January is history, it's time to look ahead.

Who do you want out, who do you want to come in?
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More Ganso rumors: http://www.tuttomercatoweb.com/milan/?acti...XdzLml0LTQ0NTY0

Brazilian press is certain that he will be our in June. Hope it's true.

OUT: Amelia, Bonera, Legrottaglie, Oddo, Jankulovski, Antonini, Van Bommel, Seedorf, Inzaghi.

IN: Marchetti, Mexes, Cassani, Cissokho, Ganso.

Not sure about Van Bommel though, let's see how he fares till the end of the season first. Also, I'd love to see Gattuso on his way out, but that's out of every logic with Allegri as coach.

So is Lamela coming and Lucas?I read once that we've signed Lamela,and once that Galliani struck a deal for Lucas.I hope they come,great prospects.

Which Lucas? The one of Liverpool?

About Lamela, yes, there were some rumors that we were interested. But the rumors about Ganso are much more persistent and convincing. In fact, I'm pretty sure he'll come.

No, the São Paulo one,Lucas of Liverpool is pretty bad imo.

Also,I read in some forum,that the brazilian press are sure that Ganso will be wearing Milan shirt coming summer.

Remember how not so long ago Lamela was a 'sure thing'

Yeah,exactly.I really hope that Ganso's story is true,I won't celebrate his signing until it's 100percent done deal,no letdowns ;p .

Well, the Lamela rumors popped out of nowhere, whilst Ganso has been talked for almost a year now. Also, apparently Galliani met him personally in Rio when he was dealing Ronaldinho with Flamengo there. And now all these confirmations, it makes me believe that we're determined to invest on hin.

I thought we were getting some bloke called Marcelinho.

In any case I want a fullback, a creative passer and if Pippo is leaving a goalpoacher. But I doubt Pippo will leave.

Zee might/might not extend. I remember him once saying he'd like to play out his contract and go back to his charities.

Two quality fullbacks (Cassani, Cissokho)
One quality centre-back (Mexes)
One quality trequartista (Ganso)

Four signings. I mentioned those names, but it could be anyone as long as they're quality players. If Galliani manages to make that happen, Allegri will have in his hands a very competitive team.

I think Allegri already has a very competitive team ... Ofcourse, come the end of the season and all those contracts set to expire, we will need to be fairly active in the transfer window.

Amen to that. That would be the very right thing to do, more so if someone like Ganso arrives.


Of course, he has to stay as coach till then. A slip-up even by one point, lost Scudetto, and Senior Allegri will be history. Even Galliani was very straight up in saying that the league is the biggest priority.


I wouldn't be so sure on the contracts that are set to expire. I've got a feeling a good bunch of them will be renewed, while obvious ones like Janku, etc will not.

Yes, he has an already competitive team in his hands, but not competitive enough to challenge big names for the Champions League. Our priority this season is the Scudetto, but next year we must make a wink at the Champions League as well. And to do that, we need some quality reinforcements, especially in defense.

So long as it doesn't really affect our league form, league comes first for me - always. Too many times in recent years we've been far too happy to pretty much give the title to Inter in the hope that we can win the European Cup. Not good.

I still think we're gonna pull out that Criscito deal with Genoa. The winter period just wasn't suited for that kind of deal.

To challenge for the CL trophy you need a coach of that caliber as well ... I don't see Allegri winning it for Milan, of course that doesn't mean Milan should reinforce in the summer .. It's just that I find our chances to land an 8th CL trophy being very weak.

I completely agree with you there. Allegri just doesn't convince me on the big scene. I think he still has that small-club mentality, which is clearly reflected in our game. But you never know, with the right set of players, even a rookie manager could overachieve.

We've been lacking proper fullbacks since 2007, when Oddo and Jankulovski were at their top. We've also been lacking a quality trequartista since Kaka' left. Personally, I think these absences have highly influenced our game in recent years. Just look at Inter last season. Two of their main strengths resided in Maicon and Sneijder.

100% agreed.. there's a part in "the damned united" movie which says when a transfer is completed 99%, it could mean the player hasn't signed yet.. but, maybe it's just in the movie..

Yeah, the issue of Milan's fullbacks has been in circulation since Cafu and Serginho left, now we have made an acquisition in Didac Vila and I don't trust those youtube clips so until I see him for a whole 90 mins, I'll remain inline with the crowd who claims we have a fullback problem.

On the other hand, I would also like to point at the issue of our formation not being dependent on a triquartista anymore .. We play with a 4-3-3, where the front three are all pure strikers in essence, and as we have observed they work very well at creating chances for themselves .. Hence I am comfortable in the fact that we dont have a pure triquartista anymore. If we end up getting one, all the better, but it is not a pressing issue IMO as a fullback would be.

Our playing system is a huge issue IMO. We can't play a 4-3-3 because we simply lack the necessary assets. Robinho is the only winger we have. Pato is not a winger, neither is Cassano nor Boateng. Our playing system is 4-3-1-2, with Robinho behind the strikers. However, that is not a solution, because 1) Robinho tends to go wide and thus leave a hole in the center, which in turns affects Pato's positioning, who goes wide as well, instead of playing as a pure striker; 2) Robinho does not have the quality of making assists to the forwards like Rui Costa, Kaka' or Seedorf do.

Thus, our game, at the moment, is a big clusterfuck. This could be solved only by signing a quality trequartista that would allow us to play the 4-3-1-2 system effectively and efficiently.

Fixed. For all intent and purposes, Seedorf only has one assist all season, the one he made to Ibra (probably) in one of the first few matches. The guy can be a sub for a little while longer, but we probably have the worst #10 in all the top clubs right now. Even last season the guy was comparatively better.


Agreed. Hence more the reason to buy Ganso (or someone else that is top quality). Can't wait for the summer transfer window, I sense at least two players coming, and a bunch from the current squad leaving.

Zee has 5 assists this season. Stats

6th in the Serie A list. And at par with Krasic who a lot of people were drooling over in this forum.

It's just the fact that we remember Zee at his imperious best and compare him to now. If Zee had performed like Pastore did for Palermo in the match before the last....he'd be getting his heart chewed out.

But to get old in football it seems is to condemn yourself by default to being considered mediocrity.

True. It's a pity he got injured, at the wrong time then. Would have been good to see how he slotted in behind Ibra and friends and tried creating chances (particularly with Pirlo out too). Fact is that I still remember his peak from the late 90s to say our 2007 CL adventure. The last few years have been a big downer from those heights, and the major part of it has got to do with his laziness - the intelligence is still there it seems.

I still haven't forgiven him for not covering the space for Madrid's second goal at San Siro, though. He wasn't directly at fault for the last-minute goal, but a bit more application from him could have prevented that goal. Would have been a hell of a victory after going 1 down.

Laziness? He's always had it. It's more the fact that he'll be 35 in two months. That is too much for a trequartista. Even Zidane hung his boots at 33. Seedorf's contract expires in June. I swear, if Galliani decides to renew it, he'll be making the biggest mistake of his life!!!

(Alright, the last bit was an exaggeration, but you get the point. )

What, that you started to exaggerate things and now you can't let go of it?

Anway, 'always' is a very very subjective term. I remember a very busy and hard working Seedorf at Real, even Inter.

I'd renew with him, clearly he adds up more to the team then showed on pitch. Same goes for a bunch of players, while some should leave. But it's up to the board and themselves to deal with it.


Exactly. It's only when you retire some people realize what's gone and lost for ever.

Stats... really? Do you watch the games? Sure he's made 5 assists... probably did not do anything else in those matches. You can't afford that as a team in my view.

I don't blame him... had I won what he was won I'd probably not even warm up... playing against Bari... he's played more CL finals than he's played Bari... he can't start matches, not Series A matches anyway.

Since when stats matter? he's capable of much more than that. just like you say Pato is capable of much more than 8 goals in 10 starts. you know...

Everyone's biased towards their own favorite players, I guess.

except for me because my favorite player is actually a God

Who is that then?

The other Paul McGrath

I was going to go with the sarcastic reply of "Technically, Maldini isn't a player anymore.."

Fail.
The God.

Um... have we signed Ganso?!

Aparently so..

25m Euros according to some sources.

Sokratis

please can u give a source cant find it anywhere

Sources are for wankers.

oh comon

No seriously, they are for poozers! Jokes aside, it is being reported all over the Brazilian media. Apparantly Galliani did not just cross the pond for disposing off R80, he practically made a deal for Ganso (some say at 25 million, others 18, while a few even hit the figure up to 40 million).

But knowing the poozer, I am sure he got the guy on the cheap and a good price. That is if he got Ganso at all. Whatever the case, Milan have been keeping the lid on the deal, whether it is finalized or not, so as to not have it hijacked. I guess, we will know 100% come the summer transfer season!

Allegri said today that he didn't insert Vila' in the CL list because 1) he's young; 2) he's played only 12 games with Espanyol; 3) he arrived in Milanello only one day before the list was composed; 4) he couldn't prefer him over players like Zambrotta and Inzaghi.

Now, my counterpoints. Vila' is not young. He's 21 for Christ's sake, that's the same age as Pato. We've seen much younger players compete in the CL. He's played only 12 games with Espanyol this season, true. But that's because he was injured the first two months of the season. He played all games of November and December. Moreover, he played the whole second half of last season as a starter. So please, the whole argument of inexperience is just a load of crap. Moreover, the fact he arrived one day before the list was composed means nothing at all. Finally, he couldn't prefer him to players like Zambrotta and Inzaghi, who will be out till the end of March, but he could have chosen him instead of Verdi, who as of now, has no connection whatsoever to the first team. So please, Mr. Allegri, stop jabbering about pointless crap and be more rational in your arguments.

Sorry for the rant, but I just can't get over this. I really hope I'm proven wrong and Vila' turns out to be a great signing, but if and until that happens, I'll always remain skeptical about his signing.

Verdi can play without being listed anyway, am I correct?

No, he was inserted in the youngsters list, along with Strasser, Merkel and Pato.

So we get only 4 players for the youngsters list?

You are skeptical of Vila's prospects but are mad at Max for making up [cheap] excuses for not including him in the CL list?

Yes. In other words, he just doesn't want to say that "I didn't include Vila' because he's not good enough", so he makes up excuses to justify his choice. Galliani stated clearly that "we would sign a fullback that could play the Champions League", and now that we've signed him, he's not included in the CL list? The whole thing stinks. My only explanation for this, at the moment, is that Vila' is just another Grimi/Mationi/Montelongo that will never see the pitch and will most likely be sent on loan next season. Again, I hope I'm proven wrong and he turns out to be a great signing, but as of now, I can't think of any other rational motive for why he was excluded from playing the CL.

Gosh, here comes a story out of nothing. Let it be my friend, Didac Vila is as important as Flavio Roma to the team. We should concentrate on other things, Vila is irrelevant.

Even if this Vila doesn't turn out to be the next Roberto Carlos ... Why are you so mad ? What if he was a bargaining chip for the summer transfer widow ? What if Allegri knows his team better than us ? What if Berlusconi bought him just to f@ck with you ?

What do I think ? I'm not bothered; even if he had not arrived, I wouldn't have cared ... Hell a transfer window with Cassano is enough for me

Err, we only have one left-back at the moment, the imperious Luca Antonini. He's been underperforming the whole season so far. Not to mention, if he gets injured, we're screwed. So tell me, how's this problem coming out of nowhere? Vila' should not even make it on the bench tomorrow, according to Gazzetta and Mediaset.

We both don't rate Legrottaglie and Jankulovski high, but sorry, the still exist you know. You're making a fuss out of nothing with this Vila thing.

LOL, why are you even mentioning Legrottaglie and Jankulovski? The first is a CB, the other has barely played a few minutes in the last two seasons. They are not an answer.