Good. Hopefully we'll be able to offload Zaccardo, Muntari and Constant in this transfer window as well.

Any word on how much we'll be getting for him?

Loan.

Apparently we want to sign Essien permanently: loan till end of the season then contract till June 2015.

Link

Are we ever going to sign a young, quality midfielder? Like Strootman or Nainggolan? Does it always have to be mediocre players and old has-been's that come for peanuts or for free? Jeez...

The main question is his salary. That's what's gonna decide for me whether this is a good or bad deal.

Agreed

Twitter says he halved his salary. Which puts him on the 2.5 million mark. Same as Matri.

Hmh. Not bad but still too much if you ask me.

Depends. Alongside De Jong he might still be useful to us.

How? I don't see him taking de Jong's place. Monto? Perhaps, but we still depend on Monto's creativity which Essien cannot replace.

I get the impression that Essien's arrival means we will see even less of Cristante. IMHO, (given our financial constraints) our only real hope is to rely more heavily on talented younger players. Yet we seem to be moving in the wrong direction. (Depressing and frustrating.)

Well, Seedorf is implementing a new system. This must be a transitional period, an signings like this help because the players have experience and could settle much sooner then any youngster. Cristante is a big talent, but it's too early to push him into the fire permanently.

Cristante and Essien are different players mostly used in different positions and/or roles.

Against Udinese both actually playing would have been better than having Nocerino playing there, who actually is the one making place for Essien. Since Nocerino doesn't fit in Seedorf's formation, it's an upgrade having Essien instead.

Is Essien the ideal signing though? Probably not, but hopefully he turns out to be a good signing. At least he didn't cost 12 mio.

So, it's official. We signed him for good, contract till 2015.

Good Signing.

With current injuries:

What an dreadful signing. Reminds me of the Emerson signing, a player who was great who we've signed because of his name.

+1

Zaccardo is close to signing for Fulham.

Link

Now we just need to find a time machine for Kaka and Essien and we are all set.

I don't think he's finished.

Let's just wait to see what he offers when he plays for us

Serie A is a completely different concept of how football is played, especially compared to the EPL. He might surprise a few like you who deem him as finished based on the perception they have of him in the EPL or at Real, where Jose mostly used him as a utility player


Great to see so much fodder being removed.

If nothing else, I think this is at least a good step in the right direction

Zaccardo, Nocerino, Matri being removed for me are good moves.

Muntari and Constant should now be moved top of the hit list.Silvestre ends his loan as well in the summer so we'll only have 4 CBs come next summer (assuming we sign Rami and Mexes stays). Hopefully it's enough room to sign someone really good, especially if we sell Mexes, Matri and Nocerino after the loans end

Three DM/CMs, two AMs, one CF. Half of them playmaker, other half ballwinners or the striker. Maybe play a true winger instead of playing Montolivo out of position and at the same time playing at Kaká's and Honda's their ideal position? Essien is good (hopefully, haven't seen him in a while) as rotation/backup (along with Cristante) for De Jong and Montolivo, not to move Montolivo to trequarista.

Perhaps Monto can play a bit deeper in midfield. Sort of a 4-2-1-2-1.



That way we'll be more covered and the fullbacks can push more as well.

Obviously not my preferred lineup, but it's an option to consider when seems right. It does give lots of defense skill, but at the same time attacking skill and playmaking. The lack of wings may be a concern, so yes, the fullbacks have to push more then. When Emanuelson is the leftback, it's a plus for that lineup you typed out.

lets hope essien ends up like Van Bommel

Yeah, my thoughts exactly.

Zaccardo has offers from Besiktas and Trabzonspor.

Monaco are interested in Robinho.

Source: Mediaset

I would sell Robinho and get Menez on loan. He doesn't play at PSG and would be perfect for Seedorf's system.

Would be an interesting move. I would support it!

Then it shall be done!

Italian media are reporting Michael Essien did not pass his Milan medical, so could be sent back to Chelsea.

According to La Repubblica, the 31-year-old Ghana international failed tests related to an old knee injury.

Essien arrived in Milan on Friday evening and had his medical on Saturday morning, but so far has still not signed the contract.

This suggests there are problems and the Rossoneri could pull out of the deal.

He will undergo further stress tests at the Milan Lab in a bid to rescue the transfer, which would’ve been free for the club.

It would be a heavy blow for the club, who already sent Antonio Nocerino on loan to West Ham in order to make way for Essien.

http://www.football-italia.net/44345/repor...d-milan-medical

So the Essien deal is done. Done, as in he passed the medical, and is almost a Milan player. Not sure why Seedorf needs him to be honest, and how he fits into the system. Seems like another free bite, someone that Galliani dreams of. I guess, the least we can get from him are some images and videos wearing the Milan shirt.

I liked the guy, but a deal like this should have been on the cards five, six years back, not now. Let's see.

Lol so he passes his medical at Real, but not ours. Yeah makes sense considering how successful our medical department is compared to that of Real's

He did pass our medical test.

He failed the first round, no?

Yes, he failed for tests on his knee. Then 'MilanLab' took over and did stress tests on his knee, which he passed.

For the record this is a a player Seedorf requested.

Nope, he didn't fail anything. Just Repubblica making stuff up.

Ah, ok, my bad

Btw, what is going on with Zaccardo? He's been close to joining 2 teams now, but we can't seem to shake him off

Maybe it's tied with us getting a replacement?

For Zaccardo?

Has he even played this season for us in the league?

We have 6 CBs, that's way too much, 5 is more than enough, we could do without his dud services. Same goes for Silvestre who's injured more times than not, thankfully he back off to Inter in the summer

He did. I'm not counting CB's actually, I'm more thinking of a solid fullback, RB.

Yeah, we need proper cover for Abate and not have to resort to removing DS from his position, Bonera can do that for now if we manage to get rid of Zaccardo, but we do need to look into getting in proper cover

Imo, priorities for next summer should be to sell (NOT loan) Matri, Nocerino, Muntari, Zaccardo, Constant and Robinho then we can go from there to start and bring in talent that will improve the side

Are you mocking me?!

I would never!!!!

You are still doing it!

I think that was Rami.

Rami, Zapata, Mexes, Bonera, Silvestre. That's more than enough CBs.

Seedorf: "I've talked to the club and from now on we'll sign only players who can fit to a 4-2-3-1 formation"

Nice. Let's start with some wingers.

I'd add Amelia to that list as well.


Does that include Essien or was he the starting point of this talk?

I think so, can't Essien play as one of those two DMs?

Essien is pretty good in the double pivot. Ideally we'd have taken Mikel off them as well..

I hope so.