[X-Offender]

However, now with the sale of Palo, we have 5 attackers, that's Ibra, Pato, Robi, Cassano and Pippo. Pippo can be good on his day, but the man is at an age where you cannot really entrust such a huge role on him. Pato's injury problems still haven't sorted themselves out, so he could be out for weeks on end like he usually is, Robinho is what he is, he's certainly not reliable in terms of goals, so remove Cassano from that equation.

We essentially have 3 strikers and a bonus in Pippo. And with the difficuilties both Pato and Robs have (injuries and finishing respectively) the goal scoring burden wll once again be pushed onto Ibra's shoulders, you saw how burnt out he was last season in the final few months, we can't afford to have that happen, especially if we're going to let go of someone who really stepped in when Ibra and Pato couldn't deliver anymore.

Cassano isn't a luxery, he's a huge asset in the squad, whether he starts or comes in as a sub.

As for the rumours, I still don't think we'll be seeing Kaka in milan any time soon, Montolivo I'm inclined t believe that he'll be coming, however, I don't think he's anywhere near enough if we want a successful season, we need someone else, and removing Cassano to accomodate an average/good payer like Montoivo, will imo take us a step back not forward.

You only talk about the team aspect, but did you ever question yourself what the player wants? Staying with us he won't be nothing but a luxury sub, and if things go well on our side regarding injuries, there's a possibility that he'll rarely see the pitch. With Euro 2012 knocking on the door, that'd be a huge fallacy for Cassano. Prandelli would never pick him up if he doesn't play a substantial number of games. Not to mention that he'll never reach an optimal shape if keeps warming the bench every Sunday.

[William405]

X-off:If the player wants out...No one is stopping him from leaving the club,Galliani said it several times.Milan aren't selling Cassano,but if the player himself wants to leave,then they won't go against his wishes.For now,I think Cassano is happy at Milan.

[han2503]

My opinion on Milan's transfer market:

Montolivo, Mr X and Balotelli/Drogba are coming this summer. Ganso/Balotelli (if he doensn't join us in summer) will come in January.

Cassano is leaving. It doesn't matter for who he'll leave as long as we'll have Drogba and/or Balotelli to replace him. Even though I'm pretty sure Cassano is going out on exchange with Montolivo.

I don't think we have a chance for Fabregas, but if he come's then Montolivo won't come, but if Fabregas won't come, then Kaka is definitely coming.

So after all :

Montolivo - for the position of left midfileder.
Fabregas - potential Mr X, for position of left midfielder. If he comes, Montolivo won't come, but there's a chance Kaka will come too.
Kaka - potential Mr X, for offensive midfielder position. If Fabregas won't come, he and Montolivo will come.
Ganso - will probably come in January, if Kaka fails. If Kaka won't come, bigger chances for him to come.
Balotelli - will defenitely come. Bigger chances for him to come this summer if Cassano leaves and if we don't sign an offansive midfielder, with means that Robinho will have to take that spot, wich means that we'll have one spot for Balotelli and one other for another striker.
Drogba - if Cassano's leaving and we're not signing anyone in OM possition, then both he and Balotelli are coming. If we sign Kaka, then he or Balotelli are not coming.

Cassano - is 100% going, in Genoa or Fiorentina. If he goes to Fiore in exchange deal, Montolivo will come...

3 players coming, one leaving.

I think that's way too convoluted, there's been no solid talk of either Drogba or Balotelli coming, both have been wayward mentions in unreliable media. I don't think either will come especially not Drogba, why would we want a target man like him anyway? Balotelli is too much of a problem to deal with imo, especially with all the strong personalities we have on the team

I don't know how you guys can believe all the stuff that's written, Montolivo is the only solid story that I believe, I din't see us getting Kaka, and Fabregas is just a farfetched dream that most Milan fans want to believe for some masochistic reason. Becuase we all know he's not coming, and if by some miracle he does, then it's only as a lay over to his truely desired destination

Saying someone is coming or going, and you're 100% sure of it is ridiculous imo, I don't even think that Allegri has a 100% clear idea of what the management plan to do at this point

I doubt Cassano will really go,specially after Paloschi's loan.

He never said that wanted to leave.If he really wanted to leave for first team;he could have gone to genoa/fiorentina a month ago,so that Galliani would have the time for a replacement.

Who knows at this point. Imo we need to keep what we have, and add 2/3 mids before we can think about competing this season

You only talk about the team aspect, but did you ever question yourself what the player wants? Staying with us he won't be nothing but a luxury sub, and if things go well on our side regarding injuries, there's a possibility that he'll rarely see the pitch. With Euro 2012 knocking on the door, that'd be a huge fallacy for Cassano. Prandelli would never pick him up if he doesn't play a substantial number of games. Not to mention that he'll never reach an optimal shape if keeps warming the bench every Sunday.

Cassano is a sure thing for the Azzurri, no matter what is being said. These are not the days when Italy have the likes of Totti, Del Piero, Pippo, etc all in their prime, who do Italy have now? The unstable Balotelli, and.... Gila, Quagliarelli or Di Natale who has never really delivered for the NT. Dropping Cassano would be ridiculous on so many levels, and I can't see that happening if Prandelli wants to see Italy go anywhere this summer. Whether he stays at Milan, goes to Genoa or moves to a Serie C team, Italy and Prandelli will need Cassano, becuase along with Pirlo, Chiellini and De Rossi he's one of the only few really top class players left in the Azzurri team.

And Cassano mostly needs to get back in general shape, if he gets back his physical condition then he'll make a huge challenge for a spot in our attack. And that's what we need, some competition in the team, that's what gets the best out of Pato and even Robinho, not having their places assured of

[han2503]

X-off:If the player wants out...No one is stopping him from leaving the club,Galliani said it several times.Milan aren't selling Cassano,but if the player himself wants to leave,then they won't go against his wishes.For now,I think Cassano is happy at Milan.

Agreed there as well, forgot to mention it. I don't think Cassano has any problems with winning, and that is what he's doing at Milan, and he'll get playing time, just like he did last season.

[d'Arc.LP]

Han as far as I remember, last year you didn't believe we could transfer Ibra, and then you lost a bet (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif) . Don't be pessimist.

[Dracoris]

Honestly the deal is probably already done; just waiting on Fiorentina to buy a suitable replacement and to allow the transfer to happen closer to the close of the window for dramatic effect (sound ridiculous, but this is how Berlusconi likes to play the game). I think the fact that we contacted Aquilani's agent, and then all the sudden just dropped contact speaks volumes.

Whether or not Cassano is part of the deal or not remains to be seen, but I think he is, and I'm just fine with that. On the flip side, I'd be ok if he stayed. I'm not a Cassano hater and he definitely helped the team last year. This team needs depth in midfield far more than it needs it in attack currently.

[il_diavolo_mtl]

However, now with the sale of Palo, we have 5 attackers, that's Ibra, Pato, Robi, Cassano and Pippo. Pippo can be good on his day, but the man is at an age where you cannot really entrust such a huge role on him. Pato's injury problems still haven't sorted themselves out, so he could be out for weeks on end like he usually is, Robinho is what he is, he's certainly not reliable in terms of goals, so remove Cassano from that equation.

We essentially have 3 strikers and a bonus in Pippo. And with the difficuilties both Pato and Robs have (injuries and finishing respectively) the goal scoring burden wll once again be pushed onto Ibra's shoulders, you saw how burnt out he was last season in the final few months, we can't afford to have that happen, especially if we're going to let go of someone who really stepped in when Ibra and Pato couldn't deliver anymore.

Cassano isn't a luxery, he's a huge asset in the squad, whether he starts or comes in as a sub.

As for the rumours, I still don't think we'll be seeing Kaka in milan any time soon, Montolivo I'm inclined t believe that he'll be coming, however, I don't think he's anywhere near enough if we want a successful season, we need someone else, and removing Cassano to accomodate an average/good payer like Montoivo, will imo take us a step back not forward.

It seems we agree on everything but this, having Cassano (a winger turned 4rth Forward in a 2-forward system) is a luxery, pure and simple.

[il_diavolo_mtl]

Honestly the deal is probably already done; just waiting on Fiorentina to buy a suitable replacement and to allow the transfer to happen closer to the close of the window for dramatic effect (sound ridiculous, but this is how Berlusconi likes to play the game). I think the fact that we contacted Aquilani's agent, and then all the sudden just dropped contact speaks volumes.

Whether or not Cassano is part of the deal or not remains to be seen, but I think he is, and I'm just fine with that. On the flip side, I'd be ok if he stayed. I'm not a Cassano hater and he definitely helped the team last year. This team needs depth in midfield far more than it needs it in attack currently.

well they got Kharja, who has his lucky stars to thank for the attention he's been receiving.

[han2503]

Han as far as I remember, last year you didn't believe we could transfer Ibra, and then you lost a bet (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif) . Don't be pessimist.

Ibra is not the same as Fabregas or even Kaka. Let's not even bring Balo or Drogba in this because I'm 100% sure both rumours are pure BS.

Fabregas is in his prime, wanted by a top team like Barca who actually do have the money to get him and most importantly, he wants Barca just as much, if not more then Barca themselves want him. That's not pessimistic, that's being realistic. Kaka on the other hand hasn't had stellar seasons at Real, but they haven't been bad as some have pointed, the injuries were an issue, but apart from that, when he played, he played well, he doesn't have any issues with Mourinho or the Real management. There's no reason for Real to give him to us on a platter for a loan deal, with no payment and an option to buy for that sum. Just ridiculous imo. They're not that stupid, I'm sure if they were to actually put him on the market a team like City or even Chelsea would jump at the chance to buy him for good money, not the charity case we're pleading.

I might have not gotten too excited last season when the Ibra rumours were circulating, but I did believe that there was a chance that it could happen, maybe I didn't voice it here, but I did believe that he could come. He had problems with his coach, Barca wanted to sell him and he's not in his early 20s anymore like Fabregas is. Things worked in our favour in that deal, same goes for Robinho considering the problems he had at City. Both the Kaka and Fabregas deals are completely different.

Honestly the deal is probably already done; just waiting on Fiorentina to buy a suitable replacement and to allow the transfer to happen closer to the close of the window for dramatic effect (sound ridiculous, but this is how Berlusconi likes to play the game). I think the fact that we contacted Aquilani's agent, and then all the sudden just dropped contact speaks volumes.

Whether or not Cassano is part of the deal or not remains to be seen, but I think he is, and I'm just fine with that. On the flip side, I'd be ok if he stayed. I'm not a Cassano hater and he definitely helped the team last year. This team needs depth in midfield far more than it needs it in attack currently.

I agree, it is probably done, and we do not know what the conditions of that deal are, whether Cassano stays or goes.

The team does not need depth in midfield, it absolutely needs bodies in there, Montolivo is not about depth, it's about a neccassity, and I do understand why some would be willing to throw Cassano for Montolivo because we are that desperate for some quality mids. But with removing Cassano we'll be creating a problem in attack. Sure some are saying "you're making a big deal of it, we have 4 other strikers, bla, bla, bla". But 1 of those strikers is Pippo, the other is injury prone Pato and the other is impotent Robinho. Now after saying that, let's re-evaluate the depth we have in attack, to me it's not much

Like I said, if we wnat to be competitive, we need to keep the defense and attack as they are, and concentrate on re-building the midfield after letting Pirlo go, this is the huge problems we've pushed ourselves into. Montolivo will not solve our problems and if we can buy an unkown kid for 10m plus half a contract of a promising youngster then we can surely pay 10m for Montolivo without sacrificing the strength of another area

It seems we agree on everything but this, having Cassano (a winger turned 4rth Forward in a 2-forward system) is a luxery, pure and simple.

I don't think that he's that much of a luxery because our other strikers (aside from Ibra) have issues, issues that could put us in an emergency situation should they occur.

[Dracoris]

Just FYI b/c I'm a spelling jerk, its Luxury (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[William405]

Agreed on everything,Great post.

This post has been edited by William405: Aug 9 2011, 03:12 PM

[X-Offender]

X-off:If the player wants out...No one is stopping him from leaving the club,Galliani said it several times.Milan aren't selling Cassano,but if the player himself wants to leave,then they won't go against his wishes.For now,I think Cassano is happy at Milan.

How do you know that? Did Galliani tell you? We have no information regarding such things. What Galliani tells the press is as believable as Pinocchio's lies.

Cassano is a sure thing for the Azzurri, no matter what is being said. These are not the days when Italy have the likes of Totti, Del Piero, Pippo, etc all in their prime, who do Italy have now? The unstable Balotelli, and.... Gila, Quagliarelli or Di Natale who has never really delivered for the NT. Dropping Cassano would be ridiculous on so many levels, and I can't see that happening if Prandelli wants to see Italy go anywhere this summer. Whether he stays at Milan, goes to Genoa or moves to a Serie C team, Italy and Prandelli will need Cassano, becuase along with Pirlo, Chiellini and De Rossi he's one of the only few really top class players left in the Azzurri team.

I'm not as convinced as you are, han. Prandelli said yesterday that Rossi has an advantage over everyone in attack, insinuating that both Balotelli and Cassano have to work harder in order to earn a starting position. Cassano will be called up for Euro 2012, I have no doubt about that. But I'm also convinced that he'll be used as a sub, unless he goes to another mid-level club and regains the form of his Sampdoria days.

[Fillipo Simone]

So, I'll try to briefly give my viewpoint:

1) Saying a deal is done 99% or 100% is just a way of creating false security, it is amateurish and dilettante. We are not in a position to give such projections, neither are the medias, from Tuttosport to Mediaset.

2) This year the Mondadori thing happened. We sweeten up our lives and make them like our rosiest dreams by buying into invented rumors, but the truth is - because of the mentioned court ruling - Milan is in a unique position that cannot be compared to prior years. Therefore none of the priory established "rules" really applies to this situation.

3) The mentioned situation, IMO, resulted in a total shift of reliable and unreliable sources. Berlusconi wants damage control, so all reliable Milan sources could also be under the influence of greater causes we are not fully aware off. Therefor I don't tend to trust Pellegatti, Raiola, Mediaset, etc.

4) The Fabregas and Kaka rumors are beyond believable. Only if they agree on a substantial pay-cut they'd be considered by Milan, and even then this would be unlike. Especially Cesc.

5) Balotelli and Cassano - Cassano has been criticized for lacking fitness over and over again - well at least that can be fixed, while Balo's mental problems and unprofessional behavior require more of a long-term therapy. Milan may be a retirement home, but I sure don't wanna turn it into a madhouse. And that's just because he's a spoiled brat who'll come cheap and has talent. Well, I've seen greater talents then Balo ever was or will be; I don't think he's worth the effort. On the other hand, having Cassano in the team isn't a luxury; Pippo and Pato will most likely be injured at least once - it never happened that both players made a season with Milan without any injury. That leaves us only with Robinho and Ibra. Just remember how good it was to have Cassano around last year, when he gave us the crucial option of a creative striker? He scored and assisted several important goals. We can easily end up with a scenario where Pippo and Pato are injured, and Ibra is suspended, out of form or injured. We lost Paloschi, prior to that Berretta, so there is no real alternative.

6) Cassano for the Azzuri - most of Prandelli's threads are empty. He's just trying to help his old pals at Firenze, like he's been doing numerous times, from appointing Pazzagli as staff member to calling up players like Gamberini. In fact, Prandelli knows he cannot repeat Lippi's mistake and not take Cassano with him. He mostly depends on him.

[han2503]

Just FYI b/c I'm a spelling jerk, its Luxury (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Don't start!! We already have acid on our @ss the entire time, not you too!!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

How do you know that? Did Galliani tell you? We have no information regarding such things. What Galliani tells the press is as believable as Pinocchio's lies.

I'm not as convinced as you are, han. Prandelli said yesterday that Rossi has an advantage over everyone in attack, insinuating that both Balotelli and Cassano have to work harder in order to earn a starting position. Cassano will be called up for Euro 2012, I have no doubt about that. But I'm also convinced that he'll be used as a sub, unless he goes to another mid-level club and regains the form of his Sampdoria days.

It has nothing to do with Galliani, if Cassano really wanted out then he would have said something, same goes with his agent. They would have made it known that Cassano wants out.

Oh, sorry I forgot G. Rossi, :headslap: (I'm a huge fan and I forget him in the Azzurri set up (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif) ) Anyways, even with G. Rossi in there, it's still not enough to drop either one of Balotelli or Cassano. Prandelli knows this, so any open threats he makes towards the two are, imo, empty. He does not have the luxury ((IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) ) to drop either, everyone knows this. And with the way Prandelli has set up the Azzurri to play in the recent games, then it's obvious that he wants Cassano in that team.

6) Cassano for the Azzuri - most of Prandelli's threads are empty. He's just trying to help his old pals at Firenze, like he's been doing numerous times, from appointing Pazzagli as staff member to calling up players like Gamberini. In fact, Prandelli knows he cannot repeat Lippi's mistake and not take Cassano with him. He mostly depends on him.

Agreed on all your points. Just want to add something to this part.

Totally agree that he was trying to pull a fovour for Fiorentina. I also think that he makes those threats towards Cassano and Balo because their outbursts are legendary, so he's trying to keep their lesh tight by threatening their position in the NT if they don't behave like the professionals they're supposed to be (not like it's working on Balo but anyways (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif) ). And like I said, he simply cannot let a player of Cassano's talent at home, Italy are very low in talented players these days, to leave him back for petty reasons would just get his @ss fired like Lippi in the WC, where the lack of a classy touch was abbundantly clear throughout that terrible group stage round where Italy were terrible, this was even made worse since Pirlo was injured

[acid911]

Don't start!! We already have acid on our @ss the entire time, not you too!!!

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) Do you feel cold, Han? Are you seeing circles in front of your eyes?! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)