AC Milan CEO Adriano Galliani has guaranteed that first-choice goalkeeper Christian Abbiati will have his contract renewed before its expiry in June.

The Italian shot-stopper has been a San Siro player since 1998 but has spent stints on loan with the likes of Juventus and Atletico Madrid during this spell.

The 35-year-old will see his deal with the Rossoneri run its course at the end of next month, but the Milan vice-president has insisted that a new contract is just around the corner for the Massimiliano Allegri's No.1.

"There is no doubt that the contract will be renewed for Abbiati," Galliani told reporters on Tuesday. "He is one of the most important elements of our team that we never questioned not renewing, it only lacks the signatures.

"Against Torino he gave yet another signal of his value to us; we do not want to deprive ourselves of what he brings to the team."

Milan are currently four points clear of Fiorentina in third place with three games to go and could secure a Champions League berth if they beat Pescara on Wednesday and the Viola lose at Siena.

I'm kind of two-sided on this one. On one hand, we do need a new goalie. Abbiati will be 36 by next season and clearly we should be looking for alternatives. On the other hand though, Abbiati has yet to show any major signs of age hindering his goalkeeping abilities. He has produces amazing saves time and time again this season, and on top of that, he is a loyal member of the Milan family that has been with us for so long. So at the end, I'm OK with his renewal.

However, that does not mean we are good to go in the goalkeeping department. We definitely need to replace him sometime and we should look to sign a young goalkeeper this summer (Mattia Perin comes to mind). I think this would be a good way to proceed as it would give the new goalkeeper a year to transition into the team, and would also provide an alternative to Abbiati for next season, so maybe Allegri can figure out some sort of rotation system to rest Abbiati once in a while and at the same time giving the other goalkeeper a shot.

The man has saved us countless times this season, we sometimes dish it out on him and blast his mistakes but he pulled through for us. He's an unsung hero tbh

My only concern with Abiatti is the amount of injuries he receives throughout the season, its abnormal even for a GK. Then we have to get stuck with Amelia...and we all know how Amelia does...

Since Amelia is going to leave in the Summer anyway, i'd propose we make a move for a young GK, hopefully we can rotate him around with Abiatti to keep both happy and then transition him fully when Abiatti retires. My suggestion for the young GK would be Mattia Perin, not just because he's the hottest young GK in Italy, but because he's ES' best friend, he would help ES get his confidence back and also it'd be nice to have a familiar face for him at Milanello

Abbiati one more season, purchase Perin and have him on loan at Genoa. Then after that, bring Perin back to be our number 1.

I's say Abbiati will be our no.2 next season.

Forza wrote:I's say Abbiati will be our no.2 next season.

I hope your right. Yes he has saved us a couple times this year, but his injury problems keep getting worse and Amelia is just

Amelia will either be sold or become our 3rd choice GK.

I would totally stick with Abbiati for a few seasons, as he can be brilliant at times and generally solid. The two major concerns I have, however, are: (1) occasional brain fart; (2) injuries. The occasional brain fart is unfortunately something we will have to accept with any new keeper as they settle in. there are few keepers that don't make mistakes but most make more when they are younger and in a new team.

Injuries could end up working in our favor though, say we get Perin, he's unlikely to play much if abbiati is playing well, but the odd injury lay off will give Perin a chance to step up and see if he can hold his place.

We are wise to keep Abbiati for another season , but it appears to me , it will be his last anyway. There are many good reasons to keep Abbiati for another season , yet the best one is , we shall have the proper time and safety to look for a real replacement. Amelia didn't work out and Gabriel is too green . On the other hand , age WILL catch up with him , whether we expect it to happen or not. It would be better if we did something to replace him soon.

Obviously , we should be buying Perin . Whether we loan him or let him fight it over with Abbiati , is a choice for the coach . If not for Perin , then obviously someone established , there are a lot of very good goalies waiting to wear a shirt like Milan's.

In any case , i am glad for Abbiati and i hope his last year with us will be a good one. He should retire as a champion, after all the success he had with the club.

I don't know about Perin after today's game. I know this is a knee jerk, but his team are at the bottom of the table, have the lowest number of clean sheets (5) and have conceded the most number of goals (78). I want Yann Sommer!

Perin also hasn't played for half the season. Pescara chose to be relegated rather than have a chance to stay in Serie A and play Perin. They didn't want to play his game minimum and pay a bigger sum to Genoa, which in turn turned out they had to pay it anyway since their keep got hurt and Perin played. That's just how goofy Pescara have been all season.

Milantildeath wrote:Perin also hasn't played for half the season. Pescara chose to be relegated rather than have a chance to stay in Serie A and play Perin. They didn't want to play his game minimum and pay a bigger sum to Genoa, which in turn turned out they had to pay it anyway since their keep got hurt and Perin played. That's just how goofy Pescara have been all season.

I know the rest of their team is shit and its not just the goal keeper's fault. But I'm just saying, Sommer has played against big teams in Europe and has a lot more experience and is much more proven and ready for Milan. He will cost more than Perin though, and he has not been strongly linked to us. On the other hand, Perin plays for Genoa, so he's already half ours! At the end of the day, they are both young keepers with a lot of potential, so I'm happy with either.

I think the time for Abbiati to take a step back has come.

I simply cannot stand it any longer seeing him hinder us against set pieces or crosses like that. He was always old school but it didn't matter with the defenders we have had all these years . Since Nesta-Silva left , he's been terribly exposed and even from last season he has become a target , this season he has become an open book . It's totally unnaceptable for GKs in 2013 not to come out of their small area. The goals that we have conceded this season , too many are simply down to Abbiati. At least half of the goals conceded already would have been avoided had we a proper GK.

It's not just the end result , but his positioning has been really bad this season. That is something you can't lose as a goalie or even improve with the passage of time. Many gks have played their twilight years mostly because of this , especially when reflexes and overall speed had went down the drain. Abbiati is officialy past it in my eyes . Things have gone from worrying to red alert status .

He's been very good , if not great on the occasion , since 2008 and up untill the 2nd half of last season he was dependable. He has always been a great shot stopper , but even there he seems to have regressed . I suppose he is still able to make great saves , but his reflexes and speed are simply dreadful today. Time has caught up with Abbiati and i hope Galliani does something after the season ends. He has conceded , already during the first month of the season , from every possible situation . The defence have been awfull too and they barely seem to protect at times , but it cannot be that i will damn the whole defence 100% , when Abbiati can't offer even basic stuff to the defence .

In my eyes , there are only two options .

1 = Galliani renews his contract and becomes the 2nd or even 3rd gk and with this we still keep the man Abbiati who can still offer a lot to the team , mostly off the field. I wouldn't mind this , with whoever replaces Christian eventually , other than Amelia . We either buy a new GK or trust Gabriel .

2 - Galliani does not renew his contract , he didn't renew Ambrosini because of similar reasons and perhaps he means to do the same here with Abbiati . Then two things will probably happen. We sign a new Gk , probably an experienced one and make Gabriel the 2nd gk and a youngster for 3rd. That's what i hope for. If we don't sign a new GK , then i hope we will trust Gabriel and make Amelia the 2nd gk.

To end this , honestly i am thankfull to Abbiati and i don't like that i have to say those things , but it's obvious he can't be what he was any longer. Sure , i hope for Milan's sake he can hold on and perform as best as he can. But i am afraid there's a long season ahead with regards to Abbiati. I am not sure if you know , but Valdes will leave Barcelona at the end of the season. He would be my top candidate to replace Abbiati , despite being 31 and all. Making jokes and all is nice , but Valdes could come for free , has rare experience from his time in Barcelona and would improve our defence tenfold in comparison to the other gks we have.

Gabriel could learn a lot from him too and i think a new challenge , especially at a club like Milan may even improve him. Victor Valdes could prove a very wise choice for a few years to come and then it will be either Gabriel or Perin . What do you think , should we renew Abbiati or not and if that's the case , should Milan trust Gabriel or go for a more experienced option ?

Dante wrote:I think the time for Abbiati to take a step back has come.

The time was this summer. But no, instead of investing on a goalkeeper we got Matri. Instead of investing an a defender who can play football. We bought Zapata.

M99 wrote:

Dante wrote:I think the time for Abbiati to take a step back has come.

The time was this summer. But no, instead of investing on a goalkeeper we got Matri. Instead of investing an a defender who can play football. We bought Zapata.

There have been mistakes yes. They once again went for the most cheaper options available and if it hasn't already (lmfao) will come back again to haunt us. As for Matri , i won't talk about this here , there's a thread and even though i definitely agree with what you mentioned , that Galliani should have already done something .. without the CL money , he wouldn't do anything in the first place and i think that's why he renew Abbiati for this season.

Tbh , i didn't think it would be this bad with Abbiati and so soon. I kinda hoped we would buy Perin this summer or sign him and leave him at Genoa for Abbiati's last season , but age caught up with him a lot sooner than i expected and in combination with the rest of our issues , it made things that much worse .

This cannot continue and i am sure at some point , we will have to trust Gabriel during the season , at least in Serie A. I bet you anything , goals from crosses and set pieces will be a rare occasion when Abbiati won't be playing. Even for our defenders this is difficult to realise , that they won't have the backing of the GK when it comes to those situations , they have to be perfect at all times and this is simply impossible for Zapata-Mexes , let's not kid ourselves.

I hope Galliani can sign Valdes , not only because i believe him but he could come for free too and we could invest a bit more on the defence too. If not , give the posts to Gabriel and never look back again , it's already been too late and i hope i am wrong here but we will pay dearly for those mistakes that happened this summer. I believe in the team to overcome the difficulities , but i also tend to be realistic , when every contenter for a CL spot invests heavily and we do half a job in over 3 months , we will most probably have to pay for it.

Thoughts on Valdes to replace him?

Victor Valdes has reiterated his internation to leave Barcelona next summer, explaining that he feels that his time at Camp Nou is over.

The Spain international is out of contract at the end of the season and announced during the summer that he would not be signing an extension.

A number of Barca players, including midfielder Andres Iniesta, have publicly stated that they have tried to persuade Valdes to change his mind and stay in Catalunya, but the 31-year-old shot-stopper says he has his heart set on a move abroad.

"My time here is done," the goalkeeper told Antena3. "They offered me the chance to renew [my contract] but my decision had been made."

"I am seeking new challenges. I want to play in another league and be with my family in another place.

"But this season I have still been feeling the love and support of the people and that is greatly appreciated."

Valdes, a product of Barcelona's youth academy, has spent his entire professional career to date at Camp Nou.

http://www.goal.com/en/news/12/spain/2013/10/08/4318937/valdes-my-time-at-barcelona-is-over?ICID=OP

Valdes does not exactly fit the youth policy. Prefer Perin.

Honestly, I prefer we give gabriel a chance. Huge potential IMO.

The new GK must be young. I don't want Valdes or Casillas.

I really am rooting for Gabriel, but given the chance for Casillas, Valdez, or Akinfeev I'd loan him out in a second.

I have reached my limit with Abbiati.

Christian Abbiati has been a fantastic servant to Milan and on his day, is a goal keeper of the highest order in intelligence and class.

Yet how infrequent of those days become?

For all of Abbiati's positional awareness and intelligence, his decision to morph himself into a 300 pound mass of muscle has cost him his reflexes and reaction timing.

Forget penalties, in which he we hold 0 expectations for him to save considering he is usually 4-5 seconds late on them; it is the decline of his reflexes that have provided no confidence in him to make even the simplest of saves.

Staunch Milanisti defend him by saying "We are so lucky to have Abby and what he has done for the club" yet remaining in Milan for a period of time does NOT equate to you being amongst our standard senatore *cough* Bonera *cough* as its sickening to see these men receiving precedence due to their service to club and friendship with the Milan hierarchy. Abbiati is a leader yet is failing to set an example for the defence whom cannot be blamed when Abbiati fails to set a Rossonero example himself. He is excellent for 3 months then goes under par for 6 as his inconsistency is costing us dearly.

Whether it be regards to his flailing like a fish in aerial shots, failing to judge the trajectory of long shots, reacting 10 minutes too late to shots on the other side of his post, or guarding his post...Abbiati simply is not cutting it as he has the uncanny ability to make a goal look as if it was nigh impossible to save.

What infuriates me is his arrogance in which half of the shots he predicts will fly over the crossbar or past the near post yet they go in, a testament to his sloth and misjudgement to which once again has one say "that shot was impossible to save".

We need to invest in a top-class GK as Sommer has been sold to BMG, Iker is unlikely now while the scouting of Lopez and Agazzi further reinstates that we highly underestimate the importance of having a top-class GK to protect the last line of defence, let alone a reliable one. We call for investing in GK talents (Perin) yet that is a distant prospect as Milan's excuse is investing in the average Gabriel.

Enough is enough. His time is up. He needs to remain back-up and understand that his position will be at stake soon.

when a keeper cant perform when it matters most, its a problem...
its not just inconsistencies here... its been happening ever since he joined us ...

i cant accept anything than mass exodus for next season, including abbiati contract not renewed.

i know its just me, but as a fan, i really cant accept these players, the attitude, the performance, the incompetence is unbelievable... its inexplicable how galliani , and the technical department has done here...

its not just abbiati...

Get Perin. End of story.

Its not just that he is declining, this sends out the wrong signals. I havent checked how much he earns, but I know its totally embarrassing when we give players like Mexes a top player contract. The way we play we should be one of the cheapest contract teams around.

Dortmund players earn a lot less than ours, no?

Eivindo wrote:Its not just that he is declining, this sends out the wrong signals. I havent checked how much he earns, but I know its totally embarrassing when we give players like Mexes a top player contract. The way we play we should be one of the cheapest contract teams around.

Dortmund players earn a lot less than ours, no?

Yes. This is a huge problem. Our expenses dwarf every other team in Serie A and our wage bill was the highest in the league until very recently when Juve overtook us. A big part of the problem is that Galliani tries to get players on free transfers, but in doing so pays very high wages.

Would it not be better to buy a good player for 8 mil and pay them 1.5mil in wages p.a. instead of gettting a scrub on a free transfer and then paying them 4 mil per yr?

Transfer Deal Y:
Transfer: $8m
Wages year 1: $1.5m
Wages year 2: $1.5m
Wages year 3: $1.5m
Total: $12.5m + you have a potentially great player (or at least a good one)

Transfer Deal X:
Transfer: $0
Wages year 1: $4m
Wages year 2: $4m
Wages year 3: $4m
Total: $12m + you have a scrub who is unlikely to be good for long (if at all) and is very unlikely to be a great player

These numbers are arbitrary, but let's not pretend that this isn't happening. I'm 99% sure that Jorginho and Naingollan are getting paid less than whatever Muntari, Essien, Mexes, etc are earning.

Galliani, take note.