Milan's Transferseason round-up

[KAKA#22]

Is it just me or is all milan fans feeling like they are being short changed by our management? I have always stood by our management and the way they conduct their transfer policy but the only time these days we seem to go after any significant players is when we are pushed to breaking point.

I mean last season we knew we had to replace shevchenko our star striker for the past seven seasons and we waited till the last few days of the market and what were we left with Oliviera... i mean he aint terrible but he was not in the same class as shevchenko at that point, and a team like milan should be thinking that if we allow a star player to leave we need to fill their place with someone of the same quality.

So we are european champions and as of yet we have had no confirmation of any new arrivals to the squad, last season showed we lacked any depth we had in previous seasons and only when we got a few players injured our management realised that our squad wasn`t as good as we thought and bought a few crucial players in january that boosted our game and morale.

So on to this season we all know we need a few new faces to replace and backup the squad we have just now, last year was evident that we need another world class striker to partner ronaldo and gila, also if we were to take kaka out of our team we have no natural replacement other than gourcuff who ancelotti needs to show more confidence in as there is no doubt he has talent, the reason why kaka wasn`t as good in serie a as in the champions league as he must have been knackered, he practically played every game last year and barely had any rest, he was our main attacking force for virtually the whole season and more or less won us the european cup himself.

We also can see that pirlo and seedorf need some competition for their places as they only started playing decent toward the end of the season as they knew that no matter how badly they played they would be in the team as milan had no alternatives for their positions. And defensively we need a few adjusments mainly the full backs as oddo and janku need solid back ups as they give us our attacking force from the flanks, as cafu and serghino are more or less retired. If we look at the other big teams around europe they are all reinforcing their sides for the new season and i think that these teams see milans lack of interest in the market as a weakness and a lack of ambition and currently all the decent players we should be going after are being picked up by other clubs.

I really hope i`m wrong and that berlusconi and galliani have already lined up players but i feel if we want player we should be direct and go and get them rather than wait to see if we can get them on the cheap, i mean we aint a poor club! lets start to show the rest in europe we mean business this year!!! forza milan

 

[acerвιc wιт]

^Did you also hear about this thing called the Calciopoli scandal last season?

 

[samir10]

I agree with you with almost everything, but I reckon galliani will land few quality players, cassano maybe. and yes, we need to find good replacement for pirlo (gourcuff can be good substitute for him but he needs more time to adapt and to gain experience, his time will come) and seedorf because they can play good or bad, it doesn`t matter cause there are no other options.
Best!

 

[KAKA#22]

^Did you also hear about this thing called the Calciopoli scandal last season?

I agree with you, yes that set us back massively last year but that still did not excuse our managment from signing practically knowone. There were plenty of players who would have came to milan last season (champions league or not) it was our lack of going out and getting them rather than saying our squad is fine etc, you can`t let players like shevchenko, stam, rui costa, vogel etc leave and replace them with knowone and we payed for that in serie a last year when we got injuries and had knowone of any quality to come to the team.

I mean the only player we went to get last summer was a half baked attempt to sign ronaldo and madrid wanted 10-15million for him and we refused to pay it, fair enough i think that was a bit much considering the form he was in but ronaldo and sheva in terms of goalscoring ability are very much equal and we should have paid it as we had 30 million from shevas sale to chelsea. I think if we signed him last summer we would have had a better season and played better football as well, but we ended up leaving buying a striker to the last few days of the window and we paid over the odds for oliviera as the clubs knew we were desperate for a striker and could charge us whatever they wanted, and we ended up paying something like 12 million plus vogel for him and look what happened.

All i`m saying is we need to be more ruthless in the transfer market when we want players and get them first to show that milan is a club who all the top players want to play for otherwise players like kaka will see milans lack of moving forward as a step to distance himself from our club as we ain`t improving on our sucess already. Ciao

 

[acerвιc wιт]

Well it's harsh to say that. I suppose you could come to the conclusion that signing the big names doesn't always bring you glory, KAKA#22. As we witnessed last season with Milan lifting the UCL trophy. Though I can see what you mean, us as tifosi expect big names and well rightly so... we are the most pretigious European club around and a veces we gurantee a big star name. TBH I'd prefer players in areas that last season we struggled to fill e.g. would be the LB position. In the absence of Paolo, after converting from a LB to CB, we've had numerous options in place: Kaladze, Bonera, Jankulovski, Pancaro, Favalli, Serginho to name a couple have tried but haven't really established themselves as a first choice. First it was our RB. We have now filled that void with Oddo. I'm positive our management is doing what they feel is right... I mean it has stood the test of time considering we are the most successful club over the past 20 years, under their guidance. People just need to be patient. We have still just under 2 months to sign players and I personally don't see the rush. As we all are aware of many crazy things happen during the Summer transfer window.

 

[SouthClaw]

i don't give a damn if the transfer campaign looks pretty or not. That's the difference between us and Real. Milan winning is all that matters. Last years squad was a good squad. The injuries at the start of the season were the reason we fell so far back on serie A.

 

[takahan]

All i`m saying is we need to be more ruthless in the transfer market when we want players and get them first to show that milan is a club who all the top players want to play for otherwise players like kaka will see milans lack of moving forward as a step to distance himself from our club as we ain`t improving on our sucess already. Ciao

On the other hands our player will feel more secure with Milan.
Just because we do not spend money on transfer doesn't means we will be weak.
In fact I see it as an advantage to us too.
Inter and Bayern will need some time for their new star players to settle down.

 

[Italian Tsar]

I don't think we'll sign a centre-back this summer. Nor a LB. From Ancelotti & Galliani's comments we gather that Gorucuff will be expected to bear defensive duties next season. I think the management recognises that we don't have a replacement for Pirlo - and for some positions you simply don't; you merely change the way you play - so young Yoann will probably be allowed to explore his creativity in Pirlo's role next season.

Considering we'll quite certainly land a striker by the end of the summer, the only position that we don't - theoretically at least - have a replacement for is Kaka's. Ancelotti himself commented that the only player who's "100% sure" of being picked is Kaka - never an ideal situation to be in. God, how we miss Rui.

My belief that we won't sign a CB this summer stems from the knowledge that our management is unlikely to desert a quality that has nourished Milan over the last two decades - continuity. With Maldini deciding to play on for one more season and Kaladze apparently convinced to stay - for the next season at least - there is simply no room for another CB. Yes, Billy has gone but we still have Bonera and Simic.

Moreover, if we're to sign a CB this season, it'll have to be a token player. For, if it happens to be someone like Marquez, he'll expect a place in the starting line-up, which we can't give if Paolo & Nesta are fit, so he'll have to be the 2nd option, which will rightfully enrage Kala. Whereas, if we sign a CB next season, when Capitano hangs up his boots, we'll have a genuine vacancy at CB and we can proceed with signing a quality player. I personally don't think Kala is good enough to start every game for Milan - but I fear that's exactly what he's been promised by the management the season after Maldini retires. Then we might see Kala leave, but that's for next summer. As of now, I don't see anyone coming.

LB is a slightly different issue. Maldini, though prone to the odd, uncharacteristic error last season at centre-back, was still more than good enough to command a place in the XI on the back of his performance. Not Janku. Nor, for that matter, Favalli, Serginho or ....er, Grimi. For most of the season, Janku operated more as a marauding wing-back than as an orthodox LB. Which is fair enough, considering our formation, lacking genuine wingers, necessitates full-backs to consistently venture forward to give the team width.

The sore point is Janku's defensive abilities. Oddo, though he has much work to do on his crossing, was effective both going forward and was a significant presence at the back in his wing when needed. Janku lacks his physicality. But all said and done, Oddo is a genuine right-back while Janku has been improvised as one.

That's why I think the team will give him more time to work on his defensive side. He's shown he's more than capable when going forward, so I think it is only fair that we give him the time to improve the defensive area of his game as well.

 

[teis]

If we get Cassano or Shevchenko I will be satisfied. We don't need other players.


I wouldn't mind a new midfielder as sub for Pirlo but we don't need him. Seedorf can play there, and it seems they're training Gourcuff to play there too. And we have Jankulovski and Favalli as LBs. Maldini and Kaladze can also play there. So we don't need another LB. We also don't need another CB.

I wouldn't mind Zambrotta, but once again we don't have to get him. What we could use is a RB to start.

 

[gahanthegod]

We need reinforcements in every area of defence + a forward.
But it's impossible for a club like Milan to get all of them. I think we'll get at most 2 of those 4 areas.

 

[Edi]

The sore point is Janku's defensive abilities.
He's shown he's more than capable when going forward, so I think it is only fair that we give him the time to improve the defensive area of his game as well.

You know thats why I like if we could get another left back with good defensive abilities.I like left/right backs that can first defend and then attack...

 

[albion tifo]

You know thats why I like if we could get another left back with good defensive abilities.I like left/right backs that can first defend and then attack...

Zambrotta is perfect for both positions with good defensive abilities but we aren't even asking for him.

 

[Passion for *9*]

Our transfer campaigns suck.

We won't sign decent players because of Milan's policy of 1) overprotecting the elderly or kissing up to the 'senatori' - whatever you prefer, 2) our inability to attract players of a certain status (retirement home image). We're not the cool + happening club, our trophies attract dust but not players. Spare me the drivel about fiscal laws. Even Drogba wouldn't join us because we're such a fantastic club, but because it would be less of a hassle to bang Canalis

As for not needing reinforcements... LOL 45 min of decent football (none of it in the final) won us the CL. We rode our luck there but Serie A was the real benchmark + we ended up humiliated by Inter + Roma. Spare me the drivel + excuses about 'injuries'... LOL.. that bullshit has stopped flying long ago

 

[KakatheSublime]

I don't know, but I am not too disappointed, yet. Remember, the signing of Ronaldo and Oddo did wonders for the CL campaign last year. Sometimes it is not about signing the big names (just ask Chelsea and Real). Sometimes it is about getting the right player in the right situation. Yup, it woulda been nice to see E'to, Ronaldinho, Sheva, et al. in Red and Black, but I wonder if that is what the team really needs.

I am not sure I would trust Cassano. I think Zambrotta would be a good pick up. I also like Mexes. I don't think either one of those players will join ACM this year. We will just have to wait and see what shakes out.

I am more concnerned with the fact that ACM's youth do not seem to be at the top levels (e.g. U20 or U21 national teams).

 

[KAKA#22]

Our transfer campaigns suck.

We won't sign decent players because of Milan's policy of 1) overprotecting the elderly or kissing up to the 'senatori' - whatever you prefer, 2) our inability to attract players of a certain status (retirement home image). We're not the cool + happening club, our trophies attract dust but not players. Spare me the drivel about fiscal laws. Even Drogba wouldn't join us because we're such a fantastic club, but because it would be less of a hassle to bang Canalis

As for not needing reinforcements... LOL 45 min of decent football (none of it in the final) won us the CL. We rode our luck there but Serie A was the real benchmark + we ended up humiliated by Inter + Roma. Spare me the drivel + excuses about 'injuries'... LOL.. that bullshit has stopped flying long ago

Cheers Passion i`m glad some other fans see that dispite our champions cup win (which i agree we rode our luck, liverpool played better than us) our management again are using another excuse to not enhance areas that should have been dealt with over the past two seasons. I`m not saying like some other fans we need to rebuild the team but we need to have equal alternatives for when we get injuries and when our star players need a rest. Last year showed that we didn`t have the depth to compete in serie a and the champions league and our league form suffered until xmas and only then did our management realise we were in a danger of missing out in the fourth spot they signed ronaldo and oddo, both of which wanted to come to milan and should have been bought in the summer i mean we had the money from shevas sale so no excuses as far as im concerned. We all know that we need a striker, we need a back up for kaka (i mean he needs to rest to get the best of his ability). I mean if we look at inter last season sure they spent alot of money but but how far away were they from the rest in serie a, even the likes of roma outclassed us last season and both these teams also played some great football. Inter won the scudetto last year and what are they doing now, they are not saying their squad is fine etc blah blah they are out spending more money to strengthen their team as they want to do better in the champions league and are showing AMBITION! something our management lacks. Bring in new faces not only improves our squad but also makes other players perform better cos they know that there is competition for places, also it boosts morale of the team and our fans. I mean look at the figures of season tickets we`ve sold already over thirty thousand and thats our fans showing their support now its up to our management to do likewise and show the fans some quality, and qaulity is what we deserve

 

[fiume_1987]

When I saw this thread I asked myself - What transfer policy???
It's july, the heavy season with many matches starts in august and we have signed - Ibrahim Ba...
Evrbody knows team requires heavy strengthening in every area - at least 3 quality players must be signed in order that we can at least hope for succesful season. But it's evident that this won't happen. The most likely scenario is that we fill the media with Ronnie/Eto'o stories until 30.8. and then sign Cassano. In fact, Ancelotti himself said that he is happy with the defense and midfield...
So, it's rather hard to talk about transfer policy when it is non-existent. Champions league success should have made Berlusconi open his wallet for much needed younger and quality reinforcements, but we are great Milan and we will settle for the victorious veteran squad...

 

[Wild]

Exactly , what transfer policy ?

 

[albion tifo]

Isn't so bad as it looks. There are 30.000 season tickets sold by now, Kaka will stay,we earn lot of money this year and the transfers just started. We have to wait and see what will happen. Milan will not stay with open mouth and see how the others teams sign good players . I guess we learn a lesson from last year .

 

[milanissimo]

Barcelona signed:
Abidal probably the best LB in the world
Henry one of the best strikers in the world
Toure great talent
Chivu or Milito they are best defenders in market for the moment

Manchester signed
Nani
Anderson
Tevez
Hargreaves

Milan signed
Ibrahim Ba

 

[fiume_1987]

Milan will not stay with open mouth and see how the others teams sign good players

Well, too bad mate - but that's exaxtly what we are doing. Let me just refresh your memory with two players who IMO would be great for Milan but joined other clubs with no interest shown from Milanello: Barusso (joined Roma) & Muntari (Portsmouth). Now I'm hearing that Fiorentina is after Sneijder... Is Milan showing any interest?
Battle for Chivu and G. Milito is the talk point in Europe today. I'm starting to wonder have mr. Galliani and co. even heard about those great defenders... I'm sure they'll eventually think of someone (like Oliveira last year)...

 

[Naraku]

Barcelona signed:
Abidal probably the best LB in the world
Henry one of the best strikers in the world
Toure great talent
Chivu or Milito they are best defenders in market for the moment

Manchester signed
Nani
Anderson
Tevez
Hargreaves

Milan signed
Ibrahim Ba

Barcelona have needed to make these changes....they've gone from been dual Liga champions and UCL champs to winning nothing, they absolutely blew it this year ( La Liga) .It doesn't seem like they are getting either Chivu nor Milito.They also signed Thuram,Zambrotta and Gudjohnsson last year as big signings and where did it get them? No trophies.


Man Utd....Well Tevez's move to Old Trafford could be blocked...Even if he goes to Man Utd. it doesn't mean he will succeed there.Nani and Anderson have proved NOTHING yet on a big stage, Hargreaves is a good signing for them however.

The transfer market is still open for 6 weeks maybe more.We don't need to make major acquisitions we just need a genuine LB and Drogba.Next season could be the one were we "overhaul" our squad somewhat, but we'll see.

As for Ba, surely at best he will play Coppa Italia or end up this seasons Harvey Esajas.
That said I'm surprised that we didn't sign Teddy Sheringham as he fits our "transfer policy" ie 42 and was a free agent.

 

[rosso_neri]

Manchester signed
Nani
Anderson
Tevez
Hargreaves

all this means is that next time we play them, we will only win 2-0, not 3-0

 

[milanissimo]

all this means is that next time we play them, we will only win 2-0, not 3-0

rosso_neri i hope you are right

 

[Passion for *9*]

Well, too bad mate - but that's exaxtly what we are doing. Let me just refresh your memory with two players who IMO would be great for Milan but joined other clubs with no interest shown from Milanello: Barusso (joined Roma) & Muntari (Portsmouth). Now I'm hearing that Fiorentina is after Sneijder... Is Milan showing any interest?
Battle for Chivu and G. Milito is the talk point in Europe today. I'm starting to wonder have mr. Galliani and co. even heard about those great defenders... I'm sure they'll eventually think of someone (like Oliveira last year)...

Too many egos to stroke, with Maldini the biggest of them all... Milan are AMUSINGLY predictable, I just follow silly season + Galliani's blatherings for fun + giggles, + like Milan themselves, hope for luck + a little help here + there for them to successfully maintain appearances of a 'prestigious club'

Someone mentioned the necessity of competition, well, according to Ancelotti/Galliani/Berlusconi competition would be detrimental to the perfect harmony in our dressing room - no shit

 

[milan_fan]

well, I can see that in our starting 11(4-5-1 as in out CL campaign), we have the likes of Paolo, who TBH cannot be expected to shine or play decently or play at all in all the 55-60 games this season. That is a perfect replacement position.

Plus Seedorf hits low form every now and then, to be fair to him. He needs, desperately, for Milan, to show any consistency, to be rested every now and then as and when he seems saturated, IF that is what keeps him to perform below avg more than sometimes. The only replacement for our flair players is Gourcuff. 4 players 3 positions. This means 1 injury or Seedorf/Pirlo low form could take it away from us being CL bangers to hardly scraping only home games. As far as a Striker is needed, I can't see why the hell we need an extra player at all, let alone world class, unless Gilardino is secretly moving away right now. Buy Pozzi (i mean bring him back in accordance with his status), will make up surely the loss of nogOli, is he ever moves away.

So in all honesty, our "transfer campaign" seems to be highly misleading and inconsistent to team needs. eg. Strikers we need 4 for 2 positions(1 at times). Midfielders and Defenders, we need just the starting position to be "class". I cannot see us doing any better than last season unless we are really lucky.

 

[Surfer]

I haven't read everything so excuse me if I say something that is already said

I don't think we should already worry for our tranfers, transfers can take some time and the players still have to want to come.

The problem is with Milan that Berlusconi and Galliani hunt dreams, instead of listening to what Ancelotti wants.
Oddo and Ronaldo are a good example, Berlusconi wanted Ronaldo, Ancelotti wanted Oddo.
Who was the prior tranfer ? Ronaldo.
But putting this aside, football isn't about stars.

Chelsea got a lot of starplayers : Drogba, Shevchenko, Lampard, Terry, Ballack.

Have Chelsea won the Champions League ?
They simply can't play together on high level, football is playing in a team.
A good team, with a few stars( Kakà, ???) means succes.
The teams goes for these players and they shine because the game is maid like they want it.

Considering this all, why does Milan has to buy a top-player ?
In the attack we recover Ronaldo, a (top)striker.

Look at the points we got from the games that Ronaldo played with us, you will see that Berlusconi and Galliani are right when they say that it isn't necessary to get another topstriker for the Champions League or the Serie A.

One thing that could matter , what if Ronaldo get's injured?

But I don't think we should worry about our tranfers, look at our cups, at our victory's.
We have always done it like this and we have alwasy won

 

[superpirlo]

you ryt

you know i still agree with you however much i like ac milan but still this is shit man i dont beleive the way we were signing players like ronaldo and oddo but this season were getting only ibrahim ba this suks and i hope berlusconi gallani and ancelloti du some thing

 

[Surfer]

you know i still agree with you however much i like ac milan but still this is shit man i dont beleive the way we were signing players like ronaldo and oddo but this season were getting only ibrahim ba this suks and i hope berlusconi gallani and ancelloti du some thing

the market is still open, as long as we have time you habe to be patient

 

[kakarulez]

Manchester signed
Nani
Anderson
Tevez
Hargreaves

To be honest... i think man u have wasted money on the wrong players this summer. They already have carrick, who is a decent player, and yet they bought hargreaves. There is no way that Ronaldo, Rooney, Anderson, Tevez and Nani are going to be able to play together. Ferguson should have picked up Toni before bayern got there, or perhaps could have tried for Adriano. despite their signings, i have a feeling that united are going to end up trophy-less next season.

About our transfer policy... There is still A LOT OF TIME left in this market for us to make signings. If we splash money now on some player and he doesn't play well, everyone will be saying how we wasted money( example Oli). But if we take our time and get a good deal( example ronaldo or kaka, who we watched for 2-3 seasons before signing) we complain that we should have signed them earlier. The fact is that we have consistantly been doing well over the seasons and that shows there is absolutely nothing wrong about our transfer policy.

 

[rosso_neri]

About our transfer policy... There is still A LOT OF TIME left in this market for us to make signings. If we splash money now on some player and he doesn't play well, everyone will be saying how we wasted money( example Oli). But if we take our time and get a good deal( example ronaldo or kaka, who we watched for 2-3 seasons before signing) we complain that we should have signed them earlier. The fact is that we have consistantly been doing well over the seasons and that shows there is absolutely nothing wrong about our transfer policy.

right on