Right, I am not speaking in favor or against his attitude or even his impact on the club results-wise. I understand that is quite debatable, and I am not informed enough to side with either side of that argument.

But financially I don't think it is a debate. As far as wages, if these reports are accurate, it's effectively 5m/yr since Huntelaar's 3 is gone. So again in that worst case deal of 2 years of service, we spend 10m in wages extra. At least part of that will be made up for with increased revenue from tickets, jerseys, and if the team gets advancement income as a result. Hopefully more money is freed up next season, although I guess I really shouldn't count that because that money could be freed up regardless of what happens with this deal, but it is money that will be available that isn't now.

Thinking about our short term I'd be happy with Zlatan, but the lack of long term thinking simply worries me. I'm afraid for what will happen in future. These days we are selling half the rights of our prospects so we can sign cheap reinforcements. We are low on cash. How will our future look like with this Zlatan transfer costing a fortune? It concerns me. We are spreading the 40 mio in 3 steps. Says enough. We need to earn that money by selling players in future.

They said this for Ronaldinho too.



He is world's greates striker in last years and it's just about to be our biggest(the most expensive) transfer ever.



I've said it over and over again. Look at Ibra's transfer thread or it was in some news thread. I've always wanted him not becouse I'm obsessed with him, it's just he is the BEST option there.




btw to all of you, it's Berlusconi's club and money, you know that there's nothing we can do. I'm not OK when we sell someone we need, but when we do good busines (kaka's transfer), I support menagment.

Berlusconi promised a CHAMPION !
Huntelaar is leaving to make space for Ibrahimovic, we don't have to worry. Even Galliani said that there will be no-one else leaving.


---------------------------------------------

21:07 - The first indiscretions on the contract number of Swedish. There is talk of a four-year from 8,000,000 to 8,500,000 per year. The agreement between players and clubs but there Rossoneri dance a few hundred thousand euro under the severance pay to ensure that the Barcelona Ibra.

I totally agree. If we had strengthened other areas of the team rather than waste it on some egotistical trick pony then I would have been far more happier. What happened to "we have no money" and "we have a wage cap and are sticking to it"? I'm sure the players who took a wage cut are really happy now!

This deal was just to satisfy Silvio's ego nothing more nothing less.

Investing all that money in 3-4 quality players would have been wise, I agree, but we all know the type of person Berlusca is, so we can forget about it. Regarding the money itself, servbot made a very good point which you all seem to have ignored.



+1

Stop signing and keeping champions and become new champions instead for a change.

If after all that has been said, if Silvio is paying 30 mil. it only means that the club is spending 10 Mil. - Now with the sell of KJH for 15 Mil. that's putting back 5Mil. in the club's account. Now how is that a bad deal? On top of it the 40 Mil. is said to be paid over 3 yrs, so what's all the worries about?

It's is better to have someone like Ibra in our attack that can do damages to any opposing defense then having the like of Bori and KJH. He is proven in the Serie A so I personally expect a great season from him

Correct me if I am wrong but I don't see how this could hurt us in any way. On top of it Milan is already thinking about the future prospect of the team with all the youngsters they are buying. Our youth is pretty strong right now, so I am personally not going to panic. Last year at that same time, I was furious with our management, But they did a pretty good job this summer in my opinion.

We are investing in the Primaveras section but tell me something. Who'd you play as CF this season against Real Madrid, Inter and maybe some other big club if qualify. Beretta/Zigoni/Oduamandi/Adiyiah ?

WE ALL know Borri/Hunter are impotent and they could never score agains big teams. We're selling one mediocre striker to get a World Class striker. It's great deal.

Well that can't be right. He's third best on his own team.

Or fourth, if you count Villa who just transferred in.

Short term it's awesome. But there were smarter options out there.

I was.
Are you counting Pedro or am I forgetting someone?

Well, Messi, Pedro, Villa, Ibra. Or would you put Bojan fourth?

Are you letting Guardiola's problems to corrupt your judgment ? Both of them were clear and said that they had problems that's why last 6 months of Ibra were not good. He was perfect in the first ones. He even won them El Classico.

Messi it's an offensive midfielder/wing striker/support striker. He can never be better CF than Ibra.

Villa/Perdo better than Ibrahimovic ?! Give me a break.

Wow, so scoring one goal in November makes him better than all the other attacking players on the team? That's pushing things a little far for someone who played well for some months and then tanked in the games against his old club.

I'm not buying Mino Raiola's propaganda about the supposed trouble having been of such long duration or that it's totally the evil Guardiola's fault and that sweet innocent Zlatan did nothing wrong.

And do I think Villa and Messi are better? Absolutely I do. I think Pedro is a far better team player (though admiteddly not nearly so skilled technically).

I wish that too. Dzeko is 24 (the age Sheva came btw), before his peak and we would have had a world class striker for the next 8 years at least. Ibra is 29 and I don't see him playing here more than 3 years. But what can we do? It's Berlu's choice and surely better than nothing.

No he scored a lot then he stoped for 6 months 'cos he was having problems and when your coach speaks only two times in 6 month's it's impossible to be good.

That's confirmed even by Guardiola.


So we agree to disagree. Pedro is not a better team player remember World Cup when he didn't pass to Torres (vs Germany)

For Barcelona's game, Pedro would be a better option than Ibra. But is Pedro a better footballer than Ibra? Only in the next life.

I'd say Ibra is leaving merely because of his problems with Guardiola. Think about it, Eto'o had a fantastic season in his last year at Barça but had to leave because there was no feeling between him and Guardiola. You might think ill of Ibra's attitude, but Guardiola is no innocent child either.

Some interesting debates have been going on this week, i'm lovin it.


But let me clear up something for you guys that are misunderstanding things.



The formation 4-3-3 (the one allegri plays)

---------GK------------

RB----CB----CB----LB

------DM------DM-----

----------AM----------

RW---------------LW

---------CF----------

Looks like this.



This formation requires the following aspects to work efficiently and by efficiently I mean we are able to produce at least 5 goal scoring opportunities per game.


1) Quality and Fast CBs. They have to have good positioning and be fast. Most teams will penetrate this formation via long balls down the wings or 1-2's to the net.

2) Fit and Quality midfielder. The Triangular midfield needs to be fit and able to constantly shift from one side to the other while being able to keep possession. Most teams who play with this formation play 1 true DM and 2 creative midfielder.

3) Individualistic and creative wingers. The only reason this formation is able to function is that the two wingers are able to function on multiple dimensions meaning they can't just be the simple run down the line and cross. They have to be able to take players on individually, creative goal score opportunities as well as keep possession.

4) A target man striker CF with individualistic ability. The CF has to big and strong, someone who can hold the ball under pressure. He also has to have 1v1 skills, which means he can produce a goal scoring opportunity by beating the player marking him if necessary. Furthermore, he has to be able have good finishing ability.



These 4 aspects are what makes this formation work. Fullbacks are not necessary. The fullbacks come into effect when you are dealing with teams who like to park the bus. In regular play where boths teams are attacking, your fullbacks generally stay back.

Now in the 4-3-1-2; fullbacks are vital for it to work; they always have to attack because they need to provide width in such a narrow formation. But in the 4-3-3 that Allegri is going to play at least 80% of the season;

there roles will only be important when we play against teams who just wish to sit back and counter. The wingbacks come in and overload the wings, which frees either the winger or the winback because there is only one defender there, which in turn can create a goal scoring opportunity. Other than that we can use 4 CB in total if we play a strong team that wishes to attack and we won't notice any difference at all in the build up.



We are fine in the Fullback department. We could use perhaps a RB but I wouldn't go all out spending cash for this department. Montelongo/Abate/Bonera/Zamb/Oddo are good enough.




-----------------

That is why at the beginning of the term allegri asked for a midfielder because Boateng provides us with the exact characteristics were looking for. Some of you call it a box to box midfielder, which doesn't exist in Italy. I'd like to call it a dynamic creative midfielder. He's the first of his kind at milan. We don't have another like him, which means he could play an important part in our season.





In regards to Ibra; is he absoloutly necessary for allegri to function? No. Borriello has the characteristics of the desired CF. The only thing he lacks is good finishing ability.

Huntelaar does not fit this style in anyway as he is a natural poacher similar to inzaghi and he needs to either be given the ball in the box via a pass from the wings or needs to be given a defence splitting pass through channels.



Does Ibra provide those characteristics? Yes. Would we say he's better than Borriello? I would say yes, but we'd need time to judge that.


So the question remains for 40m; is Ibra worth it? Or would we rather save the money and spend another season with just borriello as neither Inzaghi or Hunt can play that role.

Eto'o is no innocent either (nor is his agent). He had a year left on his contract and was making unreasonable wage demands and had an agent as charming as Mino Raiola. I don't think we can pin this one on guardiola.

You gotta love Google translate.

23:07 - Ibrahimovic's announcement at Milan, in all probability, will arrive tomorrow late afternoon. And 'this indiscretion came to drafting MilanNews.it we collected exclusively.

milannews.it

Lol

I love how on Monday it was the official announcement will come Tuesday afternoon, then on Tuesday afternoon it was to be announced that night. Then on Tuesday night they said the deal will be announced at some point on Wednesday, On Wednesday they said it would be announced Thursday night, On Thursday they said it would be announced some time today, We're 30 minutes away from the day's end and now we've heard it will be announced tomorrow afternoon, who wants to put money that tomorrow the report will be that we'll see an official announcement Sunday afternoon or night

I take my chances. If you win you can change my signature to everything you want.
If I win you post a pic of Ibrahimovic in you signature (for 2 weeks) ( I choose wich one )

Ok ?

So are we betting on when the official announcement will be made?

Yup, I say Ibra will come tomorrow, if that do not happen you win.

Sportmediaset says Ibra will come on loan with the obligation of definitive buy next summer. His wage will vary between 7m and 9m.

Ok so if it is announced officially tomorow you win if not I win


So now it's back to a loan? This thing is getting more ridiculously unbelievable by the minute

Well for starters we, as AC Milan, might not be paying one cent for the whole package. Because frankly we cant afford it.

On the other hand, we have a President who can afford a whole first class team. And if it is his desire to bring in Ibra, then that is good for us ... Why complain if someone gives you a five star meal while your starving ?

If it is the state of our team as a whole that is your concern ... Then rest assured that we are still under construction and that the 'new philosophy' of depending on our youth sector will remain the priority. If that is what is bothering you, my friend it will remain bothering you, me and everyone who bleeds red and black

Then again, look on the bright side of things, at least we will have a front line capable of doing a lot of damage

no it'll be permanent. He won't come on loan, the barca board want him out completely.

dozer....like

Good point, I was trying to say that, but couldn't.

I don't buy it for one second. This won't be a loan deal.


Tomorrow they will meet and then bulls*** some more. This could drag out until Tuesday.

It's not a loan. It's a transfer for 40 milion, but the first year will be free
It's not called a loan if you have to buy the player after you loan him.

I admire your confidence in the board. I certainly don't share that same confidence. Yes they're putting in a lot of money on the youths. But what wories me is if even 1/4 of the players we're buying and co-owning all over the place will get anywhere near our bench let alone break into the first team. We seem intent on buying every young player under the sun yet we don't have the confidence in them to let them get time with the first team. Paloschi imo is our most promising youngster to come out of the primavera fo a while now, and look where he is, imo if we were really serious about this we would have kept him with the team and let him develop with us.

And I know our President can afford it, no question, but he's unwilling to invest money on the team unless it's something that he wants, now whether that is in the best interest of the team or not doesn't matter as long as he gets what he wants.

Case in point the Ronnie transfer, now I'm not against it never was, the guy managed to turn my oppinion of him last season completely, but we all know Carlo never really wanted him, he made that pretty clear and the unwillingness on Carlo's part to even think up of a plan that would include Ronnie in it further drove that point home. Yet, Silvio wanted him at all costs and made it happen no matter how Carlo felt about the issue. Imo this show his lack of regard as to what is best for the team.

Like I said my big concern with this move is that we're literally putting in all that money on a player, money that we don't have, now yes Silvio is funding it, but if he really wanted what was best for the team, he would have given that money to Galliani and let him make some good deals for quality players for areas that also need stregthening, we need a RB badly, a box to box, someone to cover for Pirlo and a player to sub in for Pato and Dinho, we don't have any depth for these areas, yet they have been over looked while we're spending so much money on Ibra. And my biggest concern is that they will be overlooked once again next summer because we'll be scrounging around for cash to pay off the massive wage bill we now have on our shoulders


That is one badly photoshoped image

But han what can we do if he won't spend. I mean its at the point where its Ibra or nothing

Look I'm not saying I won't be happy to have a player like Ibra in our attack. He will undoubtedly make us a hell of a lot stronger. I might not like the guy as a person but there is no doubting his footballing abilities.

But I'm more concerened about the team as a whole. And all this money going out will undoubtedly create a huge ripple effect for a huge ammount of time. Berlu will have the excuse that he spent big in order to bring a champion in, thus we cannot complain to him about the state of the team and transfers, thus the other areas that also need strengthening, will be patched up with freebies, free agents and oldies on their last few years.

I know, right? That's what I'm saying from the start. It's not like we're in a position to choose between Ibra and 3-4 quality signings. Most of the money for this transfer is coming from Berlusca's pocket, so let's just calm down and be thankful we got anyone at all.

No one is going to go over to Berlusca and demand for him to back out, but we can all have an oppinion about it. That's why we're on a forum to begin with, if we were all just going to sit down and take it then what's the point of posting?

But imo in the long run, this will bite us in the @ss big time. Which is why I'm personally opposed to it, it's not like my oppinion is going to make a difference but everyone will have differing oppinions, and that's the baeuty of living in a free diverse world

It seams that Silvio was right, he knew what club needs, bought Ronaldinho and saved our @sse's .

Yes han we all know that Berlusconi does what he want's but like Blue says it's better to have Ibra than nothing. You can't change Berlusconi so let's hope we get what he want's. In the end, it's his club and no one can love Milan more than Berlusconi (I hate myself for saying this) but in fact it's true.

There's no way we need a RB or a box-to-box mid. before one striker. We have Zambrotta/Bonera/Papastathopoulos and Abate for the RB position and I think that Zambrotta and Sokratis can be very good at it, even Sokratis is better as CB. We signed Boateng who proved to be quite good against Barcelona, even though he played only one game. We can also use Flamini for our btb midfield position. Borriello/Verdi and Oduamandi are perfect backups for Ibra/Dinho and Pato. It's not that Pato will stay injured all the time.

---------



00:38 - As reported by Sky, there was a surge in talks to Ibra. AC Milan is pulling on the price and 40 million is possible that the price drops to 30. If that should be, Milan Ibra would take less than half what it paid for the Barecellona passt season.

milannews.it
WTF !?

amen.

What's currently on the books is just not good enough. These areas are more important in the long run imo.

Look han, our situation is very simple. Berlusconi, nowadays, puts his hand in his pocket only in two occasions: 1. when financing the club in order to remain healthy financially and 2. when a big star he admires is on the market. He will never, ever, invest his money in quality signings like the ones we dream of every night. The money for those players should come strictly and only from the club and the sponsors. Therefore, you can be certain that whether we signed Ibra or not won't affect in any possible way Berlusca's decisions in the future. I know it's a shitty position to be in, but hey, what can we do about it.

+ 1 billion.

I said from the start, would've prefered Dzeko but was more than fine with Ibra coming if it was done in an economically sound way. But this 40 million euro expenditure is what kills me.

Han said it perfectly. This will have ramifications - the weaker areas of the team will remain weak. We won't go out and spend the sensible 14 E on Hernanes for that box-box position, or the small amounts it would've taken to bring in a promising fullback. Instead, we'll blow 40 mil on one striker, and continue to renew all of our old midfielders.

At the end of the day though, we'll have Amelia, Sokratis, Boateng, Ibra, Barca youth prospect LB Adrian Carmona, a TON of elite under 18/19/20 youth players, and a maestro of a coach.

Ibra wasn't quite who I wanted, and if it was going to happen I didn't want it to be a HUGE purchase like this on a player who I think isn't the most sound investment on the market. But our market is tough to argue with. Especially if we end up adding Bocchetti (who I highly doubt would leave Italy to play in Siberia)

Sokratis, Bonera and Abate are no RBs, and they have proven this over and over again in preseason where they have gotten ripped apart over and over again. Zambrotta is our only RB, and to me that is very concerning.

Boateng to me isn't really Milan quality, not starter qaulity imo, he's a great utility player but not starting material. And those Primavera kids you mentioned won't get a look in, don't let preseason fool you.

Imo with the 40m we're about to spend on Ibra we could have gotten 3 quality players for every position I have mentioned, and have extra change

+1

Perhaps it's a little too soon to say that. Let's wait and see what he can really bring to our game before we give any judgments.

+ 1

I agree to an extent.

But price tag aside we're still going to have to pay Ibra over 32m in wages if the numbers mentioned in the press are to be believed. That is what is going to cause the ripple effect that I was talking about. Silvio will not continue to fund the wage, just like he didn't continue to fund Dinho's wage. It falls on the clubs shoulders, thus continueing to dwindle the already meager transfer budget we have at the start of every transfer market.

And yes there is nothing we can do about it, but it's ok to have an oppinion on the issue