Yes, but he was valued 3M, hence why Tonali's price was lowered from 10M to 7M.



Didn't watch the game, but yeah, I also think we should keep him.

Could be another Locatelli. I think we should keep him and give him a more serious try.

Official: Brahim has taken #10. Not too fond of that decision.

Doesn't really matter though. A number is just that. #10 was occupied by players like Prince and Honda in the recent past and Hakan is not exactly a star player either.

I'm happy with this deal though. Really like Brahim, I think he's got immense potential and with a whole Serie A season under his belt I'm expecting even more this season

Agreed. I don't want to see us repeating the same mistakes. Locatelli was a a very particular case though. It happened between ownership transitions as well. I still don't see where he'd fit into our first 11 though. But that 40m would be sweet for us right about now...

#10 is about the only number that matters in football, and it should be given to a starter.

Here's a question: if we could sign only one player between AM and RW, would you guys prefer:

AM Brahim and RW new quality signing

or

AM new quality signing and RW Saelemaekers?

Yet, if you look at Hakan's stats it's all but what you said:
Boban (91-01) - 251 apps, 30 goals, 35 assists
Rui Costa (01-06) - 192 apps, 11 goals, 47 assists
Seedorf (06-12) - 241 apps, 40 goals, 40 assists
Boateng (12-14) - 39 apps, 5 goals, 7 assists
Honda (14-17) - 92 apps, 11 goals, 16 assists
Hakan (17-21) - 172 apps, 32 goals, 48 assists

This of course is why stats don't tell you the whole story, but anyway. I think Hakan was a very good player and did well for us.


Very much the same is happening here bar the change of management. Pobega does not ideally fit into our system of play, just like Locatelli.


I'm sure Diaz will start the season as a first XI pick, and will then slowly (or rapidly) fade back to a bench player.

But shirt numbers are really just shirt numbers.

Look we managed to get 2nd last season with only Alexis.

I think Diaz is inadequate and will get destroyed by stronger and physically demanding opposition. So the answer to your question is for me undiskutable - we need an AM first.

I agree with your assessment of Diaz. He's a great utility player to have around, but he can't be our starting AM. However, I feel the same way about Saelemaekers. Hence, why we need both an AM and a RW.

But insofar, Maldini seems to have abandoned the RW necessity altogether. The newspapers don't talk about it either. I swear, if we start next season again with Alexis and Barbie, it's going to be a massive disappointment.

Yes, agreed. But I think it will happen, just that we need to offload some players first.

Also, for the sole system Pioli deploys, the AM position is more crucial.

And yesterday we got linked with Insigne again. Whereas Vla?ić is versatile enough to play both AM and RW.

Can't believe the traitor has more assists than Rui Costa. But a lot of those came from corners and free kicks, like last season. Out of his 10 assists, 6 or 7 came from stopped play.

He was a brutal force from free kicks (well, we can't remember now if maybe Rui or Boban made the same amount of assists from dead balls) and that makes me worry. We scored so many important goals from corners and set pieces.

But yes, the stats really shocked me.

AM all the way imo

The AM is crucial to our system. And it has to be someone like Vlasic or Sabitzer. It cannot be a James type imo


Well I know how crucial Hakan was. That's why I was advocating for us to keep him. But over all, you have to admit that he has been mostly disappointing throughout his time with us. And it's clear he wanted to leave because he did not feel wanted enough at Milan. So that's that.

As x-off mentioned, most of his assists were coming in from dead ball situations. And we need to try to replace that is some way next season because no one is as good as he was in those situations

Despite everything, I'm happy Hakan left. I never really valued him. His inconsistency and inability to step up in big games were big negatives. His vision was mediocre, his passing was just OK, his dribbling ability was pitiful.

Yes, I know his stats were great, and I know it opened up a big hole for us to fill, but maybe that's all for the better cos we're obligated to sign a quality replacement now.

In other news, I heard we've made an official offer of about 6-7 for Kaio Jorge to get him immediately. I hope we get him.