Welcome to Nigel de Jong!

Welcome indeed. Wishing him the best with us.

Surprisingly excited about this one. And how did we get him for such a killer deal!

If he can shield our defence and spray simple passes it will be great.

In fact if we had much better full backs I would have said we are true scudetto challengers.

well... at least he's Dutch!

Emerson mark 2.

Already called up for tomorrow, but Allegri said he'll start from the bench. Also, he chose shirt #34, which looks fugly!

De Jong: "Milan is a great club. I was very excited to be in the trophy room at Via Turati earlier today."

Nice one

They better kiss and make up

Well, it certainly is much richer from ManCity's trophy room.

Hypocrite. Wasn't he the same guy who outright rejected us a few months/year back. He probably was looking to make a move to another big club (that was probably not Italian). And here we are now. Oh well, welcome, anyway!

He did? I don't remember us ever being linked with De Jong before.

Very disappointed.

As for Galliani's "best player maker in front of defense" comment, does he even watch football?

For more things you'll only see and not experience check National Geographic!

I don't remember such thing either. even if he did that'd not make him a hypocrite in my eyes. we have to accept the Italian football is not in a good situation at all. it's natural Spain and England are most players' priority.

Yeah, there were minor talks, I think last year. Heck, the guy was valuated 10 million at that time (before he said no to Milan), and look what we got him for now. Dirty player he is, but nevertheless we do need someone experienced like him to provide some stability in front of the defense. Best of luck to him, hopefully he can fit right in.


Hypocrite was a sarcastic remark from me. Believe me, I've seen far worse. Politicians, anyone?! But nevertheless, there isn't much room to deny that Italian football isn't doing great. And likewise, there is little room to deny that there probably weren't much clubs interested in the guy either. Big ones, I mean.

But hey, it's hard to expect Bommels every transfer window - even though I was the only guy that was ecstatic when we signed him. De Jong is a totally different animal, but like I said, a much needed one. Even though I still believe we should have forked the bill for Stootman. Every sane person was pushing him our way.

A player in a position we desperately needed and for peanuts. Yes, he had a bad year, but in 2010-11 he was o.k +. I think the pace of Serie A will suit him more and he'll be good for us. Good signing.

I still don't know how Fester did this.

3.5 million (not incl. bonuses) with a salary of 2.5 million??!! No shite, I would say De Jong's market value is more like 10MM with a 3.5 MM wage.

You know what this means?? That Mexes is our most earning player!!!

3.5m pounds is mostly because his contract was ending in a year.

Mexes, Robinho and Pato, right? I hope Allegri gives Mexes a fair treatment, so he can become our key defender (hopefully along Zapata) especially because he is our best ball-playing central defender now Thiago Silva has left. Robinho is a key player for our attacks, especially after the departures, and when fit Pato should be a key player too, so nothing wrong with them being the biggest earners. Obviously they have to show it this season though.

My question would be more along Mexes. The other two are fine. Mexes is someone who I've never rated beyond a B+ grading.

He has skills, but he loses concentration far too often and also makes rash tackles. Not the man I'd trust to lead my defence. But well...we're screwed is what we are at the moment so....

Forget about the leading a defense part. Mexes should be the stopper, with Zapata as cover. That should work. Important is to have a right combination. Hopefully someone can lead others vocally though, or maybe Abbiati?

I agree with you. And he's unreliable, very injury prone.

Because of his recent long term injury he now is seen as very injury prone?

Let's give him a chance. He had to start his first Milan season recovering from a long term injury. I first want to see how his appearances are this season, before calling him unreliable or very injury prone. We have very injury prone players, hopefully Mexes is not one of them. And I'm not denying his lack of concentration at times, and thus his mistakes, but I want him given a fair chance now, and then everything may be not that bad.

Why, Bonera and Yepes are more suitable at leading our defense? Mexes is by far our best CB at the moment. He might not be a leader, and he might make mistakes from time to time, but who doesn't? Last time I heard, a very inconsistent defender by the name of Pique was labeled as best CB in the world.

I'm sure that when Mexes is fully fit, he'll be playing.

Because he had much injuries prior to joining Milan as well.

He can get a chance, hell, with our disastrous defense - he'll be a sure starter. But is he the really class we need? No.

He's the best we can afford, and we should feel lucky we have him. Look at the names around him: Bonera, Yepes, Acerbi, Zapata. None of them come even close to Mexes.

I know. Still, he isn't beyond criticism, like Nesta or Thiago.

he seriously looks like one of the twins from breaking bad.

We'll see.

Stop hatin.

There's no hate, just disbelief and knowledge.

Lots of praises for his game last night from the Italian press.

Well, he does deserve some of it. He really was overall and did many good things, mostly denying Marchisio and Pirlo space to create. Good match.

I think he was great and the fact that I see him and Monto working together so well is even more important. And just goes to show how important it is to have a set starting 11 as this not only applies to the CB pairing but the midfielders and the front 3

Yeah. And we might just have solved the Noce and Boateng problem. :-) I would admittedly like someone a lot stronger on the right wing. Like a left footed SES or something.

Really rated de Jong and was delighted we signed him. For me he's justified the fee and while not the world's best in his position, is a fine player who does an excellent job for us.

He should be one of the first names on the sheet every match.

He's been better than expected, but that's not saying much. Even Montolivo wins the ball back more than him still. Would definitely look for an upgrade in the summer for someone more mobile.

Strootman!

Is he really that good? I don't think I've ever seen him play.

From what I've seen on YouTube, he is. But besides that, I've read various articles which really hype the guy.

Is he playing for Holland?

No idea.

He did play a few games. He wasn't terribly impressive. He'll probably grow into the NT setup.

Strootman's name is fancy and all.But, I still have to see him play games before judging he'd be a good potential buy for us.For the present, De Jong is doing a good job claiming the DM spot his.I'm seeing gradual improvement since day 1 and have reasons to be hopeful about him.

Wanted by Man U, wants to go to the Premier League. Don't think it'll happen anyway.

+1