[William405]

Indeed. We should consider him. Yes, his salary would be insane, but consider all the revenues from merchandising and stuff.

I really wonder where he would go.

I hope not to PSG.

My inside romantic says Napoli...

[X-Offender]

Looks like we'll be settling for Ilicic in the end. Hard to tell if for the AM or RW position, this management's ideas are a mess even they don't know what they're doing anymore.

I'm starting to regret Capanoglu, and I never thought I would ever say that...

[William405]

Looks like we'll be settling for Ilicic in the end. Hard to tell if for the AM or RW position, this management's ideas are a mess even they don't know what they're doing anymore.

I'm starting to regret Capanoglu, and I never thought I would ever say that...

I don't understand anything anymore either. Let's wait till the end of the window to judge though.

If Ilicic is bought as another part of the attacking puzzle. I think he can do amazing things. But ofcourse, he can't be that player that we rely on for the AM position. A competition between him and Sael for the RW position perhaps. He has 100 x more talent than Cast and Saelmakers combined. I don't know I would be really happy with signing him, but it depends on the global context

[X-Offender]

If we're getting Ilicic for the RW AND a valid AM then I'd be OK. Not a fan of Ilicic but given the circumstances that outcome would be more than acceptable. Signing only Ilicic would be a huge failure.

[X-Offender]

Which by the way makes me wonder, if we don't have the money to sign a quality AM, then why the f*ck didn't we offer 5M to Capanoglu?

I get it, the scumbag doesn't deserve that kind of salary, but Maldini sweetheart, if you don't have a Plan B like Maignan for Donnarumma, then what on earth did you do??? We're talking about 2 more million gross per year. That's nothing compared to the situation we're currently in.

I was so sure that we wouldn't have a problem finding a replacement because I never even dreamt that our management would be so clueless as to let the situation deteriorate like this...

[Fillipo Simone]

No? Really? Several of their prior dealings pointed to this happening.

But don't worry. We'll sign a replacement. We're just taking it slowly so we can muster the best possible deal and save as much pennies as possible.

Messi? Why would Messi want to join Milan? The guy will go to PSG or something like that... no way does he look like a Serie A target. Especially not us and Napoli. Diego had character (and was in a bad place) so he decided for Napoli. If Leo picked Napoli, the pressure of comparison (and ultimately failure because Diego was still in his prime when he signed for Napoli) would destroy him - and we all know how Messi crumbles under pressure.

[X-Offender]

No? Really? Several of their prior dealings pointed to this happening.

Such as?

Look at it this way. We lost Dollarumma, but consider that 1) he was asking way too much for the club's possibilities (even our 8M offer was above and beyond the salary cap), and 2) Maldini had already "blocked" since April his replacement in Maignan.

In my personal opinion Maldini & co. did the right thing not to cave in and let him go. Even if we had renewed at his conditions just to sell him afterwards, do you think anyone would have been willing to spend money for him on top of his crazy salary requests? He barely managed to find a club as a free agent. And which club was it? Of course PSG. It couldn't have been any other club.

Now look at the Capanoglu comparison: 1) he was asking for 5M, only 1M more than what we were willing to offer him, and also within our possibilities, and 2) we had no replacement whatsoever for him.

You see, in this case Maldini should have caved in and met his demands. It was the logical thing to do. The fact he didn't made me think we either have the resources available to sign someone else, or we already had reached an agreement with another player.

[han2503]

No, some things cannot be anticipated. The imposition of new regulations can completely alter the financial outlook of a company, even bring them into liquidation.

I have no information about the likelihood of these new policies, say, two years ago, but I highly doubt it was a certain and predictable thing as you say.

It's far from being done, but it will probably happen. This will completely destroy Inter. Lukaku and Hakimi, arguably their two best players.

But as I said, we've been hearing similar things re Chinese investment for a while now, and these people would be in the know. Same goes for the general financial situation of Suning as a company. All these things would have been known internally and we've been reading rumblings about Inter and Suning for a while now. We've even had trouble with the stadium project because of them

My point is, things at Inter are really bad right now I think we're in a far more stable position. And we might not buy ourselves a Scudetto but we'll continue to make gradual improvements. Inter got that Scudetto in exchange for plunging themselves back into the banter era similar to what happened to us and even them post treble. One Scudetto was not worth that

If inter get anywhere between Eur120M and 130M, they will most likely further reinforce their squad.

The depth is still intact, but Juve will be hungry and I trust Juve will be a force next season, especially with Allegri at the helm.

Milan will be okay, but will have to juggle priorities between Europe and domestic. A CL finish again would be optimal. (again managing expectations here)

A quarter of that money will be re-invested into their squad, if even that. Mot of it will have to go into re-paying Man U and keeping cash flow available for wages and other running costs.

Juve have huge problems as well aside from an aging squad, a pretty average midfield and the noose that is Ronaldo and his salary, they're also not in such a rosy situation

Indeed. We should consider him. Yes, his salary would be insane, but consider all the revenues from merchandising and stuff.

The only club that can realistically afford him is PSG. City just got Grealish and Guardiola confirmed they're not going after him. And apparently he's close to joining PSG. It's disgusting what that club is doing. To see all those players wasting away in the French league. If they don't win the CL next year it will be the biggest L in history.

[han2503]

Which by the way makes me wonder, if we don't have the money to sign a quality AM, then why the f*ck didn't we offer 5M to Capanoglu?

I get it, the scumbag doesn't deserve that kind of salary, but Maldini sweetheart, if you don't have a Plan B like Maignan for Donnarumma, then what on earth did you do??? We're talking about 2 more million gross per year. That's nothing compared to the situation we're currently in.

I was so sure that we wouldn't have a problem finding a replacement because I never even dreamt that our management would be so clueless as to let the situation deteriorate like this...

This is exactly why I was lobbying hard to give him the extra mil because replacing him was going to be a f@cking headache!!

Now look where we are. 2 weeks before the start of the new season and still no reliable AM in the squad. This is getting worrying now. We need an AM, if nothing else, that has to be the absolute priority.

Ilicic cannot play in our system as an AM. He'd be good on the RW, in fact I think him and Giroud will be great wild cards coming off the bench, but he cannot be the AM. He's not going to put in the miles we need in that position. I simply don't understand why they don't just try to close for Vlasic and be done with it

[han2503]

Btw, James is practically begging to get out of Everton. We should go for him. I was against the idea of him before but beggars can't be choosers and all that and he'd still be an epic upgrade over Hakan. His fitness the only worrying factor

[X-Offender]

But as I said, we've been hearing similar things re Chinese investment for a while now, and these people would be in the know. Same goes for the general financial situation of Suning as a company. All these things would have been known internally and we've been reading rumblings about Inter and Suning for a while now. We've even had trouble with the stadium project because of them

My point is, things at Inter are really bad right now I think we're in a far more stable position. And we might not buy ourselves a Scudetto but we'll continue to make gradual improvements. Inter got that Scudetto in exchange for plunging themselves back into the banter era similar to what happened to us and even them post treble. One Scudetto was not worth that.

Rumours are just words, not facts. We don't know anything about what was going on behind the scenes. I personally did not hear anything about the Chinese until very recently.

But I find it hard to believe that if Inter's ownership knew the repercussions they would just keep spending. Perhaps Covid become a decisive factor, who knows.

Btw, James is practically begging to get out of Everton. We should go for him. I was against the idea of him before but beggars can't be choosers and all that and he'd still be an epic upgrade over Hakan. His fitness the only worrying factor

I'd rather get Isco instead. Better player, younger, no fitness problems and more suitable to Pioli's system.

[han2503]

Rumours are just words, not facts. We don't know anything about what was going on behind the scenes. I personally did not hear anything about the Chinese until very recently.

But I find it hard to believe that if Inter's ownership knew the repercussions they would just keep spending. Perhaps Covid become a decisive factor, who knows.



I'd rather get Isco instead. Better player, younger, no fitness problems and more suitable to Pioli's system.

Even when Silvio was in the process of selling the club there were continuous reports about how Chinese investment funds couldn't move their money out of China that easily. So these things have been going on for a good while now, the club was sold in 2016 iirc so this was already an issue then. I mention this as I clearly remember reading these types of reports of how it was no longer that easy for Chinese investors to spend big money outside of China. It's also why Chinese clubs stopped buying players for ridiculous sums as they did with Hulk and Oscar previously for example.

So none of this was new. Suning also apparently had a club in the Chinese league that is now dissolved.

So to say that all these things hit them unexpectedly would be a paper thin excuse. And these are all things that we - the general public knew - let alone big players in China who probably would be in with the Chinese government.

I think the Inter board took a calculated risk with all those purchases and now they're paying the price. Obviously Covid pushed them over the edge much sooner than they expected


Re Isco, he's looked out of shape though. That's worrying as it usually indicates that a player is not as dedicated. Anyway, both are incredibly naturally gifted players and both would be an upgrade over their successor. Both just carry their own set of baggage that could be an issue for us

Luckily I do think Diaz is going to make a step up this season so we can easily rotate

[Rossoneri7]

@han, though I do think the club seems pressed for time to cover the AM and RW positions with reinforcements... The club have managed well so far in balancing the budget, i.e. Getting the wage bill lower, reinforcing the squad with smart/efficient acquisitions... So not all is lost, instead a lot of compliments as I have full faith in the competencies at the helm of the club such as Gazidis, Maldini and Massara (Elliott are transitional owners, but ones who hold weight). Hence I do believe the AM and RW slots will be filled, along with depth reinforcements to allow the team to compete on both fronts again.

There are names being mentioned, and names to be let go... As we approach the end of August things should be moving faster.

Only on Sep 1st can we confirm if they did a good job or not, any critisisim now is premature as the window is still open and a lot can happen.

[han2503]

@han, though I do think the club seems pressed for time to cover the AM and RW positions with reinforcements... The club have managed well so far in balancing the budget, i.e. Getting the wage bill lower, reinforcing the squad with smart/efficient acquisitions... So not all is lost, instead a lot of compliments as I have full faith in the competencies at the helm of the club such as Gazidis, Maldini and Massara (Elliott are transitional owners, but ones who hold weight). Hence I do believe the AM and RW slots will be filled, along with depth reinforcements to allow the team to compete on both fronts again.

There are names being mentioned, and names to be let go... As we approach the end of August things should be moving faster.

Only on Sep 1st can we confirm if they did a good job or not, any critisisim now is premature as the window is still open and a lot can happen.

Yes, I agree. Which is why I said to x-off that I'd much rather be in our situation than Inter's even if they are champions. I think our management have done a phenomenal job to not only stabilise the club which was in freefall before they took over, but to also make strides to making the team competitive again in a fiscally responsible manner.

However, there were critical choices made not to renew certain contracts for small differences between offer and demand. Now they must show why their decision was the correct one by making the right moves. We are not hearing anything concrete now and we're slowly approaching mid-August. I think it would be a mistake to try to get players in at the last moment

Plus, we haven't moved enough to get players out. We need to make it clear to certain players and their agents that they need to find another club

[X-Offender]

Completely off-topic, but I remembered this statement from Krunic when we signed him and it made me giggle.

Krunic: "I'm similar to De Bruyne"

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)