Should Silvio Berlusconi sell the club? would you mind owners like man city have?

Something like THIS would have been awsome :D

Nah, I really wouldn't like a foreign billionaire to come in and buy the club. With rare exceptions (Villa's Randy Lerner being one of those), they throw money at the club which inflates the prices of players and that's not good for all the clubs that are struggling - in any league. Other foreign leaders come in and leverage the club when they buy it so the club's in hundreds of millions of debt. (ie, Manchester United or Liverpool).

Would I mind someone like the guy who owns Ferrero chocolates buying? Not at all. I'd just prefer it to be local ownership.

I'm not too bothered where they come from so long as they have the teams best interests in front of their own. Not having a huge debt would be nice too.

+1

I would rather have someone who has Milan's best interest at heart though rather than someone just trying to make money out of the club.

He just wants money and win the Scudetto and by winning it, comes money..
He wants to earn more money then spend. And It would be better with someone that wants The best for MiLan and the players

I don't think he wants to earn money. He hasn't taken a single penny out of the club. Milan's profit in the CL winning season was a grand total of 1 million euros.

I think Silvio just doesn't want to keep putting money in, every season, like Moratti.

I don't really care about that, Milan cannot be self sufficient, EVER. Not in the league and times we're in. We're always going to end up in the red at the end of the year, no club is self sufficient. If Sivio wants to make money then he should invest in something else, not a football club.

If this continues I can see us become a midtable team in a few years time. If Silvio is tired of putting in money into the club he should sell up to someone that is willing to do it. The only reason he doesn't do this is because he's an @sshole and because Milan is a political tool for him. But the longer he's going to let the club plummit the tool that he's been using for years now will turn against him.

He won't let us plummet. It's quite easy to keep us just about there..without spending significant amounts of cash. And one of the seasons we'd get lucky and win something. Kind of like what Arsenal are doing now.

Arsenal will not win anything... if we are in the same situation we won't win anything either.

To be fair,without injuries, I think Arsenal would be doing a lot better this season especially. And Silvio does occasionally invest 'flashy', like R80. They've still got the easiest fixture compared to the rest of the teams.

Every team has injuries and the only one that really hurts them is van Persie's whom as much as I like I don't expect to stay fit for a whole season...

I don't think any team in any league can be self sufficient. Running a football club is a losing bisuness and people would be mad to take it on.

Agreed, but looking at the figures the EPL clubs and Barca and Real earn for the TV rights it's even more difficuilt for the Italian teams, not to mention the fact that the clubs don't own their own stadiums and the high taxes

Yes it's certainly harder in Italian football.

Looking at it we're probably being a bit harsh on Silvio. I'm sure he has to put in an awful lot of money into the club just to keep it out of debt.

Seems like TV rights is the key to turning profit as a large team in sports today. That's the formula of the New York Yankees, the only American sports team that can be realistically compared to a superclub like Man U or Real. On paper, the Yankees lose money, but when the TV is factored in, they turn a significant profit.

We are. A part of it, is because of what Moratti is doing/has done at present/over the last 5 years. It shows Silvio in harsh light.

And, besides sponsorship, it's hard to bring in any other investment, because there are very few returns in Serie A.

We're one of the best run clubs in football...no question. We're just about 50 million short on cash every year, and I don't think it's fair to expect Silvio to put in that money year on year.

If we were playing in the EPL, with Silvio, Galliani and their management team, we'd be head and shoulders above the rest. I'm not even going to talk about La Liga.

I can't agree there to be honest. I don't think we are managed well overall. Keeping a club out of debt is what is expected, that's the norm, we're a very average run club.

15 years ago, maybe. But not anymore. Then you have no well run clubs among the top teams. In fact they're all pathetically run.

The management has been doing well over the years but lets not ignore the fact that while they are good at attracting sponsors and creating revenue generating oppurtunities in the season by loan deals like Beckham and travelling to the USA/Dubia etc; they are very poor in the transfer market.


Lets look at some deals in the last 5 years that were just outright stupid:


Gourcuff: Signed at the age of 20 for 3 M euros. Stayed in Milan for 2 years and at the age of 22 was loaned out to Bourdeax for "to get more playing time" as galliani said. If were loaning him to get more playing experience, why in the hell did we attach a 15 M buyout clause on his head?

Overall: Great deal, great scouting but poor decision making.




Oliveira: Signed at the age of 26 for 18 M euros. Stayed on season and was loaned to zaragoza and then eventually bought by them for 10M euros.

Overall: If were going to spend 18M to sign somebody, he better damn well be sticking around for more than 1 season.



Emerson: Transfered from Real madrid for approx fee of around 5-8 M euros. Stayed on for 2 years and recieved limited time. We eventually terminated his contract.

Overall: Was this transfer really necessary? Waste of money if you ask me.






These are some of the deals that come to mind and i'm sure there are alot more examples.


Furthermore lets not forget the extention of the oldies. That debt alone was probably the reason Kaka was sold.

Well, the source of clubs revenues is very different in Italy than it is in Spain, England or Germany. I n those countries, the income from tickets, sponsoring and TV rights are very well balanced, while in Italy over 60% of the leagues income comes from selling TV rights, which is not very healthy tbh. The entire leagues suffers from a bad image abroad AND at home. The reputation of Serie A stadiums is so bad that many Italians prefer to stay at hhome rather than to watch a football match live. This will, in the log run, ruin Serie A, as it takes a decent source of income and will further damage Serie As reputation.

Actually according to the last financial statement I read, Lapalma, the income was roughtly in thirds between tv revenue, tickets, and marketing (jerseys, etc).

Was that statement on AC Milan or Serie A? Cause, the numbers I had were on the entire league.

That was AC Milan's 2008 audit.

Exactly what I'm saying. If he's tired of it, sell up, nobody s forcing him to keep the club

Nobody in Italy wants to buy a club I think. It's just too much of a money drain. And a non-Italian wouldn't be welcomed at all.

You don't really know that since there aren't any foreign owners yet. I think everyone would learn to accept it over time. This backwards thinking is what's taken Italy from the pinnacle of football to barely clinging on as one of the top 3 leagues in Europe.

There would be plenty of foreign investors willing to buy a chunk of Milan, but Silvio is too pig headed to give up any ammount of control.

I already see the cycle turning. The EPL is rolling back now. The clubs there are a right mess. La Liga's time will be up. Madrid and Barca alone cannot carry that league. I reckon even if things stay as they are in 5 years Serie A will be back top.

Can't see it. The German and French leagues have improved a lot over the past few years.

English teams are built on depth and that's what they'll continue to do as it has worked out for them, and I can't see the bubble bursting anytime soon. And the Spanish league has always been mainly about Real and Barca, sure there was the years when Valencia took the title by surprise, but mostly it's always been those big 2.

Italian football has been at a standstill for years now, and they don't seem to want to improve things. Italians don't like change and I can't see any big change coming that can truly jump start the league again. Our president is a prime example of this.

Silvio doesn't care about Milan, never has, the only reason he pumped in the millions before is because he's no idiot. Milan was always his ticket for political success, now that he has that he doesn't see any reason as to why he should keep pumping money into the bottomless pit that is a football club

Can't agree on this. EPL is still a very strong league in financial terms, although the clubs debt is a heavy burden. They still have the advantage of the english language which makes marketing a lot easier for EPL. La Liga will also stay on top as Barca and Real will never go bankrupt no matter what they do.
Also, han is right when he says that Ligue 1 and Bundesliga improved in the past 5,6 years.
And I'd be interested in the reason for your optimism in Serie A. If things stay as they are Serie As situation won't be any better in 5 years than it is now. They way back to the top is not the fall of others but the rise of Serie A itself. Can't see much of this right now.

The EPL's rise has been to a large extent based on the influx of stars after paying huge fees financed by debts. That option no longer exists. The demise of Portsmouth and the hesitancy of investing money in sports franchises due to the recent downturn, means this USP is heavily hit.

Already Barca have beaten Man U to become every neutral's favourite club and all Man U have done was sell Ronaldo. No one speaks of Chelsea the way they used to. Chelsea have become less newsworthy. Man City? I doubt it. Liverpool have humilated themselves, and Arsenal continue to be Arsenal.

La Liga, the mountain of debt is huge. Real and Barca might not bankrupt themselves but at some point will have to stop the mega spending.

Bundesliga and Ligue 1 have come up in bounds but as of now, the Serie A still remains the choice for most players if they had to choose between the three. But the Bundesliga remains Bayern Munich and a lot of other clubs always changing, while the Ligue 1 have had a semi-final entry for the first time in quite some time. I don't see it lasting.

I'm optimistic coz of the clubs we have in Serie A right now. It's only Milan who're really weakened. Inter are Inter. Juve I think have painted themselves into a corner forcing them with no option but to challenge hard next season. The Viola, Genoa, Palermo are amongst the most ambitious clubs in Europe.

It's only dear Milan, who fall back on the 'we will always challenge' excuse.

Is it me or does Berlu talk like a retard sometimes?

He isn't talking like a retard. He's talking like you'd expect a normal fan who has no call in the club running to talk. But that's not Silvio's role is it?

@ Jackie, if Italy's mid-table teams are so ambitious, then how come we rarely ever have any teams in the latter stages of the UEFA Cup/Europa League?

The German and Spanish and even English teams have always done a lot better then the Italians, it's why we've slipped so far down in the rankings and why we might see our 4th spot gone in a few years time

I'm talking of the present. We're doing rather nicely,I think.

Don't you remember that Fiorentina deserved to go the next stage and since it face Bayer that won Man u,their was a chance that Fiorentina wins Man u and than Lyon,I know I'm assuming but their was a probabiltiy that a mid table to reach at least the quarter final.

Ironically, we would score more goals if he splashed some cash and bought us a top class striker. Unfortunately it is easier to criticize.

The EPL has more debts than the the 3 other top leauges in europe put togehter thats unsustainable and with the portsmouth situation maybe just the start.

as for La Liga yes to big 2 dominate but the rest i believe are stronger than their counterparts in the EPL imo

Hmh, Pietro Ferrero, the guy mentioned as a possible candidate to buy Milan died yesterday in South Africa of a heart attack. Sad

RIP. Used to be a sucker for their product "Nutella", still enjoy that a lot.

Well, not to speak ill of the dead but I'm glad he didn't buy Milan only to die a few years later. but the Ferrero products rule so, respect.

EDIT: Oops, he's alive Fillipo?! I'm pretty sure the person who wanted to buy Milan was Michele Ferrero, Itay's Richest person. it's his son, Pietro Ferrero Jr. who has just died.

As I read that a few years ago, Michele was supposed to buy the club for his son. I'm pretty much sure he'd let his son do the business.

As is that so? anyway, I miss the days we would bash Silvio 24/7 for all of our problems... now a Scudetto and Silvio is suddenly the good man again. even though I can't see where he should get credit. it's all about Galliani being a genius at what he does.

What?

Well, as if Galliani did not get the bashing on this board as well. Calling him a genious is pretty new here, just think in reverse for a moment.

Yep, no matter what they do .. They wont get credit. They take this club from the brink of bankruptcy and perfect it to being the #1 club in the world, yet that doesn't matter.

Had Silvio not bought this club and it ended up long lost in Serie C ... I wonder

Not much help from google, so I'll ask here. Anyone know what he paid to purchase the club back in the 80s?

It was £9 million total, £6 millions for Giuseppe Farina's sharehold and £3 million immideatly invested in the club.

That amount was worth more back then but I think he'd still call it peanuts.

Quite true. I reckon this would be closer to say 30 million euros in today's money, which is very much a steal for a club of our stature. And no, we didn't have oodles and oodles of trophies back then, but still a decent enough history. I guess it was the desperate and distressed situation that resulted in the sale.

Still, few can deny that he did invest quite nicely, and Galliani too, played his part. My problem a couple of years back was not that, but the fact that B&G could have destroyed the castle the built with their own hands. And really, another year or two of no solid signings, and we could have been staring at a Juve/Roma situation, and struggling to make Europe once again. Luckily it was not to be, and some timely buys, and great deals changed the winds in our favor!

I believe it is is obvious why the club didn't reinvest in recent years, at the same time I am very amazed at the recent transfer windows. Juve & Roma have managerial problems on an executive level, Milan on the other hand are stable in that respect ... Silvio, despite all his negative aspects, is a man with a vision. He wont allow Milan to fall, for him this club is more than just a publicity stunt. He is a Milan fan, Jack Sparrow in disguise