him at all. And now with CDK and Origi, he has a small Belgian community going for him. He most definitely will come in handy if you clock in the amount of games the be played + injury/fatigue factor. He would give that additional cushion for squad rotation. Don?t think Milan will be shipping him off. Even if Ziyech does come.

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 30 2022, 11:18 AM

The good thing is though that as far as the starting line-up is concerned we're fine. I think that's a very strong formation, especially since our weakest areas from last season (RW, AM and CF) have been strengthened with higher quality alternatives.

Kalulu-Tomori have shown to be a top class pairing. I actually expect Kalulu to improve even further. Bennacer-Tonali for me was always the way to go in midfield since last season. Adli is everything Brahim hasn't been for us. Origi has the quality to do much better than Giroud. And obviously CDK is the icing on the cake.

I have a very good feeling about this season. But obviously we need to complete the squad with those Romagnoli and Kessie replacements. They don't even need to be marquee signings, just decent backups. I'd be perfectly fine with Tanganga/Ndicka and Chukwuemeka, for instance.

Posted by: han2503 Jul 30 2022, 01:57 PM

Agreed re the operations of the club. Smart business ever since Maldini and Massara took over, not to mention the scouting team behind them lead by Moncada.

Inter and Juve are obviously trying to do what they can for instant success. The fact that we won the league shows that our way is the right one. Not to mention that, as you said, they're digging themselves into financial holes. Especially Inter who don't have Exor behind them to inject capital when needed

As for Messias, sure the story of his rise inspires romanticism, but we cannot base our transfer strategy on how beautiful a player's story is. I like both Alexis and Messias in their own way, but the quality gap between our starter and back ups simply shouldn't be that huge. With Ziyech he'd arguably be better than CDK as of right now. Most CL teams have 2 starting quality teams, for me it is not good enough that we'll have Messias and Alexis as direct back ups to a very young player who's going to have a lot of pressure put on hi to perform instantly.


But with the schedule we'll have we cannot think of it like this. The midfield pivot atm is a major issue. We need a player on the same level as Bennacer and Tonali, that's why I have been so tied to the Sanches stuff, because he is just that. Pobega, Krunic, Bakayoko, this is the same issue I've talked about above re the RW and AM positions, you cannot go 10 steps down the quality ladder when you introduce a sub or have to rotate. Plus, I think a more physical player like Kessie was is important to add to the mix there as Benna-Tonali are not always the ideal pivot partnership against certain teams. As things stand, as soon as we rotate that midfield the quality falls off a cliff. And that is a big worry, And the Aston Villa kid is highly rated so I would be okay with him (sort of) being the signing, but I would be much more comfortable with a ready made player here. Because if either Benna or Tonali are out we could be in trouble. The CB are is not as precarious, because there is Kjaer already as a back up. So whoever comes in is not under instant pressure and has to start a good amount of games

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 30 2022, 02:51 PM

Renato would have been perfect, but I repeat that for me that ship has sailed. No other names are being mentioned right now, so the Aston Villa kid seems the most plausible option. There was also a rumor regarding Fratesi a couple of weeks ago, a player I highly rate, but nothing has been mentioned ever since.

Diallo is being mentioned again for the defence. Honestly he would be perfect. Experienced, left-footed, can play as LB so we'd also be solving the vice-Theo issue. Let's see if PSG are willing to give him up on loan.

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 3 2022, 08:38 AM

Sanches to PSG confirmed late last night, right after Roma had agreed terms with Wijnaldum.

As I have always been saying, PSG was just waiting to free up space, and Sanches was just a matter of time for them.

Good for him and us as well. I would never want a player that prefers that pathetic club over us.

Chukwemeka to Chelesa is also official.

So, in a single day we lost both our targets. Curious to see who we'll go after now.

Posted by: han2503 Aug 3 2022, 09:50 AM

Disappointing that he'd push to go to a club that doesn't even celebrate winning the league. And CL success is the only factor that defines whether a season is a success or not. They booed Messi FFS after winning the league

Anyway good luck to him, no hard feelings. PSG were offering him a better deal so can't fault him there.

This does leave us in a bit of a pickle though. We really need an extra mid. I really don't know who that coul be at this point.

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 3 2022, 10:54 AM

He's a mercenary. He's been playing with his salary demands for months. We would have signed him since May had he accepted our offer. Now his old mentors go to PSG and he takes the bait like a b*tch in heat. F*ck him. I hope, and I'm sure that he will fail there.

Posted by: Rossoneri7 Aug 3 2022, 11:18 AM

It is somewhat of a disappointment, but nevertheless I believe Maldini and co have shortlisted names for midfield. They work behind closed doors and have not commented on any rumor thus far, which makes me feel at ease that what they got cooking is a player that adds value to the team.

Plus, I believe Bennacer should be given a first team role and the incoming player someone who rotates with Tonali and Bennacer. So in a way, I see Sanches not coming as giving more responsibilities to our Algerian talent.

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 3 2022, 11:32 AM

This, one million times.

Whoever comes as Kessie's replacement should be someone reliable but willing to warm the bench for the majority of the games. Tonali-Bennacer is our future.

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 3 2022, 11:38 AM

Anyway, I'm not worried about our mercato anymore. Yes, we do need a couple of signings to complete the roster, but we already have a quality starting line-up and quality alternatives in most roles. Adli, CDK and Origi will make a difference.

Posted by: han2503 Aug 3 2022, 12:55 PM

I'd prefer someone of higher quality than that though. Last season we had 3 starter level players. So by saying you want someone who is just there to rotate and is willing to warm the bench you're accepting that the quality of the squad will go down

And if either Sandro or Benna get injured then we have issues. Because the guy we brought in is going to cause a dip in quality, one that was not there last season. I'd personally prefer if we go all in for the position and get that type of profile for the CB position because in that area we have 3 starting quality players for 2 positions while in midfield it's 2 for 2. I really don't want to see Spurs rejects or any other random name just so we can say we signed someone. If that's the case than we van just stick with Krunic, Pobega and Baka because it's not going to make that much of a difference

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 3 2022, 01:21 PM

We have no money, man. Budget was reportedly 55-60 mil and we've already spent 40 for CDK, Florenzi and Messias.

Sanches was a bargain because he would be coming for 15 mil, but it's impossible to find someone of that quality for that much money.

Besides, I didn't mean to sign someone of scarce quality (otherwise we already have Pobega and Krunic), but someone who is willing to accept less playing time. Last year Kessie played a lot because Pioli was fixated with him and Bennacer was injured for many games. But personally I was never a fan of Kessie and I'm actually glad he's not here anymore so Isma can get more playing time.

The names of Pape Matar Sarr, Ndombele and Douglas Luiz are being thrown around now. I'd be fine with any of them (though I don't think Douglas Luiz will come).

Posted by: Rossoneri7 Aug 3 2022, 09:38 PM

Indeed!

And that type of player is available, who the player is is a mystery to only us. I have a conviction that Maldini and co have a shortlist of players they like. A CB and CDM will be added I believe, be that loan or outright purchase, that is a technicality the club has to manage. However for us fans, the mercato is still open and who knows what their next move could be.

Posted by: han2503 Aug 4 2022, 08:57 PM

We don't know what the budget is, but yes it's probably tight, but we can still work something out with loan + obligation/option formula. That midfield area absolutely needs another good player there. I personally don't know how good any of those players really are, I know Ndombele was very highly rated but seemingly fell off a cliff. What Kessie brought aside from a lot of physicality to the pitch was consistency. I don't think he's missed more than 15 games total during his entire time with us. That's insane and with Benna usually having a couple of niggles each season I am worried about what happens when either him or Tonali are not available or might need to be rested.

I really hope this is not turning out to be like last summer with not replacing Hakan

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 5 2022, 11:55 PM

But last summer we replaced Hakan with his sub, i.e. Brahim. This summer we already have two quality CM's, i.e. Tonali and Bennacer. So, it's not exactly the same.

Posted by: CrazyMilanFan Aug 11 2022, 10:46 AM

https://sempremilan.com/milan-juventus-kessie-escape-barcelona

although unlikely but i hope he does not come to juve

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 11 2022, 03:25 PM

Nah, he'll stay and Barca. Eventually they'll find a way to register them through some sort of escamotage. But man, what's happening at Barca right now is ridiculous. I don't understand how they keep splashing such big money when they're literally on the verge of collapse.

Posted by: han2503 Aug 12 2022, 03:33 PM

Like I said, last season we had 3 starting quality players for those 2 positions. 1 injury this season and we're screwed. Not to mention last season Pioli rotated the 3 effectively which reduced injuries/fatigue to occur like the season prior to that. This season if we go in with just those 2 we'll have issues, as we cannot rotate and we're in trouble if we have injuries. Case in point Tonali's injury recently. If it had been what they feared we'd have lost him for a month or more. We're basically walking a tight rope.

I'd rather forego getting that CB just to make sure we bring in a good CDM. That's how critical it is to replace Kessie.

Pobega/Bakayoko/Krunic are not going to cut it. And if we have to fall back on them long term because of an injury to either Tonali or Benna then our season is f@cked. I'm 100% sure of that.

Pobega for me is another head scratcher. If Torino wanted him, we should have sold him, especially if the offer was good. He clearly isn't a player that's going to improve that much from what he currently is, and from what I've seen in pre-season against mediocre opposition, he's just not that good.

Posted by: han2503 Aug 12 2022, 08:38 PM

Official: Tomori renews until 2027

Great news. Fikayo is a real one for sure


Still waiting on Bennacer and Leao, we need to be concluding those ASAP. Especially Leao. He's now also nominated for a Ballon D'Or. We need to stop f@cking about with him ad meet his demands. If we let him go to next summer with his current contract we are absolutely f@cked

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 12 2022, 10:17 PM

I know, man. Don't get me wrong. We definitely need a Kessie replacement, that goes without saying. I'm just saying that this situation is not comparable to Calhanoglu's. Two years ago we had two players for one spot (Calhanoglu, Brahim), we lost one (the starter), we didn't replace him. Last year we had three players for two spots (Kessie, Tonali, Bennacer), we lost one, insofar we haven't replaced him but nonetheless we still have two starters both of whom I rate higher than Kessie. That's the difference.

Posted by: han2503 Aug 13 2022, 10:16 PM

The scenarios are the same though. Kessie, whether we liked it or not, was a starter for us. Pioli generally rotated Tonali and Benna. Probably because Kessie was the physical presence in the pivot plus he rarely ever gets injured so he probably felt comfortable using him more than the others.

Like you said, the AM position we had 2 players for 1 position, and the pivot areas we had 3 players for 2 positions. And we lost a starter in both scenarios. Sure there is a difference between just have Diaz vs Tonali and Benna. But we still have to acknowledge that we're in a pickle here if we cannot properly replace Kessie.

My main reason for mentioning the Hakan case is that we let a player go for free because we're squabbling over salaries and don't want to go above a certain amount, so we're seemingly happy to keep losing players for free just so we can say we have a great salary structure, but we still have to replace these players. And never bringing in any decent transfer fees really hurts our capabilities on the market. So once again, we're stuck in a position as we were last summer, where we just lost a starter for nothing (at least this time he was decent enough not to go to Inter - f@cker), have basically no budget to operate on the market and still have a hole to fill in the squad. This is how we ended up with Messias last season, we panic bought, and now we were too nice to send him back to Crotone because he has a beautiful emergence story

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 14 2022, 12:12 PM

But on the bright side, we won the scudetto even without Capanoglu. This season we have 3 players competing for the AM role. As for Kessie, there was nothing to be done. The guy just wanted to try something new. The salary demands, albeit important, were just a pretext to leave. The error was not selling him last summer and earn something out of it, but then again would we have won the scudetto without Kessie? Hard to say, but it goes to show you that sometimes even a bad decision might lead to something fruitful.

PS: Enough with the Messias hate, man. We get it.

Posted by: han2503 Aug 14 2022, 09:07 PM

We should have never let either the Kessie or Hakan situations get to where they did, and we are currently repeating the same pattern with Leao and Bennacer.

If a player does not want to renew we sell. Ifa renewal is not accepted before they go into the last 2 years of their contract they should be put on the market. It might hurt a bit but it's not such a huge blow as losing them for nothing


As for Messias. Sorry, have nothing against the guy, but I will continue to insist that he is not Milan quality, and the fact that we've willingly walked into another season with him as the starter and Alexis backing him is just not acceptable

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 14 2022, 11:09 PM

No club would ever decide to sell their players simply because they have two years left in their contract. One year left I can understand, but two? Never. Besides, it's not like they didn't want to renew either. Capanoglu was talking about how he was 'constantly in contact with Maldini and Massara' as late as during the Euros, whereas Kessie said during the Olympics that he would 'fix everything' as soon as he returned. It never transpired that they had no intention of renewing until it was too late, and for that we cannot blame our management.

Not to mention the insane commissions that Raiola or Atangana were demanding just for a contract renewal, and the club's policy is severely against that, as it should be. A serious club should never have to pay 10m to an agent just for renewing the contract of a player they already have.

Anyway, we've had this discussion a million times so there's no point in going back to it.

Regarding Messias, I repeat, he's a great sub to have. Much better than Saladmaker. For a starter? Nope. And I was convinced we signed CDK for the RW position, but I'm not so sure about it anymore as Pioli so far keeps placing him as AM. We really cannot have another season with only Messias and Salad on the right. It's unacceptable. Please get Ziyech, or play CDK there with Adli and Brahim fighting for the AM spot.

Posted by: han2503 Aug 15 2022, 10:07 AM

The issue with letting it go to the final year is that you lose all your negotiating power. Because a player can start talking with other clubs during that final year. Going into next summer with both Leao and Benna still on their current deals would be suicidal. That is 200m worth of assets we would be putting on the line. Players can easily say they don't want to renew and they don't want to leave in their final year, just as Kessie did. Then you are screwed. While on the final 2 years no player would risk being benched for 2 seasons so the clubs still has power in the negotiations.

I don't even consider Messias that great a sub. Let's be real here. It's not lik he's some electric player who coms on and makes the difference. Ziyech for me is a must, but having wasted 4m on Messias which could have been used as a down payment on a loan for Ziyech, I doubt we'll get him or any other winger for that matter. Which has been my issue all along with the Messias signing. Because I knew they would have seen him as the solution rather than the backup you've always said he'd be. The only smart decision with regards to Messias would have been to sign him and move him on fo some profit. Keeping him as our starter was always ridiculous

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 15 2022, 12:26 PM

Then let?s agree to disagree. You don?t rate Messias, I do, so let?s move on.

As for the contracts, it?s not like we?re the only club losing players on a free. Rudiger, Christensen, Alaba, Perisic, Depay, Dybala just on the top of my head. But I really don?t want to question the club?s decision for letting those contracts run out. They?re not idiots. There must be a valid, strategic reason which neither of us are aware of.

Posted by: han2503 Aug 15 2022, 01:55 PM

It's not about me or you rating him though. It's about whether or not he's good enough t be a starter for a team like Milan. The Italian Champion and a CL side... He's shown us last season that's he's limited. Can be decent at times but nothing more. I just think this club needs better than the likes of Messias, there are other players that I don't think are or the right quality, but none of them are presumed to be starters by the club so it irks a lot less.

Sure, players now a days are pushing for the bosman move. Why? Because it is far more lucrative for them and their agent. Moving clubs on a free gives them endless power in negotiations. They can demand signing on bonuses, higher salaries and their agents get commissions on top of that as well. But that is why you have to be aggressive and at time ruthless as well when dealing with players who are twisting your arm. And that is why you don't let contracts dwindle to the final year.

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 15 2022, 02:05 PM

But again, I am not disagreeing with you that Messias is not good enough to be our starter. I'm saying he has the qualities to be considered a decent sub. Now if he was signed with the intention of starting games then no, I don't agree with that. But I don't think that was the case, given our continuous interest in Ziyech for the past couple of months, and the fact CDK can very well play on the right.



Like I said, there has to be a strategic reason as to why the club is letting this happen. Elliott are not a bunch of fools. They are absolute experts when it comes to finances.

Posted by: han2503 Aug 15 2022, 08:10 PM

Don't think CDK will be playing RW much, he's clearly seen as an AM.

We'll see if we get Ziyech or someone else. But I really do not think we'll bring in 3 more players. We're already finding it very difficult to bring in the CDM and CB we absolutely need. Even Pioli has continuously said that we're going to get the midfielder and defender, but nothing about another winger/attacker


Strategy doesn't really matter when you have your hands tied. And when you go into the final year of a player's contract your hands are in fact tied. And it is all up to the player at that point

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 15 2022, 10:04 PM

You were the one who said we should sell any player who doesn't renew with 2 years left. But we haven't done it, and there must be a reason why management is letting these contracts run their course.

I sort of know a motive. It has to do with what adjustments are made to the financial statements of an entity when it's acquired by another entity, but I'm not gonna bore y'all with it.

Posted by: han2503 Aug 16 2022, 07:37 PM

Doesn't it make more sense to actually make money from your assets?

Just blows my mind that we've already let all these players go for free and could do so again with even more valuable ones...


Anyways, lots of chatter coming out of Germany that we're going for Ndicka. Honestly, this would be a great signing, and fits perfectly to our style. But If we go for him, I don't know what would be left for the midfield signing...

I've always said that we should prioritise the midfielder. And go for a serviceable defender, maybe on loan + option type deal. But Ndicka is a good opportunity for a player on his final year which we shouldn't miss out on if the fee is within reason

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 16 2022, 09:08 PM

Basically, whenever you want to sell a company, the two most important things that potential acquirers will look at are the quality of earnings, and how much debt you hold.

We currently hold no financial debt, so that is very, very positive. The quality of earnings is measured by EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation), also known as operating profit. It shows how much profit the company is generating solely based on its operations (and that is why elements like interest, tax etc. are not looked at). Operating profit is revenues minus operating expenses, which for a football club are primarily made up by football player wages. Hence, it's imperative to control salaries as much as possible, and consequently why we impose a salary cap and don't accomodate exaggerated demands like Donnarumma or Kessie's (Ibra is the sole exception).

Another matter that is investigated during a due diligence (the process of examining the financial statements of the acquiree) is to scrap from operating profit any extraordinary or non-recurring items of profit/expenditure. These could be the profit from the sale of any asset (such as a building, machinery etc.), or in the case of football clubs, the sale of football players. That is done in order to get a better understanding of an entity's predictable annual earnings. Hence, whether we had sold Donnarumma, Kessie etc. or not, for the primary objective of Elliott, which was to gain from the club's sale, it would have made zero difference. Sure, we would obtained hard cash in return, but perhaps the club felt that Donnarumma, Calhanoglu and Kessie's contribution to the cause (be it CL access or the Scudetto) was too important to let them go prematurely. And they probably also felt that they could have renewed their contracts given the circumstances.

There is definitely more to it, I am sure, but in a nutshell I think this pretty much explains our behaviour with relation to these renewals. This way, we've managed to keep salaries below our pre-imposed cap, and with increased revenues from new sponsorship deals etc. we've also improved our quality of earnings and become self-sustainable.

Now we'll have to see what RedBird will bring to the table. If they purchased the club to make it glorious again, then I expect a gradual increase in the salary cap and more contract renewals (along with some more spending during the calciomercato).

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 16 2022, 09:19 PM

This Ndicka guy seems like the real deal, I like him. Plus he's left-footed so that's a plus.

I'm sure Paolo knows what he's doing. If he's willing to spend 15m for the CB, then he already has in mind who'll be signing in midfield, which could potentially be a loan with option/obligation. We'll see.

Posted by: CrazyMilanFan Aug 18 2022, 09:58 AM

i think latest on midfield is some Onyedika kid. His stats looks good and price seem to be in region which we might be able to get

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 18 2022, 01:24 PM

This is great news. Elliott won't hold any minority shares in the club as it was first hypothesised, so they'll hold zero interest and zero power in decision making.

Posted by: Rossoneri7 Aug 19 2022, 03:29 AM

Milan seems set to keep Gabbia and with the return of Kjear, the defense is not a priority anymore.

A midfielder of a certain calibre would come in, with Bakayoko leaving the club.

Posted by: han2503 Aug 19 2022, 03:06 PM

Seems like he wants to leave on a free... Wants a big windfall from his move.

Don't know, but we're approaching crunch time of the transfer market and we have no concrete objectives (that we know of). We really need to hurry things up

Still hoping we'll make a final swoop for Ziyech for a loan + option. Chelsea don't want him, he doesn't want to be there. I think we're just waiting on them to cave.


We'll see, looks really raw from what I've seen. Was hoping for a more established player who could be an instant starter if needed


RedBird will still owe them about 600m, so they might not still have a stake but they're still going to be involved as a financial partner according to what I read.

We'll see. So far I'm really skeptical considering we've just p!ssed away a mercato where so many good players were available and we had a budget that was smaller than Lazio's (!!)


Always said that midfield should be the priority, but still think we need another reliable CB. Gabbia simply isn't good enough

Posted by: han2503 Aug 19 2022, 03:07 PM

Thanks for the break down, still a head scratcher for me as to why they wouldn't try to sell earlier since money is the main drive...

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 19 2022, 09:57 PM

Financial partner is simply a stakeholder. Same as when you take a loan from a bank. They have no say when it comes to decision-making.



I think it's a mixture of factors and circumstances that made it very difficult overall.

These players didn't have a huge demand. Dollarumma barely managed to strike a deal with P$G as a free agent cos every other major European club who could afford him were already settled with their GKs.

Capanoglu also didn't have much appeal (otherwise he wouldn't have gone to Inter), and nobody gave two shits about Romagnoli.

The only player we could have properly gained from in my opinion was Kessie, but around this time one year ago the guy came out saying how he would return from the olympics and fix everything. Don't know what happened afterwards. I know for a fact that Maldini had very bad relations with his agent Atangana, who perhaps got into Kessie's head and convinced him to leave for free. Agents can be sneaky vipers like that.

Posted by: han2503 Aug 20 2022, 12:37 PM

We'll see, I really hpe they sort out Leao's and Bennacer's contracts ASAP

Kalulu, Tonali, etc aren't that pressing atm, although we should take care of both during this season as well, especially Kalulu.

Posted by: CrazyMilanFan Aug 26 2022, 03:57 PM

Random news but westham are signing paqueta from lyon for 60m.. They also signed scamacca for 40 m I think, crazy spending. But we get some money on paqueta deal

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 29 2022, 12:36 PM

So, after Thiaw we are very close to this Vranckx kid from Wolfsburg. CM, Belgian, 19 years old but already with plenty of experience having debuted at 16. For his age he looks very promising from what I saw.

Deal should be closed on loan with right of purchase set at around 11-13m.

Posted by: han2503 Aug 30 2022, 06:28 PM

Let's see if we can get it over the line.

The fact that we're not going for a RW when we have 2 amateur level players at best on that side for me is still egregiously negligent!!

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 30 2022, 06:33 PM

+100000000000000000

Posted by: han2503 Sep 1 2022, 08:01 PM

What do you guys think of the Vranckx and Dest deals?

Personally I think considering the non-existent budget it's good that we ended the window with 3 high potential players for practically nothing. Dest and Vranckx particularly are without any risk since they're both loans with options to buy.

Not to mention Dest can play RW as well. If Salad can play there we should definitely give Dest playing time there, far better player overall in terms of talent and technique imo

Posted by: CrazyMilanFan Sep 2 2022, 06:16 AM

MILAN
In: Adli (m, Bordeaux), Origi (s, Liverpool), De Ketelaere (m, Bruges), Thiaw (d, Schalke 04), Vranckx (c, Wolfsburg), Sergino Dest (d, Barcelona).
Back from loan: Pobega (m, Torino).
Out: Kessi? (m, Barcellona), Romagnoli (d, Lazio), Castillejo (m, Valencia), Maldini (m, Spezia).

I think it is a window of gambles. If they pay off then it mihgt turno out to be one of the smartest windows as we spent very minimal amounts on most players.

Lets hope as Han mentioned high potential these player full fill that. and if they do then we do have a very good team for the the future.

Posted by: X-Offender Sep 2 2022, 07:29 PM

The fact we didn't address the RW is a huge minus for me. I can't believe we'll have to suffer for another season with this Saladmaker-Messiah bullshit.

Posted by: CrazyMilanFan Sep 3 2022, 06:12 AM

Dest might be tested for that which again is stupid as it is a major weakness for us.

Posted by: X-Offender Sep 3 2022, 10:54 AM

Pioli's choices for the CL list left me speechless. What did we sign Thiaw, Adli and Vranckx for? Especially the latter two were a no brainer to be included.

Posted by: CrazyMilanFan Sep 3 2022, 02:41 PM

I fear for adli flipping krunic will be played for tonali or benna everytime any one of them is unavailable

Posted by: William405 Sep 3 2022, 04:32 PM

I'm so disappointed about this transfer window. Not only because not spending money when we are serie a champions. But also because we didn't fill in the gaps by outgoing players. We might have been short on budget, but still for me how can you not replace Kessie and get someone for the right wing. We will see what these signings give, I don't know anything about them at all...

Posted by: X-Offender Sep 3 2022, 04:38 PM

Disappointed is an over-exaggeration. We could have done better, but also much worse considering how things were going. The only disappointment for me is not having signed a right winger.

Posted by: han2503 Sep 3 2022, 09:02 PM

The moment we signed Messias that was the door closed on any possible RW incoming. That's why I was so p!ssed off about it. There was no way we were going to get the money we wanted for Alexis, no one was interested. So getting Messias at his age when he was pretty mediocre last season made no sense and it was an obvious, "Yep, RW is sorted now, have 2 players for that position" type move by the management. Now we're going into the 3rd season with a handicap on the right side...


I think some had to be made due to the homegrown rules imposed by UEFA. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think that stipulates 8 Italian players 4 of which come through the academy. Or am I incorrect in that

It's probably why Florenzi was still included when he's going to be injured for the majority of the group stage

The only one I'm p!ssed off about is Krunic. We all know it's because Pioli values him very highly and so far he doesn't trust Adli, but he's going to be injured for at least 6 weeks. What's the point of including him over Adli?


Adli is not going to be played in the double pivot, Pioli already said that that's not an option. So he will have to fight it out between CDK, Diaz and Krunic for that one position.

Really wish we'd use Diaz on the right. I think most of his issues which he faces when playing in that AM position won't be such a problem for him on the wing where he isn't constantly up against 3 mids in very tight areas. Plus he'd provide a lot more quality on that right side over the other 2


Not at disappointed as I was previously. I really think we signed very low risk, high reward players this window. CDK is the only big expenditure, but you can already clearly see that he's going to be worth that outlay within the next 2 years or so. Similar to Leao.

Obviously the Botman and Renato deals falling through were disappointing. But this summer was ruined with the takeover. Hopefully next summer Gerry puts his money where his mouth is.

The Bennacer and Leao renewals are the first big tests of this new ownership and how serious they are about taking us back to the top

Posted by: Rossoneri7 Sep 4 2022, 04:19 AM

Yeah, about that. Gazidis in his latest interview stated that the new owners Redbird will continue with the same strategy Elliott had going. And supported the current Milan management?s strategy of living within the clubs means.

I believe this is an indication that the salary cap will remain enforced and a war chest of a transfer budget is off the table.

I wouldn?t hold my breath here.

P.s. I do hope the management are able to reward their star players with contracts that match their talent/level. So us fans may enjoy them for longer, before they inevitably move on.

Posted by: han2503 Sep 4 2022, 01:52 PM

I don't think that means we'll keep following the Elliot way completely though. Elliot is a hedge fund, they wanted to flip the asset for good money. They brought the right people in, limited costs, made the club successful again within certain parameters. Their strategy was for a short term ownership and selling again

RedBird are and investment firm. They're going for a more long term strategy. They want the asset to grow, become successful, self-sufficient and profitable. I think that will mean that money will be invested at first to help make sure that we reach the ultimate goal of being profitable.

Also, exceptions were made under Elliot like Zlatan, or big money moves like Leao, Tomori and recently CDK. If they believe the player has great upside, they'll take the risk. Leao imo is that big exception. He's a star, and not jus any run of the mill Serie A star, he's a 100+ million player. You don't just let that disintegrate into nothing. Zlatan was out of our wage structure, we can easily shift that over to Leao. Bennacer can easily be given something similar to Theo. That's all very doable and wouldn't effect our salary structure at all.

Posted by: X-Offender Sep 4 2022, 02:29 PM

Exactly. Gazidis' words shouldn't be taken as a simple copy/paste of Elliott's previous conduct. The strategy will be similar in the sense that it's imperative to maintain a debt-free capital structure and increase revenues, but RedBird want this brand to increase in appeal over the medium-to-long term. Hence, I expect a gradual change in certain aspects like the salary cap and the spending budget. RedBird is gathering important investors and they have the money, so I'm very optimistic about the future.

Posted by: han2503 Sep 4 2022, 05:35 PM

They Yankees partnership is particularly interesting, as well as having LeBron and Drake being part of the LA investment firm who have a minority stake.

They're going to push for big commercial expansion, especially in the US, you can't do that with a sub-par product. That's why I think that they will invest in the team and make sure to keep our top draw assets, and Leao especially is a top draw player who's also going to be huge in a commercial sense

And once again, giving Leao the 7m he's reportedly requesting is fair. He's worth it and he'll ensure we earn that back not only through commercial earnings but by being consistent challengers who are a consistent CL team. And once again, it won't effect any wage structure, we'd just be shifting over Zlatan's old wage onto him

Posted by: Rossoneri7 Sep 15 2022, 05:44 PM

Maldini, yesterday was asked on the status of Leao?s renewal.

His comments: We already started talking a long time ago, with Rafa, Bennacer and Kalulu. I always believe that what the player wants counts for a lot in these situations.

If I?m not mistaken, I think this means its more likely Leao will leave this summer and possibly Bennacer, if they dont agree a renewal before then.

Posted by: X-Offender Sep 15 2022, 11:51 PM

You always tend to jump the gun and get overdramatic about such comments. This is football. Saying that a contract renewal requires the willingness of both parties is the most normal thing to say.

Leao and Bennacer will renew 100%. Bennacer without the shadow of a doubt. And Leao is worth way too much to be left hanging by a thread till his contract runs out. One way or another the club will earn from him, be it in football performances or cold hard cash. And personally speaking I'm not too hot on Leao. If a 120m offer comes for him I'm all for selling him, IF that money can be reinvested in other players.

Posted by: han2503 Sep 23 2022, 09:53 AM

Well, if there wasn't willingness they wouldn't be in negotiations, at least that is what I got from it

The Kessie Scenario worries me because the management allowed him to string them along. I agree, that if a renewal does not come by January, then both Benna and Leao will have to be sold be next summer.

And I agree x-off. Leao is a cheat code in this league but if an offer higher than 100m comes in, we have to take it. LWs are a dime a dozen. We could get a great LW and great RW for that money.

Bennacer is more irreplaceable in my eyes, we need to meet his demands, simple as that. It's not like he's demanding ridiculous money like Kessie was. 4m, is more than justifiable for one of our best players

Posted by: X-Offender Jun 21 2023, 08:47 PM

Tonali to Newcastle almost official.

I have no words. This is the final nail on the coffin. I can't watch this sport anymore. Don't think I can recover from this.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 21 2023, 09:33 PM

Gerry...

Did not like this guy from minute 1

All the fears we had about Elliot selling this club for parts... RedBird are going to send us back into a banter era right quick.

Holding my breath to hear rumours about Theo and Mike now

Just gutted. And Tonali of all players. A true Milanista

Posted by: han2503 Jun 21 2023, 09:34 PM

And now we're seeing all these rumours about Frattesi... For 40m no less!! What is the point of selling Sandro if we're going to waste half the transfer fee on an inferior player????

At least bring in SMS!!

Posted by: CrazyMilanFan Jun 22 2023, 04:17 PM

This tonali scenario is depressing man... Because we know that we won't be getting any replacement as well.

Posted by: CrazyMilanFan Jun 22 2023, 04:19 PM

I agree man i think time to move to something else.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 22 2023, 07:54 PM

We literally have no midfield now as things stand. We simply have to bring in at least 2 players for that position, plus a RW plus a striker.

Posted by: han2503 Jun 22 2023, 08:06 PM

Looks like Thuram is going to get done.

What would you guys think if we replaced Sandro ( ) with Sergej and Frattesi?

I'm personally not so hot on Frattesi and would prefer going after the other Thuram brother, but we really do need to get some Italians on the team, and preferably ones that are key parts of the NT

Posted by: CrazyMilanFan Jun 24 2023, 01:34 PM

Thuram is going to inter

Posted by: han2503 Jul 1 2023, 05:12 PM

Yep, not too sad about it tbh. The salary we reportedly offered would have been close to Leao's which is ridiculous for a player who hasn't really produced great numbers in the Bundesliga

Add to that we made Inter offer a super high salary because of our offer which will continue to bury them in the hole they're digging for themselves.

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 1 2023, 01:58 PM

Fenerbahce after Krunic. Players wants to go there.

Please Krunic come to Feberbahce!

Posted by: han2503 Aug 11 2023, 09:19 AM

Pioli wants to keep him

The day we'll be rid of this guy will be one for great celebrations

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 15 2023, 05:47 PM

Apparently the Turks have offered 7M but our asking price is 15M.

15M??? For such a rubbish player??? And then there's the whole Pioli-Krunic bromance. The guy is obsessed. It's ridiculous really. And it truly irritates me.

Get the 7M, add another 7M and get Dominguez FFS! We already missed on Hjulmand for 18M. With or without Bennacer, we need another DM. And it can't be f*cking Krunic!

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 23 2023, 12:51 PM

New rumours regarding Taremi. I really hope it works out. The guy is 31, yes, but his stats in the last few years have been impressive. Tall, strong physically, good technique. We need someone like him to rotate with Giroud.

Hopefully nothing happens with Ekitike as I don't really like him.

Posted by: han2503 Aug 26 2023, 09:58 PM

I'd personally want to keep Krunic. But to have him rotate with Reijnders. NOT as a number 6! That was never his position. We're finally playing 3 in midfield, which should suit him but we're still using him incorrectly.

I think he's much better than Pobega as the 4th choice midfielder. But Pioli's obsession with him will mean him starting every game in that DM role, which is a high blood pressure danger for all of us. So far he's done decently. But the real test comes against Inter's midfield. And I am seriously worried about that game.


Hmm. Unless it's at a really good price, I don't want him. Last year of his contract and wrong side of 30. Should not go over the reported 15m we offered. I'd rather give the time to Colombo and Okafor if it came down to it.





Matteo Moretto: Sheffield United aprieta por Divock Origi.

Matteo Moretto has not missed all summer. So pls god, let this be true. And it better not be a loan. Get his wages off the books and make a profit off of him

Posted by: Rossoneri7 Aug 26 2023, 10:05 PM

I know Krunic does not get much love on here, and it's understandable how frustrating he can get.

But he has seriously proven to be one to break the lines in midfield. Someone who does not shy from going into challenges.

Apparently he has eyes eyes on the side of his head also, as his passing in tight spaces relieves a lot of pressure.

He is also good at breaking out from the back to initiate attacks.

Yes he is not top quality, but an excellent utility player. Selling him now is a worry, as who on the bench is able to give Milan the equilibrium Krunic gives?

Yes I doubt there is love for this player, but at least give credit where it is due.

Posted by: han2503 Aug 27 2023, 08:36 PM

It's not about liking or disliking him. And I have grown to appreciate what he does a lot more than I did say 2 years ago.

But he is not a 6. And playing him as such is imo a risk. Maybe it won't hurt us against teams like Bologna and Toro. But I worry a lot about how he'll cope in the CL and against Inter/Napoli/Juve/etc.


Krunic would be a great sub/alternative to RLC imo. But he shouldn't be relied on to be our defensive mid/regista.

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 27 2023, 08:51 PM

Honestly I'd rather have Krunic as DM than CM. To be a CM you gotta have those box-to-box skills that guys like Reijnders, Loftus, Tonali, Barella etc. have. Krunic is too slow and not dynamic enough for that role. At least as DM he's got his defensive duties, which he is pretty decent at all, and that's it. He acts like a screen in front of the defence, limiting damage as much as possible. Obviously in this day and age you need players like Bennacer in that role, but for the time being we'll have to make due with good old Rade.

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 29 2023, 06:55 PM

Hot hours for Taremi. We've increased our offer to approx 20M. Waiting for Porto's answer between tonight and tomorrow.

Pavard to Inter and Lukaku to Roma done.

Posted by: han2503 Aug 30 2023, 08:29 PM

They're saying it's 15m including bonuses last I read, which is more than fair. Last year of his contract and 31 years old.

Don't get me wrong, I think he'll be great with the way we play because he's a very creative striker who provides a lot of assists. Plus this allows us to keep Giroud fresh for the big moments.


If we get Taremi over the line this is an 8/10 mercato for me.

Points deducted for not bringing in a proper DM (although I 100% blame this on Pioli and his Krunic fetish)


I'd make it a 9 if they somehow manage to get Origi and FBT out in these last few hours. That would make it a complete clean sweep of players who add nothing to this team

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 30 2023, 08:51 PM

There's been a slow-down in the last couple of hours. Porto changed some contractual terms related to add-ons and payment instalments, but the deal shouldn't be at risk.

I think this is a 9/10 mercato for me. One point deducted only for the DM situation. Did you read that Lyon offically offered today 12 million for Krunic? Yet Pioli once again blocked his exit. I don't know, man. Either Krunic is good and we're all blind, or Pioli has a love affair with him.

Posted by: CrazyMilanFan Aug 31 2023, 11:46 AM

I think taremi has fallen through as both porto and player agent changed their stance

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 31 2023, 05:06 PM

A real shame.

Porto changed their stance but we reached an agreement last night.

Then new intermediaries entered into the game each requiring high commissions which pissed off our management.

F*ck Porto, and f*ck Taremi.

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 31 2023, 10:06 PM

Taremi fallen through official.

At this point I would rather re-integrate Origi and have our attack be Giroud, Okafor and Origi. No point in going after nobodies for last minute deals.

PS: Colombo went to Monza on loan.

Posted by: CrazyMilanFan Sep 1 2023, 01:23 PM

agreed, but we are looking at some Rafa mir from seville. His wikipedia stats are not that great and with origi unlikley to leave, i think we should just utilize him.

Flipping Taremi and his agent as he was an ideal option for us.

Posted by: CrazyMilanFan Sep 1 2023, 06:12 PM

So in the end Jovic to Milan on loan and we have sent Origi to Forest on Loan

Posted by: X-Offender Sep 1 2023, 07:16 PM

Shitty end to an otherwise good mercato. 8/10

Posted by: han2503 Sep 2 2023, 10:09 AM

Meh. We got rid of all the fodder in the team in one summer. That is impressive. Sure some of them are on loan like Origi and FBT, but their wages are off the books so that is good enough for me.

Jovic depends on which Jovic we get. He was great in Germany, don't know what happened to him at Madrid.

I really didn't think a striker was that important anyway. We could have just kept Colombo to rotate with Giroud and Okafor. More let down about the DM, but so far Krunic is holding his own there

@ x-off. Re the Lyon offer. I don't know if that is true, but we were never going to sell him that close to the deadline when we have no one who can fill in until Benna comes back

Posted by: X-Offender Sep 2 2023, 11:07 AM

Kinda surprised we managed to offload both Origi and Ballo-Toure at the last minute.

Sucks they're both on loan, but I figure N.Forrest have the financial capability to sign him next summer for 5M, unless they disagree on his wages. And hopefully they don't get relegated.

Ballo-Toure is on a dry loan. Man, what a stinker of a player. Like the sh*t you step on accidentally that's so difficult to get rid off from your shoes.

Regarding Jovic, I just realised Madrid spent 65m for him 5 years ago. Like, WTF! The issue is that if he really was at least half decent, he wouldn't have failed in both his post-Madrid experiences like he has. 4 goals in 18 appearances at Eintracht, 6 in 31 at Fiorentina. Meh.

PS: We got him on a free. I thought it was a loan, but it's a definitive signing.

Posted by: han2503 Sep 2 2023, 04:28 PM

It's a short contract so if it goes bad, no harm, no foul

For Real to pay that much, it should say a lot. He was great with Rebic at Eintracht. So not sure how you go from a 65m player to being swapped about for free

Posted by: X-Offender Sep 2 2023, 07:16 PM

Some players are just one season wonders. Remember Piatek? I have no hopes for Jovic. He can be the sub this year, but next season with Giroud going 38 we need a couple of striker signings. My eyes are on Jonathan David.

Posted by: CrazyMilanFan Sep 2 2023, 08:29 PM

We actually went for David on loan deal but it was rejected

Posted by: X-Offender Sep 2 2023, 08:44 PM

I read, but Lille was never gonna accept.

Posted by: han2503 Sep 9 2023, 08:00 PM

I think the plan was we go for Taremi this summer in view of Giroud's departure next year. So his replacement would overlap him.

With that not going through and all the signings we made this summer, I really do think that we can dedicate a big chunk of the budget to a top striker next summer.

Atm, we have 3 positions still left to improve. ST, RB and DM. So if we have around 60-70m next summer, I think we can allocate 40m to the striker position


Lille should be kissing our @sses every day considering how we bailed them out of the Leao problems

Posted by: X-Offender Sep 9 2023, 09:51 PM

We did?

Posted by: han2503 Sep 10 2023, 02:23 PM

Yep. Furlani got the deal over the line by stepping in and sorting the Sporting issue out.

Why do you think Leao is at just 5.5m per year?

Posted by: X-Offender Nov 1 2023, 11:31 AM

Regarding this, it emerged from our latest financial statements that we actually paid 20m to Lille to solve the matter. So Leao's actual cost is 50m, considering we also spent 30m to sign him.