We couldn't of course . You must own a player to loan him , otherwise we would have to disolve the deal with Chelsea and Chelsea should take over the negotiations with Atletico , effectively disrupting Milan's plans for the Cerci swap , since we would have nothing to give to them if Chelsea gave them Torres . Not only that , I believe Galliani went down that road of signing Torres instead of asking for an exchange of loans , simply to stop Inter's chances on getting Cerci . That last minute bash Inter made forced us to actually sign Torres if we wanted Cerci , otherwise we would just offload Torres from our wage list , without getting Cerci .

Besides all that , what happened here has also likely to do with paper work and what Milan and Atletico wanted to grind out , involving Chelsea would have quite possibly made things complicated and would need more time to see the deal through completion . It's of course easier to just fully sign Torres , but.. It's still unknown what we paid to sign him permanently , or if we paid at all?

I wonder how much all of this is going to cost us in the end. Signing Torres and continue to pay half his wages for as long this current loan remains . Atletico certainly didn't contribute in his signing from Chelsea , but will they reduce Cerci's overall cost if it turns out we paid to sign Torres? And by all means , are we doing all of this to loan Cerci ? I guess Torres should be a free agent after this loan deal , but what about Cerci once his loan is over ?

Are we going to sign him for good now , or is it a dry loan and Milan will have to negotiate again , maybe even be refused if his price gets bigger? It may seem like a crazy good deal for our part right now , but i would really appreciate some details . Cause it seems like we are going to pay a bit too much just for a dry loan , going by current info. Signing Torres and paying half his wages for 2 years for another team , seems an awfull lot to pay for just about a simple loan without an option to buy . And of course , Milan will be paying Cerci's wages too , numbers of which remain unknown , yet , he will hardly be earning anything less than he currently does . So..

Unless we buy Cerci permanently right now , or at the very least , have an option to buy him from this loan deal , it seems Atletico is getting the better of this deal and certainly not Milan , as everyone seems to believe . Atletico just got rid of Cerci's wages and got a player they wanted for just 2m a season , all that without paying a cent to sign him permanently . Torres is officially our player and thus if it ever comes to it , our issue , not Chelsea's anymore and doing all that just to loan Cerci , it raises an Ancelotti like eyebrow .

Let's hope there's at least an option to buy , or now that we have Torres fully , we can exchange the players with some minimum amount , if required. That should be a good deal , dry loan of Cerci with everything that went with it , yeah , i don't think it's such a great deal as everyone makes it out to be. Let's see.

You guys are also apparently in for Casco or Vangioni (LBs in Argentine league, both very good). Who would've guessed Milan would actually make smart moves this winter.

Its very weird that we're going in the Argentine market, traditionally we'd go for Brazilians lol

How highly do you rate Vangioni BC?

I like him a lot. He's fast and has a lot of stamina as you would expect of a FB, he has a good shot and has scored a couple screamers for River, and likes to get involved in the build up overlapping. He's more of an "attacking LB" than a defensive one, however, so if you guys are looking for a marshall I wouldn't say that's him.

Before the WC I wanted him as Argentina's LB, but Marcos Rojo kinda shut my mouth for eternity during the tournament so now I merely want him as a sub

What about Casco?

Don't know as much about him, I barely watch Newell's. I can tell you he was picked for several "best of the season" lists and is highly rated in Argentina - Boca are apparently also after him. Here's a scouting vid:

I am slightly concerned that Casco and Vangioni are 26 and 27 years old, respectively. I hope they didn't peak early.

The good news is we're being linked with Destro.

The bad news is that it's being suggested that it would be a swap deal for El Shaarawy.

I'm just going to sit here and trust that we're not that dense.

Torres to Atletico on loan confirmed.

https://www.facebook.com/AtleticodeMadrid/photos/pcb.10152922157717389/10152922155912389/?type=1&theater

Now that's a hashtag I can get behind.

I really do wish Torres all the best though. He was certainly not successful but he conducted himself very professionally which is all one can ask.

Translated from italian:

Milan-Udinese, negotiation for Niang: the details. And Muriel

Milan-Udine, Niang  departing. And ready to move on. The Rossoneri seems to be behind us: l ' Udinese Stramaccioni is trying concretely, and wants to do it his own. Ongoing negotiations between the parties, Niang towards the loan in Friuli. Between the two clubs has also spoken of Muriel but for the Colombian, assisted by Alessandro Lucci, there seems to be only Samp in the future: Udinese have already made ​​a commitment with the club Ferrero (moved in advance), and the player believes the solution Sampdoria the best to grow and bloom forever. Via Muriel, here Niang (maybe). These are: the market does not stop, and the Serie A changes a little 'face.

http://gianlucadimarzio.com/serie-a/milan/milan-udinese-trattativa-per-niang-i-dettagli-e-su-muriel/

Would rather have Urby with his left leg amputated upfront rather than Muriel

I can see the logic behind such a move however I'm not in favour. I think Muriel could eventually turn into a decent striker but I think he'll be similar to Bacca. A solid but profligate forward thriving in his niche as a relatively late bloomer. I've no confidence in Muriel as a super substitute in his current state, struggling with fitness and form nor do I see a good opportunity for him to break into the starting eleven given how Menez views Menez and Honda, not to mention the imminent arrival of Cerci.

Niang's value is only going to increase until he's about 23. There's no point selling a 20 year old who is mostly an unknown quantity. He was good on loan at Montpellier, but was pretty dreadful last time I saw him play for us as a sub a couple of weeks ago. He could be another PEA, and if we're not going to use him, we could at least play it smart and make some $ off him.

Milan still in Brozovic race but face competition from Arsenal & Everton

Milan hasn't given up on signing Marcelo Brozovic but face stiff competition from England. The rossoneri's main focus was on completing the Torres for Cerci swap, but they also made an offer of around 7 million euro to Dinamo Zagreb for the midfielder born in 1992. The Croatian club turned down the offer since they want 10 million euro especially considering Brozovic has a long term contract through 2019. Arsenal also made an offer for Brozovic that was turned down, while Everton is also negotiating with Dinamo Zagreb. Brozovic will be in the headlines of the transfer news in January,

http://gianlucadimarzio.com/en/calciomercato/milan-still-in-brozovic-race-but-face-competition-from-arsenal-everton/

Well at least our offer wasn't as insulting as first projected. Though I haven't watched him often I'm glad that we're being linked with someone of the right profile. Young, creative and a full international. Realistically though we'll refuse to make up the difference with Dinamo's evaluation and someone else will swoop in and grab him.

I hope you guys like Kucka

10m to get another rotation midfielder ??? of course , that's what Milan does ffs i totes see it happening .

I would like to have Brozovic just because of his name tbh

http://www.espnfc.com/story/2220861/schalke-confirm-interest-in-manchester-citys-matija-nastasic

Also, BILD is reporting that Nasta is 1 step away from joining Schalke...

What other young, relatively cheap, left-footed CB is out there? Balanta?

Fabian Schar's contract expires next summer...hopefully Galliani does something there

A pity but by no means a surprise. I fear that we will similarly miss on opportunities such as Schar in the near future as well as we struggle to reduce our numbers in central defence. In the summer I'd like to see Zapata, Zaccardo and one of Rami or Mexes depart in favour of a new arrival but even then I suspect we'll simply see no activity in this area at all.

In other news, Di Marzio suggests that Muriel is close to Sampdoria and that our interest has arrived too late, which is not particularly disappointing news.

Cerci in Milan

http://gianlucadimarzio.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/wpid-img-20150101-wa0057.jpg

Sky claims that we talked about Mario Suarez with Atleti, how does everyone feel about him as a potential NDJ replacement considering that NDJ's contract expired next summer

We need a dynamic defensive midfielder similar to prime Essien; De Jong is a great player but I don't feel that he fits Inzaghi's system. If M. Suarez is similar to a prime Essien then he should be a welcome addition.

No thanks, I wouldn't trust any midfielder coming out of Atletico, Gabi aside. Simeone's system allows each of his players to come in and look strong because they have a very strict, limited role to fulfil. We require our midfielders to assume greater responsibility however. Simeone managed to get to a Champions League final with Tiago, a certified Serie A scrub of the highest order, starting in midfield. Free of his magic, there's no telling how they'll perform.

If we must replace De Jong, I'd rather we pursue our previous links to Geis.

dostoevsky wrote:
If we must replace De Jong, I'd rather we pursue our previous links to Geis.

That :vagi: when he becomes Merkel 2.0