[Fillipo Simone]

No idea what Han thinks about Aubameyang.

I consider a marquee player someone who at 28 has played for at least one big club and won several silverware. Aubameyang only partially checks those boxes.

Look, I'm not against his signing by any means. But a price tag of 80M and a wage demand of 12M are way too excessive i my view.

Well, according to your definition Belotti can be discounted immediately, Auba qualifies partially (no silverware but hey, it's Bayern there up against) and Morata is the winner!

I get it, I get it. But our management will have to work hard, as Jack said, to sort out a new plan. I think it's out of our domain - worrying about wages and expenditure.

[Rossoneri7]

Fassone said to expect a marquee signing and our ex player surely is someone to raise the bar.

Regardless, so far Milan has upgraded in quality this window. But i cant see Scudetto contenders just yet.

[Danny]

I understand were you're coming from. And this is why Belotti isn't a marquee signing. But then again, you can't really dismiss Belotti until he gets a proper chance. I mean almost every striker starts his career with a smaller team and then makes the jump. Basically every striker we sign from a smaller or mid-table team is in the same position; yet for every Chiesa and Gilardino there's also one Inzaghi or Crespo (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

In Crespo's defence he came from Argentina straight into a very decent Parma side and delivered them from 6th to second.

He proved himself from midtable and in concert with the likes of Buffon, Thuram and Cannavaro elevated a good team to a great one.

Belotti hasn't done that with Torino. He's seen his side finish 12th then 9th past two seasons. In short, his breakthrough hasn't really coincided with any mass improvement in his team. Whereas Crespo hugely contributed to making Parma one of Europe's elite sides for a while.

But this is getting away from the point. Is 'a proper chance' worth a 80M gamble? We're already seeing Silva struggle under the 40M tag and he's not even played for us yet.

I'd rather a Morata or Aub just for the sheer reliability of the purchase. Naturally all signings have an element of chance, Ibra aside, but far more chance Morata and Aub will deliver than Belotti will.

[milanbuf88]

We're already seeing Silva struggle under the 40M tag and he's not even played for us yet.

I'm sorry Danny but this is a ridiculous statement.

[Danny]

I'm sorry Danny but this is a ridiculous statement.

How so. He was mediocre to awful at the Confed Cup. Unless that's just how good he is and we've really wasted money?

[X-Offender]

How so. He was mediocre to awful at the Confed Cup. Unless that's just how good he is and we've really wasted money?

You're always so quick to judge.

[milanbuf88]

How so. He was mediocre to awful at the Confed Cup. Unless that's just how good he is and we've really wasted money?

It was a handful of games at a tournament that isn't even taken seriously where he played with none of the people who he'll be playing with at Milan. To declare that he's feeling the pressure of a transfer fee based upon such a small sample size of essentially meaningless games not played with the team that paid that fee is absurd.

[han2503]

No idea what Han thinks about Aubameyang.

I consider a marquee player someone who at 28 has played for at least one big club and won several silverware. Aubameyang only partially checks those boxes.

Look, I'm not against his signing by any means. But a price tag of 80M and a wage demand of 12M are way too excessive i my view.

I agree to an extent, and the money being quoted is ridiculous. But in terms of name exposure, marketability and potential upside effect on the field, I think Auba would be a marquee signing, much more so than Belotti (who you know I'd love to have)

I don't think it is fair to penalize Belotti based on a hunch you have from Gilardino's transfer over a decade ago. As you said, Gilardino was a very different player in terms of style. He was basically just a poacher and when he lost confidence in his finishing he became nearly worthless. Even in his best seasons at Parma he never provided any assists. Belotti on the other hand is a far more complete forward. He is capable of better link up, providing assists, and hassling defenders with his speed/physicality when pressing. Do you really think we should avoid buying talent players from midtable teams completely? Obviously there are no guarantees but Belotti seems like he could have Dybala-like impact given the right support.

Morata has certainly shown up in big games but he really hasn't demonstrated the kind of consistency during league play that indicates that he is ready to lead the line. The potential is there but we are going to need plenty of goals against Genoa and Crotone before any one gets a chance to score in the Champions League.

You know people talk a lot about Gila and how he was a failure and such but he's 9th (joint with Del Piero and Signori) in the Serie A all time scorers list, more than Inzaghi, Vieri, Sheva, Trezeguet and Crespo. So he's surely a good goal scorer, just not someone good enough that could cut it in a top club, especially considering where we were when he was with us

The 8MM offer makes a lot of sense to me because we're not a CL club drawing in CL revenues. Just in case - you guys shouldn't forget that with these purchases, we're officially out of FFP norms, and our original plan was thrown out by UEFA.

So Fassone will have to work very hard and tight with the budget.

I'm not too keen on Aubameyang. I'd prefer a striker who could give us a good 5 years of service and you're always suspicious of a pace merchant. Basically he's a poacher with pace and on paper should be ideal foil for Silva who is bit more of a playmaker. However Silva too scores the bulk of his goals in the box.

I don't know. I'm going to hold my peace till we sell out the 10-14 excess players. Will have a better idea of what we need then...

Honestly, I don't know what the plan is for FFP. Inter seemingly resolved their issues by selling Benega and a bunch of Primavera kids. So from them being in deep sh!t to suddenly all is well doesn't make much sense to me, especially since they didn't make big profits from their sales. I just don't understand how it works tbh.

We might get some good cash from the players we want to get rid of but going by what Fassone said, the plan is to re-invest that into the market

If we sign Biglia in the next couple of days, then I think we should focus on clearing house first. Many excess players that need to be placed elsewhere. We can then concentrate our final efforts on making that marquee signing.

Agreed, but I think if the opportunity arises for a good purchase they won't let it pass by because we haven't cleaned house as of yet.

Fassone said that we'de take a break from purchases after the Conti deal so we can focus on player sales. But with the Biglia move suddenly gaining traction again after being at a standstill for weeks, I can't see them putting it on hold. If the opportunity is there, they'll wrap him up before we have to go on the pre-season tour to China

Well, according to your definition Belotti can be discounted immediately, Auba qualifies partially (no silverware but hey, it's Bayern there up against) and Morata is the winner!

I get it, I get it. But our management will have to work hard, as Jack said, to sort out a new plan. I think it's out of our domain - worrying about wages and expenditure.

Yeah, I'm at a point where I don't even care what wages/fees we're handing out that much or my head will explode trying to figure out what our plan is with regards to FFP. I trust that Fassone knows what he's doing or we could end up in the same boat we were just in a couple of months ago

Fassone said to expect a marquee signing and our ex player surely is someone to raise the bar.

Regardless, so far Milan has upgraded in quality this window. But i cant see Scudetto contenders just yet.

R7, what do you think about our spending with regards to FFP? Are there loopholes you think our management could exploit to counter all our spending without facing penalties or a ban from European competitions?

This FFP BS really has to be looked into. It's just a way of handicapping the smaller/less rich clubs and handing all the power to the big Spanish duo and EPL clubs. The name of it is the biggest irony around as how it works is anything but fair

In Crespo's defence he came from Argentina straight into a very decent Parma side and delivered them from 6th to second.

He proved himself from midtable and in concert with the likes of Buffon, Thuram and Cannavaro elevated a good team to a great one.

Belotti hasn't done that with Torino. He's seen his side finish 12th then 9th past two seasons. In short, his breakthrough hasn't really coincided with any mass improvement in his team. Whereas Crespo hugely contributed to making Parma one of Europe's elite sides for a while.

But this is getting away from the point. Is 'a proper chance' worth a 80M gamble? We're already seeing Silva struggle under the 40M tag and he's not even played for us yet.

I'd rather a Morata or Aub just for the sheer reliability of the purchase. Naturally all signings have an element of chance, Ibra aside, but far more chance Morata and Aub will deliver than Belotti will.

Parma had a great team back then, I don't think they can be considered mid-table, they actually made part of Italy's 7 sisters at the time when Serie A was the best league in the world. So I don't think you can compare Crespo to Belotti. Crepo had a great team around him at Parma while Torino is a pretty average team and mid-table is pretty much the best they can do

anyway, Belotti is different to Gila because he's not just a poacher. He's an absolute powerhouse and I think he would excel far more with better players around him.

[han2503]

Bacca is one step away from signing for Marseille. Their offer is believed to be around €20m. [@lequipe]

Get it done!!

[d'Arc.LP]

Carlo Ancelotti to Corriere dello Sport: "Milan are purchasing smart, instead of investing €100m in one player, they invested in many young prospects. Juventus are still number 1, but Milan are catching them."
"Calhanoglu will require little time to adapt to Serie A because it is similar to the Bundesliga. He was in great form till his suspension."

Corriere dello Sport: Milan's total net spend during this mercato could rise up to €200m.
Currently, Milan have spent €129m on purchases and received €6m from sales (only of Kucka). Current net spend stands at €123m. A few more sales and a few more purchases are expected from now till September 1st which will see this total rise to €200m.

Corriere dello Sport: Biglia at the Finish! Montella is already awaiting the player's arrival at the pre-season retreat.

Fassone and Mirabelli are rumored to be planning a blitz in Dortmund for Aubameyang to beat the competition from Tianjin Quanjian. Milan's offer for Aubameyang hasn't changed from the initial one: €60m to BVB, €7.5/8m on a 4-year contract for the player [Gazzetta dello Sport].

GdS claim that Milan offered €14m for Biglia after a phone call yesterday (Saturday) between Fassone and Lotito. Lazio still ask for €20m. Biglia could earn around €4m in his potential Milan contract that would last for 4-5 years.

[Fillipo Simone]

I agree to an extent, and the money being quoted is ridiculous. But in terms of name exposure, marketability and potential upside effect on the field, I think Auba would be a marquee signing, much more so than Belotti (who you know I'd love to have)

Indeed

You know people talk a lot about Gila and how he was a failure and such but he's 9th (joint with Del Piero and Signori) in the Serie A all time scorers list, more than Inzaghi, Vieri, Sheva, Trezeguet and Crespo. So he's surely a good goal scorer, just not someone good enough that could cut it in a top club, especially considering where we were when he was with us

At Milan, Gilardino was a big failure. We invested much money in him and he should have been the next best thing. Yes, Gila is above Inzaghi or Vieri (Trez and Crespo - no surprise there, they played also different leagues for years), but you have to put the real perspective here: Alberto scored 188 goals in 514 matches, whereas Inzaghi scored 156 in 370 and Vieri 142 in 264 - both were plagued by injuries, while Gila never had any real injury trouble.

Bar his first season (34 apps, 17 goals) his other two seasons where very poor with us. He never made the jump to a big club, that's why he stayed with Fiorentina for as long as he could.

Parma had a great team back then, I don't think they can be considered mid-table, they actually made part of Italy's 7 sisters at the time when Serie A was the best league in the world. So I don't think you can compare Crespo to Belotti. Crepo had a great team around him at Parma while Torino is a pretty average team and mid-table is pretty much the best they can do

Firstly, it was me who compared Belotti's position with Crespo's. Danny was more in line with you. But you people forget awfully lot of things. Parma was a mid-table club back then when standards were much higher, and their placings in Serie A (6th and then 2nd in the league) can only be seen as surprises and over achievements. Take Roma or Napoli of today - teams who are usually 2nd. Can they really hold the test compared to the various Juventus, Milan, Inter and Lazio teams of the 1990s? I don't think so. That's why the Torino team of now (when Serie A is reaching a low) is comparable with the Parma of then (when Serie A was best).

And bear in mind that Parma may have been the hit of the season(s) in mid 90s Italian football, but the players you and Danny mention where mostly kids who only achieved their best in the years to come. Cannavaro wasn't a starter back then with Luigi Apolloni still being their star defender. Thuram played mostly, but Buffon was a 17 year old kid that won over Luca Bucci's position eventually. So it's wrong to say Parma was a team filled with stars like Cannavaro, Thuram and Buffon. No, they had talented players, star players like Apolloni, Benarrivo, Zola and Dino Baggio - but still they were underdogs and massive overachievers compared to the quality and star-capacity of their competition back then.

anyway, Belotti is different to Gila because he's not just a poacher. He's an absolute powerhouse and I think he would excel far more with better players around him.

Yes, Belotti is more similar to Vieri i guess. But remember, Gila came to Milan not just as a poacher. I remember how people thought he was the complete striker.

[d'Arc.LP]

as.com: Should Modric not feature as a starter in the coming season, Milan could submit a huge offer to lure him to the San Siro.

[X-Offender]

as.com: Should Modric not feature as a starter in the coming season, Milan could submit a huge offer to lure him to the San Siro.

I doubt it. Biglia seems like a done deal and I don't see us signing anyone else except a striker and a couple of substitutes like Kjaer.

The team is almost complete, and I'm happy with the work of Fassone and Mirabelli. We've never signed so many exciting players since a very long time. And so early in the window, too!

[Rossoneri7]

R7, what do you think about our spending with regards to FFP? Are there loopholes you think our management could exploit to counter all our spending without facing penalties or a ban from European competitions?

This FFP BS really has to be looked into. It's just a way of handicapping the smaller/less rich clubs and handing all the power to the big Spanish duo and EPL clubs. The name of it is the biggest irony around as how it works is anything but fair

FFP will pinch Milan in the medium term.

The plan presented by Milan's incoming management to UEFA forecasts our revenue would shoot up with ancillary business from Asia. UEFA's reply was that our management's forecasts are far from reality. So they have to represent a new plan. We have yet to see UEFA's reaction to that.

On your opinion over FFP, it really is your opinion. But the fact of the matter is all clubs who participate in Europe must comply to allow for a fair and just competition. Are you savvy to the way it works? I think you should take another look at it, as in my honest opinion I believe it is a set of regulations that ensures a level playing field. Obviously you will have clubs in a better position and those in a worse position, but that is all relative to their actual liquidity positions of the respective clubs (as opposed to burdening the club with debt it can not repay).

[Danny]

You're always so quick to judge.

Doesn't mean I'm wrong (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)