I agree with you fundamentally. Really.
But as I sat in the car today I thought, "brk is right on the money, and ROSSONERI7 as well, on most of the expectation adjustment." However, it dawned on me when I listened to the Romano podcast how very much this now also is a part of the sport. It isn't, but it is. Football is 24/7 now. The actual seasons and results is what matters, and our results is what we live by.
But the mercato has become a sport of its own. Luckily we have Paolo Maldini running it, and he's building smartly for continued growth. PL clubs are showcasing how you're able to be the toast of the town without actually delivering sporting results, but for us? It doesn't matter. We are in good hands. But we shouldn't laugh a the transfer market part of football, it's become a huge part of it and belongs in your best-of-the-forum-poster outlook.
I don't want to win the mercato, but I kinda do. In the meantime I think our windows are awesome, we've taken a hard decision on being smarter than everyone else.
I’d rather we look at it in retrospect:
I'd say this was a huge win. Paid for Tomori, got a huge discount on Tonali and replaced a 'generational' goalkeeper with an actual balon d'or contender at GK. The massive L we seemingly took in January, the one that had people frothing at the mouth ended up forcing us to use Kalulu and discovering his monstrosity. We also won the title.
Tomori on loan, Kalulu and Rebic for peanuts, redeeming Saelemaekers and Kjaer for peanuts and Hauge for peanuts. Peanut Pioli got a few peanuts this season but we came in second. I'd say this was a big win too, but at the time lots of people were underwhelmed and many of us didn't think we had a chance for 4th place.
On of the most consequential transfers in recent history. Leao, Bennacer, Theo, Krunic, Rebic and in January Ibra and Kjaer. Look at the sales too. Managed to not take too much of an L on Piatek, and managed to ship out a lot of the fodders that festered in our squad for years. Cutrone for 18m is the robbery of the decade.
Point i'm making is that even if at the time we mortals think that a window is underwhelming or that we lost some players or got ones that are meh, we should look back at the track record of the legend that's in charge and know that we have no idea what we're talking about and that the plan is in motion and we should just enjoy the ride.
