I don't know man. If the coach has a different tactical direction what're you going to do. And he's been angling for a move for sometime now.

And you said it yourself, in a team without service, would you continue to have him be average, or would you have a striker similar to the Pelle we saw for Italy? Who's effective for the playing XI as a hold-up man?


Besides it's all rumoured. For all you know he convinces the coach and he stays on. I no longer get excited by transfer rumours. It's like the Milan of the past 5 years has killed my joyous enthusiasm. Only us winning the CL again will bring it back. F@cking Rossoneri!

Firstly, the Bacca rumors started much earlier then Montella was even on board. Secondly, unlike with De Sciglio, no one at Milan said something like "Bacca is indispensable" or at least "an important player".

Thirdly, I think Graziano Pelle is a vastly overrated player. I'd take Bacca over him or his type any day of the week. And for all we know, Milan already has support players like Niang and Menez, even Suso as you said. Pure strikers with a nose for goals are rare these days. What's the point in selling Bacca and the splashing the money strikers who "could be" the next Bacca?

It makes sense to me (if the story is true at all) only on two things:

1. Bacca and his agent are making trouble. They want out unless <insert demand here>. If it's more wages I don't see it happening. I'd rather he move out.

2. We don't need a 'Bacca' type player at all. A goal poacher. Maybe we want more mobile forwards. Bacca has his weaknesses. He's singlefooted, he is not as good at taking on Serie A defenders one-on-one, he isn't physically dominant...but he is a lethal finisher. Maybe the former flaws outweigh the latter benefits for the coach and his style.

Apparently our bid for Sosa got rejected (don't know if we're even interested in this guy at all. But the media seem to think we want him...)

Names like this and Galliani mentioning Papu Gomez is what scares the sh!t out of me and worries me that nothing at Milan has changed.

Let's hope this preliminary signing goes through next week (everyone seems sure that it will be on the 12th), Bee coming out and declaring that Silvio shouldn't sell and that he has an offer to buy a minority shares scares me. If you read the article you would think it was something out of one of Silvio's wet dreams

I read somewhere that Galliani will take on a consultancy role for 1 to 2 years once the takeover is complete and then he'll be out. Plus he's working with Gancikoff now (as confirmed by himself yesterday in the press conference). So let's all pray that this thing FINALLY goes through next week (GdS saying that if anyone backs out after the preliminary is signed, they'll have to pay a 100m penalty)

As for the Bacca discussion. Going by what Montella said, I'm inclined to side with Jack on this one. It seems like he doesn't fit to the ideal of the type of striker Montella wants (he said he wants someone who's mobile, involved in the build-up and contributes to the game). And Bacca can't even be classified as someone who holds up the ball particularly well either. I'm thinking, if we do sell him, I'd rather stay with Adriano and Lapadula and heavily invest in the midfield. Juve won a Scudetto with Matri, Iaquinta and an over the hill Toni as strikers.

Having a great midfield and defence is what counts. And if selling Bacca means we'll invest more money into the midfield than I'm fine with it. A great striker could be a luxury signing next summer.

Also, another point, regarding Pjaca. I'm slightly worried about how much we're about to spend on this kid. Even his youtube vid doesn't look all that spectacular and I could manage to look great on a compilation... I feel like we're putting too many eggs in that basket just like we did with Bacca and Berto last summer.

@ Fillipo, I agree that the Bacca situation is strange, and you bring up a good point about how the club never denied anything about him considering the rumours have been flying about since even before the season ended. It feels like Galliani and Berlu were never all that enamoured by him, plus I do think that financially it's a good decision. His value will drop with every year, I don't think he'll be valued like Tevez or Ibra, his pace won't be the same as he ages and that will limit his effectiveness imo

Bacca is not just a poacher. Sure, he's not Ibra or Benzema, and he's not greater at protecting the ball like, say, Diego Costa, but he's fast, mobile and good with the ball at his feet. He knows how to dribble past opponents and has a great scoring intuition. He's very similar to Inzaghi in a way, just more technically gifted. I would hold strongly to him.

As for Pjaca, 20 million + bonuses is not that much honestly. It was a lot for Bertolacci because we'd already seen him play. The guy is 25 and it's perfectly clear he's not cut for the big stage. But Pjaca is barely 21, is considered a huge talent and many important teams are after him. It's a gamble, of course, but at least we're investing in a youngster with potential that could turn huge for us.

Anyway, I agree that our priority should be the midfield. We've stressed this enough. We need AT LEAST two creative mids who are actually good, not Montolivo or Valero level. Hopefully we get Kovacic.

I get your points, but I'm not sold on the whole story. Just wait and see, Bacca will be sold and then we'll land a striker which is in the same mold but not on same level, alla Pavoletti.

And your logic is flawed han. Juventus achieved big things with Pirlo on board, with a master defense of Chiellini, Bonucci and Barzagli combined with Buffon and a few other gems. Give me that kind of players and I'll gladly take Pavoletti or any other second-rate striker.

But up until now we haven't been linked with the Buffons and Pirlos of this world, but with Pape Gomez (?), Zielinski, Badelj, Mati Fernandez, Joaquin, Valero, Kovačić (perhaps the sole exciting name), etc.

I disagree about Bacca being a good dribbler. Anytime he tried to dribble around people last season he lost the ball.

I agree that he's similar to Pippo but more technically gifted (who isn't? Pippo could barely classify as a footballer imo). I just think that if we don't sell now the opportunity could be lost to get decent cash for him. That being said, I'm mostly trying to play devil's advocate here. I wouldn't mind keeping Bacca. I think he'd easily score double what he did last season with a proper midfield behind him, I'm mostly just trying to understand the logic. But like I said, it does mostly feel like Galliani and Berlu never really were all that into him, he was the second choice for them, and Bacca doesn't seem all that keen on staying either, let's be honest here.

As for Pjaca. I'm mostly worried about splurging so much from our budget on one players that's a complete gamble. I'd rather spend 30m on a great creative mid tbh.

Also, how can you even compare Valero with Monto? Valero imo is one of the best mids in the league and is exactly the type of "instant fix" player we need.


Like I said, I'm mostly trying to be the devil's advocate here and trying to understand the logic behind selling him and putting my thoughts here. I don't know why they seem so eager to sell him tbh, I have no answer for you on that one.

Also, isn't that what I said about Juve? They had a terrible attack and built their success on having a great defence and a very strong midfield which they later continued to improve on. They later bought their attackers as luxury buys after they had established such a dominant midfield and defence. Sure they based all this on having a top notch coach which I don't think we have but having a strong defence and midfield is always the key. A concept that our management (Silvio mostly) can't seem to grasp as we always go about purchasing a whole new attack practically each summer

Point taken . I agree we need someone to "anchor" the back line.

For CB: Nevan Subotic on my mind or Nicolas Otamendi who could be surplus at City
For Midfield: M. Kovacic is almost a must and one of Sissoko and Kante
Pjaca heading to Juve according to multiple reports (bring to mind last summer Kondogbia battle with Inter)
For attack: Lapadula, Niang, Adriano & outstanding winger if Bacca leave. Can we bring back Aumbumeyang?

Montella will play with 4-3-3 according to Mediaset.

We need 2-3 quality wingers for that to work. Pjaca, Mr. X and personally I'd bring back Suso.

I wonder whether Montella will consider Montolivo a starter or not, otherwise we're gonna need a quality DM as well.

Lot of work to be done.

Sorry, I was wrong before. Suso already returned from Genoa and is training with us, and apparently he's convincing Montella, even though I just read on TMW that Genoa want him back again.

Suso is completely inadequate. I wonder what you see in him. He'll most probably be shipped to Genoa where he belongs.

I also see that Milan has interest in Cuadrado. Now this is a player that could work well in Montella's system. Also, we need to try get Valero, who could do the trick much better then Monto.

I clearly see in him that which you fail to see: talent.

Apparently Juve are close to signing Pjaca, so we're after Cuadrado.

Source: Mediaset

Don't know how to feel about it.

I think all news outlets atm are reporting out of their @sses they know nothing about the player's decision. His mother spoke to the media and has said he hasn't decided yet.

Honestly, I don't know how to feel about it either. I think Cuadrado would be a smarter signing tbh. He's played under Montella before and fits perfectly in his system and comes with a much lower risk factor.

Also, I think at this particular moment for the club, it's important that we use the money we have wisely rather than taking big risks which could be big set-backs for us

Yeah, Cuadrado would be a more sure thing. Too bad he's already 28, so he can't be considered a future investment.

But I think his price is negotiable, so we can lower it from the reported 20m Chelsea want for him

Because, even for all this talk about the new owners coming in. I get the feeling that atm there's like zero cash to be spent. Silvio certainly won't be pouring it in considering he's about to hand over the club, and until the agreement is actually signed (read that is could be postponed again...), there's no cash. So I get the feeling that Galliani is going around promising clubs that the club will make a solid move once the ownership problem is settled.

According to sky Pjaca has given the green light to Juve, so as far as I'm concerned, nothing has changed. It's the same issue as last summer. And I also think we were waiting to sell Bacca to close the Pjaca deal.

So going by this, I would really like to see us spend whatever money we have as wisely as possible, and Pjaca wouldn't have been a smart move imo. He could just as easily turn into the next Krasic if you ask me. And atm we don't have the luxury of taking such a risk.

That being said, the names we're now being linked to worry more than anything else. It's gone from Kovacic and Andre Gomes to Zielinski and Sosa, just screams of typical Galliani moves to me. Next thing is we'll be linked to every Genoa player there is.

Don't get me wrong, I think Zielinski is a talented player, but he's not at the level we need to make an instant jump in quality which is gravely needed by the team

Apparently we're close to signing Lasagna... I mean, I have no words. So we supposedly have cash now but we're going after even worse than mediocre players who ply their trade in Serie B and for Carpi????!!!!

FFS, all the hope I had last week has just been sucked right out of me. Going after these types of players is the very core of our problems. Galliani will never learn

Lasagna just got announced as a lie. But the news is worse. Apparently no transfers shall happen until the prelim agreement is signed. And that will be pushed till the end of the month!

True, but you never know. MilanNews are the ones who denied it, but Gazzetta is the one who came out with it. Tbh, I wouldn't be all that shocked if we signed him...

And if this preliminary continues to be pushed back there'll be no time left to rebuild this side. This is already the 3rd time that it's been pushed back, it was first supposed to happen at the end of June.

Honestly, I thought this summer the coach (for once) would be given a proper squad for his pre-season preparations, and if not the squad we'll be starting the season with, at least it would be very close to complete. Now the team will be off to America in a few weeks and nothing can be done. The only money we can spend is if we sell Bacca and use that. And going by Galliani's track record that's potentially money down the drain for the likes of Pavoletti, Sosa and [insert random Genoa player here]

Guys, it's pointless banging yours heads around it. Just wait and take things as they come.

No one is banging heads. Just the usual Han: wouldn't expect any less.

Di Marzio: "Milan have an agreement with Udinese for Zielinski for 18 million. Now they must negotiate with the player"

Han will be most happy.

Is he any good? And very confusing piece of news if you have in mind that our transfer moves have been blocked, yes?

No idea. Never saw him in the Serie A this year and I don't remember him at all in the Euros, LOL.

And I don't have a frigging clue what's going on with our transfers.

So yesterday we're told that the transfer market is blocked and today we apparently reached an agreement with Udine for Zielinski...

Just pointless to even follow the transfer news at this point as it's clear no one knows wtf is going on.


As for Zielinski, I think if the fee is correct from Di Marzio we're paying a bit too much for him. That being said, he was wanted by Napoli and Liverpool (read that he rejected Napoli and Liverpool had yet to find an agreement with Udine). As for the player, I think he's a very good prospect, but certainly won't be the addition that will make an instant impact, but he is a big prospect for the future as he's very highly regarded.

I watched a couple of his vids on yt (I know, I know), and from what I could tell he's good with both feet (something we desperately need imo as most of our players are completely useless when using their weaker foot. He's got a decent range of passing and good change of pace. He's certainly not a regista though, more like a major upgrade of Bertolacci or the type of role we wanted Berto to play

Just read that we still have matri FFS!

More the delay in this Milan sale going through, more the season would be worrying

We still have a lot of baggage that needs to be let go.

So far nothing has happened, and the longer this thing keeps getting delayed, the worse our season will start

You put too much weigh on these transfer rumors. Just let it go, switch your brain off. Only react when there's something concrete or reliable. Otherwise, it's pointless.

Personally, I only check transfer rumors when I'm bored, and even then I don't really care that much.

The thing is, even if Milan ain't gonna sign the various Sosa's and Pavoletti's, it's still a trend. Fact remains, we're again linked with subpar players and not real reinforcements.

Some of those names are depressing indeed, but others like Cuadrado, Kovacic, Pjaca, Zielinski etc. are interesting. The point is that even if we end up signing players who are not huge like Pjaca and Zielinski, at least their talent is something to make us hopeful. But if we end up signing the next Bertolacci's and Kucka's of this world then nothing will change.

Bertolacci is a gamble that is still in play. Let's wait out this season before deciding he's worthless. All talks of Kovacic has died down.

Bacca is turning out into a TV opera.

I'll give you the benefit of a doubt, but I'm very positive Bertolacci is a complete miss. He simply adds to nothing.

Kovačić? Yes, it is a bit troublesome. But the good thing is, I haven't heard any other offer for him came in. So, we'll see.

Oh and can someone enlighten me a explain why we're so eagerly interested in Sosa? The logic in signing Matri or Pavoletti is thin but still there, whereas this particular rumor that appears to linger puzzles me constantly.

Seems like we found our replacement for Bacca in Pavoletti. The deal might, according to MN, include 10M + Suso, but Matri is also in consideration. Way to go, get rid of past baggage, create new one.

Candreva also linked with Milan, while rumors regarding Cuadrado died off along with Kovačić. This is getting better and better...

It’s not about putting too much weight, I know that in most cases nothing comes from a rumour. But when a story seemingly lingers on, there’s usually truth to it. Also, this summer, the usually reliable sources like sky and Gazzatta have been terrible, starting with stories they’re reporting on the sale of the club to transfer market news.

So I’m a bit worried that we’re in mid-july and our only seemingly concrete targets are Zielinski and Sosa. Zielinski is an interesting player but still not going to turn this team around while I honestly do now know who at the club could possibly want Sosa. He was a failure at Napoli and in Spain. The Turkish league is at just about right for his level, so why we are seemingly so interested in taking on even more baggage is beyond me

And tbh, I had high hopes for this summer after that sale was confirmed, but atm it’s looking like the same old story repeating itself


Agreed

This Bacca story is getting irritating tbh. Don’t know what’s wrong with him to want to leave Milan to go to West Ham, at least aim higher and not just go where the cash is.

As for Berto, I honestly don’t know what you could possibly see in him. He’s weak and easily knocked off the ball, has little to no creative vision, is an average passer at best and doesn’t contribute a whole lot defensively either. He’s the definition of below average. I honestly do not know what our management saw in him to make them splash over 25m on this guy, he’s not even worth half of that. I think that should an opportunity to sell him come up, we need to jump on it

Agreed on Berto, also I think we’re mostly just waiting for Real to see what they want to do with him. I wouldn’t be surprised if Galliani and Perex already have some sort of understanding between them


Have no clue. Could be because he had a decent season in Turkey…

Why are we filling up on mediocre strikers? It’s like we’re signing Gilardino over and over again…

As for Candreva, no comment or kurt would immediately jump on me with his stats. But all I have to say is that Lazio want good cash for him, cash he’s not worth

25m isn't it? He's definitely worth that in a World where players who've had one good season are going for 30m+

The Pavoletti rumors have to be a joke. It can't possibly be true. Galliani can't be that stupid. I mean, sure, he's a senile old fool, but he can't be THAT stupid. I just refuse to believe it.

In other news, Besiktas' president said they don't want to sell Sosa.

Will have to respectfully disagree on this one. He's a one dimensional player. Sure he works hard and can deliver good crosses, but he's not worth anywhere near that.

He's the Cerci who never ventured further than he should. And he should really just stay where he is.

Plus he's no spring chicken either. One of his best assets (speed) will only decline as he gets older

Why would it be so hard to believe? Haven't we been over this same old story one too many times now? It's pretty obvious that we'll end up going for him once we sell Bacca. Which will just make it ANOTHER summer of spending half our budget on pointless strikers.

Montella will most likely play with one striker, and atm we have an overload of attackers. Lapadula, Adriano, Bacca (will most likely be sold), Niang, Menez and Matri.

I read that Matri and Suso could be included in the deal for Pavoletti and we'd get him for around 10m.

I think Adriano will also be on his way out and maybe we can get around 8 to 10m for him. Menez will also be sold, most likely. So we'll end up with a pretty mediocre strike force, going by what is being reported.

However, even with all that, I wouldn't be too p!ssed off if we just spend 10m on the attack and heavily invest in midfield.

Atm we can only spend the money we have directly coming in from transfers, so once we sell Bacca, I expect Musacchio and maybe Zielinski as well to be wrapped up

As for the Sosa news, that's good, don't need any more average players to simply make up the numbers

Just read that we parted ways with a few Milan veterans and legends, Mauro Tassotti, Andrea Maldera and Filippo Galli. Sad.

Where is this club going towards? Why does everything have to look this grim?

Only Tassotti and Maldera as far as I can tell. Didn't hear about Galli. The former two have left to join Shevchenko as Ukraine asst. coaches I think.

Yeah, I was wrong about Galli. I think the club should have kept the two at all cost thought.

Looks like Bacca is not going to West Ham. That means everything else is on hold.

Juve have officially signed Benatia on loan for €3 million + €17 million for the right of purchase next summer. And there are widespread rumors that they're going to offer €94 million for Higuain. Not to mention Pjanic and Alves earlier this summer.

So far, our only signings have been Vangioni and Lapadula.

Can we take a moment and think about how extremely far apart we are with Juventus right now. In 2007 we won the Champions League, they just returned from Serie B. Fast-forward almost ten years later and they're dominating Italian football and doing well in Europe, whereas we've become a mid-table level team.

It didn't have to end like this. Curse you Silvio. Curse you Galliani.

All things must end.

I fail to see the logic of this comparison. Firstly, yes the gap is big. But ten years, you make them sound like it's nothing. While in fact this was the crucial transition period for Milan, whereas Calciopoli or no Calciopoli, Juve got demonted to Serie B but their financial structure remained intact.

Milan's problem start with financial matters; it's a combined mismanagement case and case of misfortuned financial transition/restructuring. Sure, Galliani and Berlu take the blame in the end, but the key factor was and always is Finivest.

In the end, we are were we started. Milan got picked up by Berlusconi as a second-tier club ready to join the fate of Torino, Genoa and other old Italian giants. He did what he could and for some decades we fought well, even managed to get the higher ground. But in the end, it was a one man show, a president giving it all to the club, personally or via firms like Finivest. I was bound to end one day.

Juve on the other hand were on top of things way back, since the Agnelli's took over. And they will be, because they virtually have an unlimited supply of money, a dynasty established way back to the roots of Italian Fordism and (third) industrial boom.

They can play their reserve side and save the first team for the CL next season and still walk all over the rest of the league. The gap between them and the rest has just gotten even bigger. If us and Inter don't do something, Serie A will be worse than the French league and the Bundesliga of a few years ago


True, but financial structuring has to be the responsibility of the upper management. And Milan has been mismanaged for years. We can all talk in the most basic terms of how Galliani gave big contracts to player A or B. But it goes deeper than that. The club's financial pediments were simply built on sand from day 1 and as you said, it was bound to collapse with neither Silvio or Galliani having any clue on how to salvage the situation. A situation which has been in an already critical condition since before the CL x-off speaks of was even won.

Fininvest imo don't have much to do with how Galliani and Silvio chose to run the club. Sure they were the ones to tighten the purse strings as the company couldn't afford to keep haemorrhaging a 100m each fiscal year, but what company would? And why were we in such a position to begin with?

I don't think Juve's funds are as endless as you think. But they're run very smartly and they bring in revenue. They had the foresight to build their own stadium before any other Italian side, they've made very smart transfer decisions, they're making even smarter commercial moves nowadays as well and their brand is expanding rapidly

You fail to see the logic of this comparison? We're talking about the two biggest clubs in Italian football history. Forget Inter. It's always been about Milan and Juventus, whether in Italy or in Europe. So, it's pretty logical to compare how mismanagement sunk us to the ground whereas good management led Juventus from Serie B to absolute dominion.

And it's been less than ten years. The real gap started widening when we lost the title to them back in 2012, with each year growing us further and further apart.

And may I say, before Silvio picked us, we had already won 10 scudettos and 2 Champions League titles. We've always been a huge name in Italy, ever since our conception. It's not like Silvio picked us from nowhere and made us big. He simply picked us in a bad moment, which is where are again right now.

You obviously failed to read my point. It hasn't always been Milan vs. Juventus. Milan wasn't just in a bad place before Silvio came along, we entered the final stage of a terminally ill has-been. Yes, surely, we were big and had titles in the past, but the fall could have and would have happened nevertheless.

But you fail to see that Juventus was always the frontrunner in terms of money and management system. Serie B came as a result of corruption and the dubious Calciopoli. But the link between them and FIAT never ceased to exist.

You have to understand how Italy works. It's a very clientele-oriented business environment. The Agnelli's have much more weight then any other family, and that's the main issue here. It's not about trophies and titles, it even isn't about proper management. It's fairly easy to manage a club when you have a background like the Agnelli's, a financial monopoly and ties to God knows who. Hell, the same "senile" management that we now blame for everything managed to do a good job for some decades, yes? How so? Because Berlusconi maintained power over his corporative empire and with his political position. As soon as this started to decline (meaning no background), Milan started to crumble and took a downward spiral. Don't be fooled by Milan's 2012 scudetto. It was by all means a swan song, fulfilled with the last of the remaining senators (Nesta, Seedorf, Pirlo, Abbiati), some good and cheap investements (van Bommel, Zambrotta) and some players that ended up being sold because we couldn't afford keeping them.

My point is: you can shout mismanagement as much as you like. And I agree, Milan got the rough end of the bargain in the end. You can compare Juventus and Milan on footballing terms. But on terms of economic power they were and are lightyears away. Juventus is the sole force in a town dedicated almost exclusively to the industry run by their owners. FIAT is and will remain an Italian stronghold, just like the Agnelli's will keep on being the Italian elite - they did so long before the Berlusconi's earned their first million, long before Milan had some financial forte.

That's not even the point I'm making. I'm referring to glory and success. Before the Berlusconi takeover, Juventus had managed to win only one meager UEFA Cup, whereas we had already achieved two European Cups, two Cup Winners' Cups and the various Intercontinental and Super Cups.

We were far more established on the international scene than Juventus were. Sure, they held domestic supremacy, but don't make it sound like Juventus were the Bayern Munich of Italy, whereas us and Inter were the underdogs trying to keep up.



Ah man, why do you have to make it all so political-oriented. Weight, families, power and so on. What does that amount to when it comes to football? This is a business, and it's fueled by money. And a business needs to be properly managed to be successful and continue being successful.

Berlusconi never stopped spending money for this club. Even when we were struggling in the late 90s/early 00s he still kept spending, and we gradually overcame that difficult period thanks to hiring a good coach and building a successful team. But a point in time arrived when his passion for this club ceased to exist, and Galliani started losing all sense, tarnishing the Milan way of doing things, eventually reducing us to a mockery of what this club once represented.

Yes, money has never been a problem for Juve, but money wasn't a problem for us either in these last 30 years before mismanagement made it so that it is now a big, big problem.