Milan Calciomercato Thread

[Diabolico]

General transfer talk by Galliani, in both its Channel4 and acmilan.com incarnations:

Galliani cautious on signings
Thursday 14 June, 2007
Vice-President Adriano Galliani has confirmed that Milan are interested in some big players but doesn’t want to delude the fans.

The San Siro outfit has been paired with several top footballers over the past weeks, including Samuel Eto’o, Thierry Henry and Ronaldinho, but the official prefers not to create unrealistic expectations.

“We are looking for a striker and a defender,” Galliani told the local network Telelombardia.

“The names have not changed, we are talking about the most important players around, but they belong to the strongest clubs in Europe, who are not keen on letting them go,” added the former Lega Calcio chief.

“I don’t want to delude our fans. It is possible that someone will arrive, but we might also make no new signings, while I can guarantee that all our key players will stay.”

Galliani is sure that none of the current strikers will leave the San Siro and confirmed that Alberto Gilardino will be part of the squad.

Gila caused controversy at the San Siro with a statement announcing he was ready to leave Milan as he felt the club had no faith in him, but those problems now seem to have been ironed out.

“In next season’s Milan there will be Ronaldo, who will also play in the Champions League, Pippo Inzaghi, Alberto Gilardino and Ricardo Oliveira.

“Everything is fine up-front and everything is fine with Gilardino,” concluded the Rossonero.

channel4.com - Football Italia

COMPETITIVE THROUGHOUT
6/13/2007 900 PM
Adriano Galliani presented the Milan Foundation - adidas Cup and medals to Milan's Allievi Nazionali side at the San Siro but also spoke about the club's transfer strategy

MILAN - Adriano Galliani was present at the Milan Foundation - adidas Cup to present the Cup to the winning side and had out the medals to Milan's Allievi Nazionali side, coached by Alberigo Evani, who were fresh from winning their league title. This is what the Rossoneri chief executive had to say:

'The rain has played its part at the San Siro this season and always returns on occasions that count. This evening, as far as the trophy is concerned, has been a great initiative by Milan Foundation. Then it is a pleasure to reward Alberigo Evani's fantastic boys of who have won their league title.'

On the transfer market: 'There is definitely time, there is nothing new. A lot of players continue to speak well about Milan, we have the most titles in Europe and it's clear they inspire to join Milan. As for the situation regarding Alberto Gilardino, it's absolutely not true that he will move to another team. As far as next season goes, none of the top players will leave. We will simply set up a number of loan deals regarding our young interesting players, as has happened with Grimi. It's difficult to set up deals with players in Spain because the gross is different and players in Spain earn 50% net more. We are thinking of having a competitive team that is covered in every role. I can guanrantee the fans that none of the top players of the Champions of Europe will leave but I do not want to create the illusion about new arrivals. Someone could arrive but that's the way it is and anyone who comes to Milan plays for the top sides in Europe.'

A.C. Milan - COMPETITIVE THROUGHOUT

So Grimi will be loaned? I'll create a separate thread for that one, actually...

[barracuda]

Looking for a striker but are not planning to sell any. Looking for a defender but are heavily linked with Emerson....The Galliani mind games continue

[barracuda]

Below a few of my thoughts on the transfer market. I hope I won't bore you to tears

There are several teams in top football that have better squads on paper than Milan. What makes Milan more successful than those, is the club atmosphere and comradery. It’s a team, not a bunch of mercenaries What has greatly helped Milan achieve this team spirit is a transfer strategy focused on Evolution rather than Revolution. (It is notable that Inter had their first taste of success in a long time this season after having the same coach as the year before, which is quite a feat at Inter, and mostly the same core squad).

This Evolution strategy has frustrated a lot of Milanisti. Calls for younger, faster, “better” players come every summer. May I humbly remind everybody though that had the club listened to us, Maldini and Costacurta would have been retired in 2002.

I am not saying that we do not have an aging squad. I am saying that I believe that management have considered the trade-off between age on one side and inexperience (with the Milan system) on the other and have opted to continue to focus on consistency. Pippo is not the youngest or best striker around, Henry is better for sure. But how many CL trophies does Henry have? Terry is surely excellent and Maldini is surely in decline. But who won the CL this season?

Now all player careers come to an end obviously (had my doubts about Costacurta for a while ). So the trick for Milan’s particular team strategy (I call it a team strategy rather than a transfer strategy, as I believe it to encompass more than just transfers) to be successful is to focus on getting the maximum leverage out of the experience in the squad and slowly rotating in 2 quality players per season of which at least one needs to be “young”. In the last few years the “young” purchases would have been Kaka, Gilardino and Gourcuff. Some do not like all of these, but I think it’s fair to say that all are talented and worth the 30m or so in total we paid for them

May I also remind the readership that Milan did invest, with very poor results, in lots of young players in the late 90’s and early in this new decade. Donati, Commandini (despite his two goals in the tennis derby ), Saudati etc etc, weren’t exactly Championship material. Don’t get me wrong, some teams are excellent at finding talent. Milan is not. Milan is however exceptionally good at nurturing talent . Hence I think the current strategy of buying mostly established quality players and getting more out of them than any other team could, is reasonable.

Against this background I’m happy with the bulk of our squad.

Goal keepers:

Dida is simply a Brazilian player. I apologies for stereotyping here, but more often than not Brazilian players are hugely talented but volatile in terms of form/attitude. This may be affordable for attacking players, but hardly for defenders and GKs. On a good day Dida is the best keeper in the world. On a bad day I can do a better job. GK are, different from strikers, judged by their worst days and not their best. My biggest regret in recent years (next to Sheva leaving) is Milan not getting Buffon for Abbiati + cash last season.

Imo Kalac and Storari are fine as backup keepers if the starting keeper was reliable. As he is not, question marks remain on them

Center backs:

Without investments we’ll have 4-5 CBs next year: Maldini, Nesta, Kaladze, Bonera and Simic (who I think is hugely underrated and forgotten). Nesta, Kaladze are not old for CBs, Bonera is youngish. Maldini is on his last leg. Still all 4 are Milan quality imo and I really don’t think we need to invest in a Zapata or Alex this season, but rather next year or in the winter, IF Kaladze is expected to be Nesta’s partner when Maldini can’t play.

Full backs:

The right flank should be well covered by Oddo and Cafu (+Bonera and Simic who can player there to, if needed). On the left flank we have Jankulowski (who played more minutes than any other Milan player this year), Serginho and Kaladze. To me only Kaladze of those is a defender. I like Jankulowski and Serginho a lot, but would prefer them to play in the midfield. It is disappointing that we didn’t get Zambrotta last year when we had a chance. If I was part of management, I’d probably get a new CB and move Kaladze back to the left side of defense and only use Jankulowski as a back-up LB (but obviously play him in the midfield as well). In such a scenario Alex is very high on my list

DMs/CMs:

Seedorf is to me not an effective CM. He always performs better as an AM. So imo we have Pirlo, Gattuso, Ambrosini and Brocchi. That’s too few imo.

However, a bigger problem is Milan’s reliance on Pirlo and the club’s inability to adapt when he is not playing. Pirlo is unique and trying to replace him in that deep playmaker role is close to impossible (Xavi is the only alternative I can think of and I doubt he’d be interested in the Milan bench.) I believe the solution is to play a different system/tactic when Pirlo is not available. 442 or 4231 with two proper DMs are two ideas that could work.

On depth, I believe we need one quality DM this summer to cover for Ambrosini’s likely injuries  and Seedorf’s proposed more advance position. The new player doesn’t have to be world class, just solid. Emerson has been mentioned, had he not been so old I’d be happy with that.

Attacking midfielders:

We have Kaka, Seedorf and Gourcuff. I really think that’s enough both in terms of quality and quantity, if we keep playing 4321 and 4312. However, my preference would be a 433 or a 442 with Kaka on one wing. In such a scenario we would need a proper winger a la Ribery (not sure I like that particular player, but you see what I mean).

Forwards:

Not counting the pill-popping Boriello, Milan has Ronaldo, Inzaghi, Gilardino and Oliveira for next year. In terms of quality and depth I am honestly not concerned. Yes, we over-paid for Oliveira but he is a decent 4th striker. There are however two other concerns; 1) fitness/injuries: Both Ronaldo and Inzaghi are injury prone and 2) type of player: We have 4 prima punta’s, and we need at least one seconda punta.

Given how much we would loose is we sold Oliveira now, my proposal is to loan him out 6 months to a year and then sell him and get a proper class secunda punta now. My first choice would be the fantasy signing of Ronaldinho. He would be perfect for both a 433 and a 4321. After him, I just don’t know. Zlatan was an option last season that wasn’t seized upon. Cassano fits the bill but isn’t exactly stable. Sheva I don’t want back.

I still don’t mind the idea of Ronaldo – Gilardino up front, they did well together the few times they played as Ronaldo created all sorts of spaces for Gila that he normally doesn’t get. But we do need more depth.

Summary:

All in all here’s how I would prioritize the mercato:
1. A quality secunda punta
2. A quality CB, moving Kaladze back to the left wing
3. A good backup/rotating DM


Over and out

[Diabolico]

Boring? Are you kidding me? That's a truly awesome post, and anyone who is bored by it clearly has no taste.

And I was in the middle of formulating a decent reply to it, but then I lost the damn thing. Anyway, I wanted to comment especially on what you said about youth vs. age as it relates to Milan's strategy-- what you said about that was exactly true, and very well-stated. I'm always amazed at how many Milan fans complain endlessly that so-and-so is too old and we should field some kind of all-youth team, as if youth is automatically an ideal in all ways. Really, it's not. It's a trade-off; youth and age both have their own advantages and disadvantages. Neither is ideal, nor even "better".

Don't get me wrong, it's vital that Milan has young players as well-- and we do, which is something that most of the age-complainers forget. But Milan's old players should never be considered an automatic signal that something is wrong. If anything, the fact that we can keep them "well-preserved" for so long, and that they still WANT to play for us so long after they could have retired, and so long after any other club would have shown them the door... that's a sign that something is right.

Those Milan fans who don't understand this-- and they are legion-- either just don't "get" it and/or are going to frustrate themselves to no end in their quest to make Milan into something it's not, and something it won't be in the foreseeable future.

[barracuda]

Knowing that I sound patronizing, but not intending to, I think partly it has to do with how long one has supported the team. Pattern evolve over time. Where some newer fans see Inters strategy as successful (and hence think Milan needs to buy a lot) others, see that Inter is now sucessful because they've become more like Milan, focusing on stability, consistency and evolution.

A couple of Scudetto-less season does not mean our management is crap. We have more CL trophies than any other club in the last 20 years and we are second only to Juve on the Scudetto list for the same period. That's quite an achievement

Now, I'm not always a fan of the decisions made by the management (They made a huge mistake in not reinvesting after the 1999 Scudetto for example, that cost up for several years), but I do think they are competent.

Let's put some faith in the club

[Diabolico]

Again, I completely agree. I don't agree with every decision Milan's management makes either-- as at every club, there have been various missed opportunities and other screw-ups-- but I think it's very fair to say, given the club's record in recent years, that they've gotten a lot more right than they've gotten wrong.

There are always hits and misses, that's completely normal, but from my experience many English-speaking online Milan fans are far too quick to criticize their club (its management as well as its players). I guess it all comes down to a choice. You can be happy that your club's record in the modern period is simply phenomenal, or you can gripe because of a lost opportunity here or there. I'll take the former of the two, personally...

And about the players' ages and such, good point that it could come from how long one has supported the team, but sometimes I also wonder if the supporter's own personal age has something to do with it. I'm not old by any means, but I find that I feel more kindly towards and forgiving of the "old" Milan players than the younger fans usually do. When you're in your teens a 33-year-old Pippo must seem ancient; when you're in your mid-20s, not so much.

[Diabolico]

Atalanta in AC Milan talks for Sammarco
tribalfooball.com - June 17, 2007

New Atalanta coach Luigi del Neri is chasing AC Milan midfielder Paolo Sammarco.

Atalanta are locked in talks with Milan over a loan deal for Sammarco, who is also wanted by Sampdoria.

tribalfootball.com - Atalanta in AC Milan talks for Sammarco

AC Milan back Gourcuff over Edmilson
tribalfooball.com - June 17, 2007

AC Milan management are backing Yoann Gourcuff for next season.

The French youngster is regarded as Andrea Pirlo's understudy and it's emerged that Milan directors, after meeting last week, chose to place in their faith in the midfield schemer ahead of moving for Barcelona's Edmilson.

tribalfootball.com - AC Milan back Gourcuff over Edmilson

Nice about Gourcuff, good for him.

[D-Kin]

Sammarco is decent, he's done well for Chievo these past couple of season.

He's not good enough for Milan though.

[barracuda]

Different from many, I would be very happy if we don't get another midfield IF it means Gourcuff gets a fair chance at playing regularely.

[Diabolico]

CO-OWNERSHIP RESOLVED
6/20/2007
MILAN - On the last day to resolve the co-ownership of players, Milan brought back Luca Antonini, Salvatore Ferraro, Machado Dos Santos, Roberto Massaro and Giuseppe Ticli. Renewed with Inter for Toma Ronny Diuk, Marco Varaldi e Luca Ceccarelli; with Triestina for Mattia Graffiedi; with Samp for Kalu Ikechukwu; with Empoli for Nicola Pozzi.

AC MILAN - Sito Ufficiale - Official Website

This isn't very clear, but I guess it means we now have full ownership of the players in the first sentence, and will continue with our co-ownership of the players in the second sentence.

[Aladino]

I am sure i heard a whisper of a rumour on Luca Antonini, coming to milan. hmm. I could be wrong.

Strange about Pozzi though, I thought Milan woudl want him

[Daniel24]

Madrid Real: Kaká can be reinforcement
The future of Kaká continues to be an incognito, but the existence of a proposal on the part of the Madrid Real is confirmed to the Milan for the acquisition of the Brazilian medium. The assessor of information of the player, Diogo Kotscho, declared public: "Kaká does not discard the possibility to move to the Real and I also do not place of part that in the next year it plays there. He will be very happy in such a way in Madrid as in the Milan ", and added: "If the transference if to materialize will be most expensive of the history of the soccer. The proposal of the Madrid is very good in such a way for the Milan as for the Kaká. It was very happy with the interest of the Real. He can be that up to 31 of August we will be to know if Kaká will play or not in the Madrid Real ". Despite the date of 31 of August presented for Kotscho, it is probable that Kaká defines its future well before, since the return to the works of the breeding of the Milan is marked for 20 of July.

Real Madrid: Kaká pode ser reforço :: zerozero.pt

[Diabolico]

AC Milan ask Inter for Samuel, Adriano in 'peace talks'
tribalfooball.com - June 24, 2007

AC Milan are in talks with Inter over defender Walter Samuel.

The Argentina international could be the first move to mending the rift between the two clubs over the David Suazo affair after 'peace talks' were held on Friday.

Milan have asked about Samuel's situation and Inter are ready to negotiate with the veteran well down on the defensive pecking order in coach Roberto Mancini's plans. The Rossoneri have also made enquiries about Adriano's availability.

tribalfootball.com - AC Milan ask Inter for Samuel, Adriano in 'peace talks'

Samuel isn't a bad idea, if the price is right. Adriano... not sure about that. If we're going for yet another "rehab case" striker, I'd rather Cassano. I guess Adriano could be a decent partner for Gila though, since they've played together before at Parma.

The problem with Adriano, though, is that he has already been struggling in Serie A with a good team, it's not like he's failing to make it in another league (Cassano) or has been stuck in some low-table Serie A club with no opportunity to display his full potential. I believe that he CAN be rehabilitated, but is this a case we want to take on right now?