Michael Essien

I don't mind him as a replacement for Nocerino. I hope he brings in the same quality that Van Bommel brought when he came here.

Essien will earn €1.5m at Milan for the rest of the season, and €3m for next season. His contract with Milan expires on June 30, 2015. (Via @Milanello)

Its like Massimiliano Sexllegri never left.

And please do not expect another long-winded soliloquy from me on the 'Milan Effect' and how Essien can evolve his game/be rebirthed/revitalized on this move. He is a finished product of what already was an overrated player with a prime of 2 weeks.

The virus is still alive

Essien will be have a Van Bommel like spell

ffs look at his amazing defending, and its only 3m for a year !

I agree, his now sinewy muscles and injury prone tussles can be a valuable asset our mind-numbing struggles.

Highly suspect he is brought in due to be the BFF of the immortal Sulley Ali Muntari.

Now he never will leave the pastures of Milanello

Our Reaction:

Well, Muntari did invite him to Milan during the summer   

ffs

Just now:

Galliani: "Essien can play in the CL. Montolivo is banned for 2 CL matches, and Muntari for 1, so we needed a midfielder."

Me in the Mercato thread:

El Shaarawy wrote:I don't think a sub for NDJ is of a paramount concern at the present moment. Especially since we've switched to a 4-2-3-1.

I'm not entirely sure about this, why have we signed Essien when we it was reported that we already agreed personal terms with Fernando in the summer?

More importantly, if any of the last few matches showed anything, its that we need a proper RW (Or LW if you want to shift Robinho RW) The depth with the 3 behind Balo is terrible. Kaka, Binho, Honda and Birsa. 3 of these guys are AMs, Birsa morphs into Birshat on the wings.

This transfer reeks of a band aid move because of Monty and Muntari's suspension in CL. Like most of our usual transfer.

The typical transfer window for us goes like this:

1. We have to reduce the squad size
2. Players get injured/suspended
3. Sign band aid replacement on high wages
4. Squad size is larger than the start of the window

Did i forget to mention that most of this happens in the last week of the transfer window?

I really hope we have a plan for next summer, the sooner Sogliano/Prade/Sabatini/Preziosi/Secco/Me/Dante/Dost/M99/Forza/RedOranje/Gotze/Kiether Sutherland/Janet Jackson arrive the better. Galliani needs to be deposed.

It's exactly this kind of signing that was behind what I was saying a while ago in that debate about whether our club had changed its transfer philosophy. I was arguing that we had effectively failed our aspirational transfer strategy of buying predominantly youth and promoting youth. Essien is another band-aid who will not only serve to delay the development of Cristante, but also provide an excuse for Galliani not to buy a high quality midfielder.

What are you signing deadwood for? To fix the bench?

the xcx wrote:Looking forward from a young talented player like Essien.

Forza wrote:It's exactly this kind of signing that was behind what I was saying a while ago in that debate about whether our club had changed its transfer philosophy. I was arguing that we had effectively failed our aspirational transfer strategy of buying predominantly youth and promoting youth. Essien is another band-aid who will not only serve to delay the development of Cristante, but also provide an excuse for Galliani not to buy a high quality midfielder.

The funny thing is, this what Galliani said on 8th of January: "If we will sign a new midfielder? Yes, his name is Bryan Cristante and he is born in 1995."

this is exactly the reasons why we should be pissed off with the management. exactly the reason why i want galliani out of the club.

great negotiator he is but ... gamble always doesnt pay off...

i know berlusconi as owner is also to blame but  galliani 3 million you fkkin serious??? the habit hasnt changed at all. essien was a great player, but he is really past his best. i really hate this f.. k short term fix!!!!!

seriously if there is a huge barrier between galliani and barbara, after hearing this kind of transfer, everyday i m siding more towards barbara. she has been talking about youth, and ajax style system but i have feeling that it cant happen because galliani is there. essien signing confirms that he is just doing patch work here...

3 million a year Pls tell me you are joking.

The thing is, where does Poli fit in all this?

I know it may sound weird but.. why don't you wait for Essien to play some games first and then say how bad this transfer was and all the usuall rest.

He may not have been the same player as before and he may not have been so usefull for Chelsea lately , or Real last season , but that doesn't mean he's going to be automatically 100% a useless signing for Milan too. Real football differs from fifa .Your junk might be someone elses treasure in football too.
Essien could prove to be a good addition yet , yes despite being 31 and with 3m a year.  

Did we somehow miss on any better alternative for 3m a season? Quite simply no , because better midfielders wouldn't come for 3m a season and even if they somehow did , they would cost a lot more than free and would anyway think twice before joining this mess we are. Is he worse than Nocerino? I shall wait to see him play for a month with Milan , but the chances are , he can't possibly be worse.

In case you think , he wasn't important for Real/Chelsea.. well , i am sorry to admit we are not half of what these teams are at the moment. And i am also sorry to admit that many fans both here in our section and elsewhere , simply do not fully accept / understand / realise in what a shity economical situation Milan finds itself in . Milan does not have money to work on their n1 targets like before.

They do what they can and if you and me and the majority of our fanbase understand exactly what Milan needs in reinforcements , i mean seriosuly , don't you think those in charge got that months before. The problem is they have no money to get what Milan really needs to drastically improve , but nevertheless , they must do something.

So instead of Nainggollan or Jorginho (or Strootman a little while back) who were expensive , we got Essien. I am not sure why all this moaning after all this time. This is how things stand and it's not anything new . I am counting on Essien to help Milan as much as he can. It will be a new challenge in his career and Milan is always Milan for any player , in any year. He's experienced and Seedorf apparently likes him a lot. Personally at least , i have no reason to react to the signing of Essien as things stand , in fact i am reasonably happy we got such an experienced player in Essien and for free , too.

Or you think Cristante can handle 2 CL knockout games against Atletico ? hahaha . Be reasonable. Cristante is talented and we all like him a lot , but he's not that ready. If he was , he would have already removed someone from the lineup , it is that simple.

El Shaarawy wrote:The thing is, where does Poli fit in all this?

I've questioned this about Poli and the 4-2-3-1 , long before Essien came in to the frame. Idk really

Not sure. I hope he doesn't have problems.And if he does , i hope he can adapt and evolve. Poli is a quality player , though he still needs to mature on the field in his decision making and impact on the game. Can't tell exactly how Essien or the change in formation and tactics will affect his course , but i think he has the resources to go on , despite all that. He might have to do just that to keep improving , tho.

Competition just got a bit tighter now and i suspect it might be for the best.

Dante wrote:I know it may sound weird but.. why don't you wait for Essien to play some games first and then say how bad this transfer was and all the usuall rest.

He may not have been the same player as before and he may not have been so usefull for Chelsea lately , or Real last season , but that doesn't mean he's going to be automatically 100% a useless signing for Milan too. Real football differs from fifa .Your junk might be someone elses treasure in football too.
Essien could prove to be a good addition yet , yes despite being 31 and with 3m a year.  

Did we somehow miss on any better alternative for 3m a season? Quite simply no , because better midfielders wouldn't come for 3m a season and even if they somehow did , they would cost a lot more than free and would anyway think twice before joining this mess we are. Is he worse than Nocerino? I shall wait to see him play for a month with Milan , but the chances are , he can't possibly be worse.

In case you think , he wasn't important for Real/Chelsea.. well , i am sorry to admit we are not half of what these teams are at the moment. And i am also sorry to admit that many fans both here in our section and elsewhere , simply do not fully accept / understand / realise in what a shity economical situation Milan finds itself in . Milan does not have money to work on their n1 targets like before.

They do what they can and if you and me and the majority of our fanbase understand exactly what Milan needs in reinforcements , i mean seriosuly , don't you think those in charge got that months before. The problem is they have no money to get what Milan really needs to drastically improve , but nevertheless , they must do something.

So instead of Nainggollan or Jorginho (or Strootman a little while back) who were expensive , we got Essien. I am not sure why all this moaning after all this time. This is how things stand and it's not anything new . I am counting on Essien to help Milan as much as he can. It will be a new challenge in his career and Milan is always Milan for any player , in any year. He's experienced and Seedorf apparently likes him a lot. Personally at least , i have no reason to react to the signing of Essien as things stand , in fact i am reasonably happy we got such an experienced player in Essien and for free , too.

Or you think Cristante can handle 2 CL knockout games against Atletico ? hahaha . Be reasonable. Cristante is talented and we all like him a lot , but he's not that ready. If he was , he would have already removed someone from the lineup , it is that simple.

Dante, i'm not questioning Essien's ability as a player. I'm criticizing the recurring transfer themes that Galliani likes to employ every window.

@Dante
The 4-2-3-1 can be switched to a 4-3-2-1 without much change in both tactics and player positioning. This allows us a different option when we are having difficulty in attack or even when we become exposed defensively.

Came into the thread expecting some people to spin this into positive and say Essien is still great when he isn't.

Nearly left disappointed, but the greek ray of sunlight that is Dante made it all worthwhile

El Shaarawy wrote:

Dante, i'm not questioning Essien's ability as a player. I'm criticizing the recurring transfer themes that Galliani likes to employ every window.

Not that i mind , really he might turn out to be even worse for all i say , but you did ,

ffs look at his amazing defending

You obviously talk about the band aid theme and as Forza , you are unsatisfied with the short term solution Essien apparently seems to be. That instead of going for a younger , more fascinating midfielder like Jorginho for example , or some more on top of his game , glory-hunter and quality player like Nainggollan , Galliani went for Essien.

Tbh , it's neither if you ask me , no band-aid and no change of approach in transfer policy. First of all , if you agree that we needed a midfielder , then you should at least be ok with the signing of Essien . We were going to get rid of Nocerino at all costs this january , right? Right. That much is unquestionable and it's backed up by his agents comments , reports and also how much he was being used solely to get rid of off. Galliani confirmed , if we are to believe him , that he was trying for Essien months now .. I also remember him saying some months ago , that if any of our players were to leave , he knew exactly which players could replace said player. And here's now what really the case is.

Target n1 , Nainggollan : We tried the belgian , Roma offered more , Roma got him.

Target n2 , Jorginho : We tried Jorginho , Napoli offered more , Napoli got him.

Essien most probably were somewhere near the 3rd place in the list .

Now , here's why this seems to most like a band-aid : because Montolivo logic against Ajax. And Muntari being Muntari. In reality , he was simply not one of our top-top targets and here comes what i was saying : we cannot afford top players. Or we simply cannot spend more than other clubs that can afford them. Some get that , some don't . It's up to you , but this is what is happening and it's not new.

As for the change in transfer policy.. Essien is what , the 2nd-3rd player after Van Bommel who's above 30? lol , get real. Zaccardo the world cup winner came solely for the reason to get rid of Mesbah and it was well worth it for that alone(lol). There's a place for these players and it's not that bad in an inexperienced and undeperforming squad to have a few such additions. If after 2010-11 that Van Bommel arrived , Zaccardo and Essien is a re-occuring theme then what can i say.

Yeah , whatever. There's no such thing. We can afford those who we can afford and untill the next real young protagonists in the mould of De Sciglio , Ses or Balo emerge , we will have to deal with some short term solutions. If you think we can force that , simply no , we cannot. We cannot spend to force that and we cannot possibly expect the new Milan to occur in 2 transfer windows. Milan exploits what they can and if anyone extremely important and young comes up , he will be a part of Milan. Patience is needed for that too. Honestly , i have no better words to describe what Milan has been doing. You are free to disagree or agree.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:Came into the thread expecting some people to spin this into positive  and say Essien is still great when he isn't.

Nearly left disappointed, but the greek ray of sunlight that is Dante made it all worthwhile

i approve the sarcasm , but in any case , i am simply giving Essien the benefit of the doubt , i don't think there's any wrong in that. Most if not all said the same things about Van Bommel once . Or Stam and Cafu years ago.. e.t.c

Besides , Nocerino left . Essien must try hard to prove worse on the field , so i remain neutral for the time being is all.