Di Marzio is reporting that we're pursuing Diego Lopez from Real Madrid, whilst Mediaset are claiming we're close to an agreement for Perin. It would appear at the very least that our preseason performances thus far have convinced that the club that we risk disaster if we continue without solving our goalkeeping dilemma which is positive. Whether we actually close out a deal is another issue entirely however.

Meanwhile, Trabzonspor have released an official statement that they are in negotiations with Kevin Constant which is positive news. It is being suggested that we would loan Armero for Udinese with an option to buy in order to cover the position, a move I am incredibly indifferent to. I don't think a replacement should arrive at all unless another fullback departs in which case we would need a starter. It is evident however that we will be encouraging our fullbacks to be quite aggressive, so if the move does go through, I think Armero will have his uses so that we are not forced to play a central defender on the flanks when suspensions and injuries arise. We will need to look to other areas of the squad in order to reduce our overall squad size though.

Constant officially gone, Armero in

DAT SQUAD SIZE REDUCTION



Cannot wait to see how much Armero is going to earn

The sale that was promised

Dante wrote:The sale that was promised

Robinho's agent has stated that a deal with Santos is simply down to details at this stage. There are reports it would be a one year loan, however I don't see how this really achieves anything.

dostoevsky wrote:

Dante wrote:The sale that was promised

Robinho's agent has stated that a deal with Santos is simply down to details at this stage. There are reports it would be a one year loan, however I don't see how this really achieves anything.

Well , everyone would preffer a normal sale , but a loan is better than nothing , right? Sleeping yet another year on the bench getting paid for doing nothing isn't going to work for anyone anymore. Not to mention when he gets in , that's actually even worse . lol

I think after he finally and officialy joins Santos , he'll never play for Milan again , loan and what have you . Worst case scenario , we got rid of him once , next time it will be that much easier. Btw ,

Constant gone .
Robinho gone .
We might actually get a real gk .
We might get a proper LB .
We haven't sold anyone of our best players , at least so far .

Is this real life

If we get a big signing too

I had thought his contract only had a year to go, however transfermarkt seems to suggest it runs until June 2016 in which case we can still sell him at the end of the loan, so I have no further objections. Agreed that he will never play for Milan again.

Who is this proper left back you speak of though or are we counting Armero?

It's supposed to be Armero .

After Constant , he's more than a proper LB in my eyes

I personally thought he did an acceptable job at Napoli for the most part however his performance against Dortmund showed the inconsistencies in his game even within 90 minutes. I think he's adequate as a reserve as we certainly need at least one reserve who is capable of providing width and contributing to the attack.

If the idea is to bring in a left back who will allow De Sciglio to switch to the right then he is far from the answer though in my eyes.

Milan Channel today confirmed that Constant will have his medical with Trabzonspor on Friday, stated that Armero will likely have a medical next week and stated negotiations with Madrid over a permanent deal for Diego Lopez are ongoing.

Di Marzio wrote:Milan are looking for a midfielder and they are targeting Blerin Dzemaili. They are very interested in the Swiss international and they are negotiating with Napoli. Milan offered €2.5.3M, Napoli ask for €5M. The parties are still distant, but they are discussing. Milan are seriously pursuing Dzemaili.

Dat reinforcement

S wrote:

Di Marzio wrote:Milan are looking for a midfielder and they are targeting Blerin Dzemaili. They are very interested in the Swiss international and they are negotiating with Napoli. Milan offered €2.5.3M, Napoli ask for €5M. The parties are still distant, but they are discussing. Milan are seriously pursuing Dzemaili.

Dat reinforcement

Decent player. Nothing special, hence the 2.5m offer. If it means Muntari & Essien won't ever start a game again, I'm all for it.

We need to be cutting the overall size of the squad at this time, we don't need depth in midfield, all we need is for Essien to leave.

It says everything that Napoli, who are gradually becoming Champions League regulars, are willing to let him go. You can't overtake a team by relying on their scraps.

Well said, Dost.

I don't understand why Milan would go for him at all. Surely there is someone much better who isn't much more expensive.

I agree with you dos. I'd rather promote a youth player.

The only part of that comment I disagree with is the part where you said 'we don't need depth in midfield'.

I think we absolutely need depth in midfield in addition to the obvious need for first XI quality players in midfield.

Essien and Muntari are horrific options. Poli is going to have a make or break season. Either he will begin to impose himself on games in his natural position or just fade out to become nothing more than a poor man's Marchisio. Montolivo is injured for 6 months and we can't expect him not to get injured again as soon as he returns.

The problem is that De Jong is the only class player in our midfield and as soon as he gets injured we will be completely and utterly screwed (even more than we currently are). From that perspective, Dzemaili isn't such a terrible option because I sure as hell don't want to see Muntari and Essien on the field at the same time.   

Of course, our priority remains getting good first XI players, but I won't completely oppose the purchase of better depth if we need it.

We've seen Nainggolan to Roma, Jorginho to Napoli and Romulo to Juve - all for quite reasonable transfer fees. Yet we were allegedly in pursuit of the 35m euro man Iturbe. I can't come to any conclusion other than our transfer department is full of idiots, because even with the limited funds that we do have, viable targets are passing us by.

There are only a few weeks before our fate is sealed.

As it stands, our midfield rotation in Montolivo's absence consists of De Jong, Cristante, Poli, Muntari, Essien, Honda and Saponara. If we are to reinforce this group, we should be looking for a player who could realistically start for us.

Essien is the only player Dzemaili would absolutely represent an upgrade over. Muntari's a less dependable option in possession but he offers greater defensive balance, something that currently makes him unique among our box to box options, where as Dzemaili brings more of the same. All Blerim really ever does is shoot on sight anyway.

dostoevsky wrote:As it stands, our midfield rotation in Montolivo's absence consists of De Jong, Cristante, Poli, Muntari, Essien, Honda and Saponara. If we are to reinforce this group, we should be looking for a player who could realistically start for us.

Essien is the only player Dzemaili would absolutely represent an upgrade over. Muntari's a less dependable option in possession but he offers greater defensive balance, something that currently makes him unique among our box to box options, where as Dzemaili brings more of the same. All Blerim really ever does is shoot on sight anyway.

Does he really, though? I mean, really? I feel like that's what he would say his strength is, but I think he's an average tackler and is constantly caught out of position. He's only a DM in the sense that he's even worse at playing every other midfield role.

He's not a defensive midfielder in that he lacks the discipline and positional sense to anchor a midfield, his lack of ability to build play from the back aside, however yes, his contribution in the defensive phase, particularly in breaking apart counter attacks is greater than that of anyone apart from Monty and De Jong who are a level above anyone else in the centre. Muntari is a limited, wasteful, selfish player but credit where it is due, when we need a thug to help see out a game next to De Jong, Sulley is there to do a job.

Should have probably read over my response before posting, talk about a run-on sentence.

Good guy dos doing some proof reading.

lol, yeah, for me, Muntari being a tug, is not, although it may be considered to be by some, that is, a good enougf reason to keep him here, at the club, for the time being, y,e,s. as aforementioned.

We require our depth players to bring a degree of diversity and tactical flexibility. Muntari has never been and never will be good enough to start and ideally he wouldn't even be good enough to be an option off the bench for us. As it stands however he's a necessary evil. If we could sell him and replace him with a player who similarly provides balance but greater quality on the ball then I'd be all for it, however we're linked with no such player at the moment.

dostoevsky wrote:I personally thought he did an acceptable job at Napoli for the most part however his performance against Dortmund showed the inconsistencies in his game even within 90 minutes. I think he's adequate as a reserve as we certainly need at least one reserve who is capable of providing width and contributing to the attack.

If the idea is to bring in a left back who will allow De Sciglio to switch to the right then he is far from the answer though in my eyes.

Honestly , i thought that was the plan , no ? I really doubt Armero will sign for the bench , especially after a decent WC in Brazil. As for his quality on the left wing .. Armero surely has his downside , but in general lines , he should prove better at leftback than Constant or whoever else we have had all this time , except maybe De Sciglio .

DS who i often thought he actually restricts the flow of our game sometimes as lb , out of extra caution to be flawless or near flawless . He did a great job more often than not and i am glad , more than i could ask for , but DS has his place and it's on the right , where he can be what he wants to be without restrictions of any kind . I'd like someone 'crazier' as lb . Someone who would often 'bomb' the left flank and take advantage of the higher tempo SeS likes to operate .
Armero seems like a good fit for that part , not forgetting his downside and weaknesses . (btw , not saying he wasn't good enough , or that he didn't work well enough with Ses , dont get me wrong. Just that , our best option for lb , could still prove to be someone else than DS , at least if Armero does sign , that's what i think it will turn out to be .)

Anyway , i should be ok with either option if Abate trully found form again . I just doubt Armero would sign for the bench in the first place . If the plan is Abate and De Sciglio on the left.. we may as well just keep Albertazzi as 2nd option and be done with it . I am not saying Armero is our ideal lb , no , just my opinion that if he's going to sign for Milan , that won't be to play backup to De Sciglio . Besides , i won't pretend to know what Inzaghi thinks or did , but it kinda seems to me to be his choice , or fully given his blessings for the deal to happen . It kinda seems he has plans for him and i dont think the plan is for him to be a backup , if he does sign eventually .. let's see

Stop that . Essien can gtfo any day , but Muntari is needed in Milan. Sulley does his role justice and is there when we need him . Sulley bleeds for Milan . Sulley the Thug King fears noone . SulleyMan .

Sulley is love , Sulley is life .

We must also never forget that Sulley stopped Milan from signing Kuzmanovic by sacrificing himself and attacking him in the derby.

It is a pity that Di Marzio has rubbished the rumours of a loan move for Song, he would represent a massive upgrade over Essien and Muntari in the midfield rotation. Whilst he would be a capable emergency anchor, he is far better when given license to advance forward, something he would have the freedom to do with disciplined midfielders such as Montolivo and De Jong. It would only be a move I could sanction if we continued to cut down the squad though and it seems unlikely that we'll remove much more deadwood at this stage.

Armero on the verge of joining Milan.

http://gianlucadimarzio.com/en/calciomercato/armero-agrees-to-terms-with-milan/

Honestly guys I think some are being too harsh on Dzemaili. While he is not a word class talent, he would certainly bring something to the Milan midfield at this time. I have seen many Napoli games and he has literally won a several games himself with crucial goals. He has experience in the champions league and at a fairly high level with Switzerland.

I think Napoli are only considering letting him go because he does not suit the dual pivot midfield used by Rafa. In a three man midfield he excels and could prove quite useful for Milan.

Seems like Diego Lopez signing is getting pretty close.

http://gianlucadimarzio.com/milan/milan-diego-lopez-lagente-in-arrivo-in-italia-domani-si-puo-chiudere/