Mercato Rossonero: Milan Transfer Activity Inside Out

I don't think management is too keen on Kalinic and there are other players that are definitely available. Kalinic is a huge liability too considering he is one of the most inconsistent strikers. We may as well just keep Bacca then spending 30 million on mediocrity.

We've been "bad-habitted" as we say in Persian... That is, the club's quick-fire signings in June and July gave us the habit of expecting more than one signing a week. Therefore, the period since the signing of Biglia feels more like two years to us than two weeks.

Anyway. Aubameyang the dream, Costa the most realistic target, Belotti definitely off for at least a year, Kalinic like the girl who's always held a crush on you but you had other priorities--the girl you'd only call out when other plans all fail. And then, of course, there are Mirabelli's secret, non-media-ed options which can shock us when announced.

All fine and dandy, except I want a fast-ass winger and a complete midfielder more than that elusive CF. Bundesliga is that dream destination where our dream targets, as well as a lot of potential future stars, are playing. Dembele, Pulisic, Goretzka, Werner, Forsberg, Sanches... and that man Aubameyang.

If we don't sign all of the above-mentioned by 31 Aug, our transfer campaign will have been a 2/10 tops.

Giovanni , how many one more chance does he get to have

He was given more chances - especially after struggling/failing - than any other young player i can remember at Milan. What is there to see anymore? He could be of use as back up CF , playing second striker next to the main guy. That's the only time he wasn't terrible for Milan and actually begun looking like a proper player. He's not and will never be a proper winger . Only has the athleticism , almost nothing else.

It's the very least amusing that Niang tryhards in preseason for the umpteenth time only to trick everyone thinking he can turn out good , even after all this time , it's amazing. I don't know what goals Montella set for him , try to be a proffessional maybe? Do you remember why he left last season , do you remember him not giving a fk as if he was some ballon o dor winner in friendlies??

I cannot possibly describe the madness that gets into me when i see Niang doing these things , especially when said player is a far cry from a star player. Star players attitudes and such i can handle , i am used to it , but watching fkn Niang like that makes me lose it . I was mad throwing insults all over and yelling what this POS is doing.

That's when he is like that , when he just does Niang things like that control against Bayern and the like , i am just smh nonstop . Even when he was doing well under Miha , all i said was good for him and for us finally , he will probably be sold in a year. I thought it was Watford , what i think his actual level really is , but there he is once again , at Milan.

I'll just have to say what i always say all these years. Let's hope you guys are right about Niang.

Honestly Dante, i have a huge soft spot for a lot of our players...reason being is that the team has performed so badly that we have given many of our players too much flak in my opinion

if you compare this team to the one that juve had in the season before they won the scudetto, Conte didnt exactly have the best squad in the league. Maybe the memory is short but Simone Pepe had a huge role, as well as Quagliarella, Matri and Vucinic...the difference between these players from the Ferrera/Del Neri days to Contes were a matter of attitude and team play if you ask me. What i mean by all this is that Montella appears to be a step up from the coaches that Niang has had in the past. we have not been steady with systems or management and that makes it difficult for a young player to have a role. I expect Niang and other written off players to perform better in Montella's 2nd year, i dont want to say that Montella is equal to Conte or anything like that, i just firmly believe some solidarity would do wonders for how each member of our squad plays. It doesnt mean much to me how they have performed before now, only in the last year have we had anything resembling a proper system, i would like to see how they perform in an actual squad with actual organization and whatnot, then we can let them go if unproven

again, the team faltered toward the winter break, and after our best player (bonventura) got injured, we lacked any fluidity whatsoever. Just about every player in our starting 11 studdered, seemingly.

The thing with Niang is... he still can recoup a large transfer fee and is rated by many teams. What i said before was that montella obviously feels that he has worked on himself, and even at his age it wouldnt be absurdity to suggest he still might come good one day, each player has a different potential and some players are cast away due to poor form more than anything, i really feel that he was affected by our sudden drop in form last season and failed to improve on his ability... which is why they loaned him out. DOnt get me wrong here...we all know his inconsistency, that miss vs barca :'(, his attitude, but he has had flashes, and is a player that can have a role

If they wanted to sell him they would have done a long time ago, why havent they? im speculating of course but i think that Montella see something in him worthwhile and is trying to unearth it

We would probably go after a player just as hyped/expensive as him, had we not received him back from watford

Just my thoughts on him though, dont expect many to agree

I agree about stability and the positive effect it can have on players , even players who struggled in the past . That is a good enough argument at least , i agree with this if Montella really thinks Niang can still be of proper use.

My objections however remain in place. I just can't shake off all the Niang things i've seen , i'll just have to see another Niang to be convinced.

Why haven't they sold him yet? Well it's certainly not for lack of try . Not sure if you remember but in 15-16 , Leicester made an offer for Niang , 15m something was it. We never said no but Niang rejected it. And again with Watford , we even worked out conditions for an obligatory signing , which Niang never reached anyway. After that , was it Niang who again rejected the move anyway , or was it Watford rejecting him? We tried to sell him , that was and is still very much evident.

As far as his role goes , that's one of the main issues with him. His best was next to the main CF , a SS. Is he good enough to trust him as a starter ? Obviously not . Because for the wings , the only reason he features there is because of his athleticism ; that doesn't make Niang a proper winger , nor any player. Not a good one at least .

You need skill on the wing , especially in a 4-3-3 , where you are tasked with all sorts of extra duties , other than run hard all day up and down and maybe have a good cross here and there like in 4-4-2 classic wing.

What does Niang have? Terrible first touch , clumsy and utterly bereft of imagination passes , his entire notion of ball control is put strength against people , his dribbling is pure randomness , both going by what his decision making usually is and execution , last season he barely helped tracking back either ... so many negatives from Niang really. He is simply put , bad on the ball. A bad player on the ball .

Positives.. He has a decent cross when he is given some space and nobody's pressuring him hard , one in who even knows how many , and then he's fast when he has space to run at. I've seen him make good crosses , but i honestly struggle calling him a good crosser of the ball. And the reason is simple , in this too he is also deeply inconsinstent . There's no pattern with him , whatever comes.

Does this look like a reliable winger ? He's one of the most illiterate players i've seen on the wing. So .. i do hope he's meant for backup forward once we go 3-5-2. I will trust in Montella if that's the case. Niang's only hope is to play as SS again , of that there is really no doubt anymore. He is no winger and he will never really be a good one.

Alas , whether he trully deserves yet another chance or not , the fact of the matter is he's been around since 12-13 and fans talk about him as if he's 19 still. That's his progress . I am very , very tired of Niang and the Niang things he does. And unless i am severely mistaken , Niang was an utter disgrace before any sudden dips in form or Bonaventura's injury and all that. He was just bad enough to get benched and his efforts and attitude off of it made everybody mad , Montella benched him for good after a certain point and he left on loan in January. The drop in form was after Bonaventura's injury , please do correct me if i am wrong , but i am pretty certain Niang lost his place all by himself and he failed to get it back all by himself.

In the end , i can understand believing in our players.. for that , take what i say with a pinch of salt if you like , since i too wish him well , if he can do well then why not. He's our player , of course i will wish for the best. But do i believe in him ? I do not . And i very much believe we should have someone better , more expensive and what not , instead of Niang.

So it seems like we are getting Diego Costa

That leaves a Mezzala and a winger left according to Montella

Probably Cuadrado and Badelj/Sanches based on rumors

BIG FK NO to Cuadrado

just NO

where's that Noooooo button when you need it

the rest i like

Diego Costa... now this is a name that has caught me by surprise. He certainly is a world class strker and a very dangerous one at that. Not the type of players other Serie A teams would want to see running at them. There is a chance we'll get Badelj and Sanches both. Sanches has not improved for Bayern in pre-season friendly games and looks like he wants out. He simply isn't putting his heart into any of the games.

As far as Cuadrado... He has horrible end product and is not the player we want. He's a headless chicken type of player.

Oh and as far as Niang... I believe he'll be sold this summer, and if not... maybe the next. Especially if we bag Costa and another winger.

In addition to Bacca, Paletta and Sosa have also left Milanello and are not taking part in the group training in the afternoon [Sky].

Bacca and Paletta i don't like being treated like that , but they probably brought this upon themselves , we all knew they were leaving but they are still here , so this should speed things up. As for Sosa ... when Milan accepts offers and he refuses , he needs to get the message , one way or the other , and stop trying to be a leech. Fully deserved ostracization on Sosa. Hopefully this finally clears the air with him , he really is not needed in this Milan .

Man what a summer and what a start from the new management. Ruthless moves all over the place

10/10 mercato whatever else happens , they deserve all the praise

Fassone & Mirabelli

I think they are simply being left out due to the fact that their european eligibility would be comprimised if they were to play for us against craiova

if we cant find solid deals for them then theres a chance they could feature in our season

Something to keep an eye on in the next few months: Huarong will be announced as a financial partner behind AC Milan on September 30th.

Huarong is a public company that was started by the Chinese government in the 1990s. It is one with substantial and significant financial power that may eclipse that of PSG's ownership. We literally may have the richest owners of any team in Europe.

Scary stuff for any of our rivals. Suning doesn't come close close.

I wonder how that clown James Pallotta feels now...

Hyped for the game tonight, sold out San Siro is always incredible

^^^^^^

I love it the fans filled San Siro , especially in this time of the summer . Waiting patiently for the game as well , i expect better than last time and perhaps a somewhat more aggressive approach , now that we are at home. Andre Silva was supposed to start the game but has a minor issue so Cutrone will take his place , read that he might play later on

@Giancarlo

What is the source about Huarong being the sponsor Fassone was talking about ?

a packed san siro...primed for our first real home game of the season...gonna be a good one boys

Seems like its Kalinic boys

Kaliniiiiic

hmmm yes

yeeeesss

Giancarclo what's your opinion on Kalinic ?

I'm frankly not sure anymore whether we can actually get the long-promised world class striker. With the Neymar fiasco capturing club executives' imaginations, now Aubameyang is also being priced at over 100m by those ever-tantalizing Dortmund jerks. Of course, if Lukaku is worth 80m, then Aubameyang is easily 120m, but the prices are really starting to verge on the surreal. PSG are not world class in a lot of positions, so what's the point of getting a statement signing with money you can spend on 5-6 first-rate players?

Anyway. I'm really pissed by Falcao reports. I love the guy and his elegance on the field is all too visible, but he's 31 and coming off the back of a horrible injury. We don't need that on our hands. We need a lion of a striker performing in 60 games a year.

We will not get any strikers (beside that nuisance, Kalinic, of course) unless the owners decide to put aside all considerations and write a desperate, mad check either to Dortmund or to Torino. It's not late yet AT ALL, but it is getting so. We have three and a half weeks to put an end to this situation.

The sweetest scenario I like to imagine, though, is that Fassone and Mirabelli - the twisted, conniving, manipulative, snakes they are - plan to astound us with a deadline day signing that gives us all something very close to a heart attack. It's a nice plan alright, but somewhat risky too, seeing as we might lose a couple points during the first two games (vs Crotone and Cagliari) without Mr. X.

We've done stunning, stunning work so far, let's make it dreamy with the signing of that midfielder, that winger, and that goddamn striker.

La Gazzetta dello Sport: Urbano Cairo turned down every offer he received for Andrea Belotti this summer, the biggest being a sum of €70m + Paletta & Niang from Milan as he held out for €100m.

@milaneye

Very sceptical about what they claim there. If you would believe the media , we've proposed anything from 40-60m plus players up to 70m plus players . I don't think they really know what we proposed to Cairo , they just speculate based on that Mirabelli quote , when he said our offer was the biggest in the history of Milan for Belotti .

I personally do not believe Cairo would say no to 70m plus Paletta AND Niang. I'd seriously need Fassone or Mirabelli to confirm this before i believe it. Personally i do not believe we've offered anything like that , i think it must have been something like 50m plus whoever of Paletta-Niang would be willing to join them . I used to think Cairo was a smart businessman , it's really weird to think he would turn such an offer down ; because this trully seems like an offer you can't refuse.

If he really did that he is such an idiot

IrasMaldinista wrote:I'm frankly not sure anymore whether we can actually get the long-promised world class striker. With the Neymar fiasco capturing club executives' imaginations, now Aubameyang is also being priced at over 100m by those ever-tantalizing Dortmund jerks. Of course, if Lukaku is worth 80m, then Aubameyang is easily 120m, but the prices are really starting to verge on the surreal. PSG are not world class in a lot of positions, so what's the point of getting a statement signing with money you can spend on 5-6 first-rate players?

Anyway. I'm really pissed by Falcao reports. I love the guy and his elegance on the field is all too visible, but he's 31 and coming off the back of a horrible injury. We don't need that on our hands. We need a lion of a striker performing in 60 games a year.

We will not get any strikers (beside that nuisance, Kalinic, of course) unless the owners decide to put aside all considerations and write a desperate, mad check either to Dortmund or to Torino. It's not late yet AT ALL, but it is getting so. We have three and a half weeks to put an end to this situation.

The sweetest scenario I like to imagine, though, is that Fassone and Mirabelli - the twisted, conniving, manipulative, snakes they are - plan to astound us with a deadline day signing that gives us all something very close to a heart attack. It's a nice plan alright, but somewhat risky too, seeing as we might lose a couple points during the first two games (vs Crotone and Cagliari) without Mr. X.

We've done stunning, stunning work so far, let's make it dreamy with the signing of that midfielder, that winger, and that goddamn striker.

Prices indeed are insane at this point . And it's only getting worse it seems. BVB wanted 100m for Auba even before Neymar , now ? Now they won't even negotiate this , especially when we are in August and day after day it becomes exponentially more difficult to find a proper replacement.

I saw the German Supercup yesterday , BVB-Bayern . If they sell PEA they will suffer and same can be said for Dembele . Unless we pay 100m , he's staying and going by his recent words , he is very much ok with staying at Dortmund . I can only speak for myself , but i've personally written Aubameyang off .

I also watched Monaco-Toulouse the day before. Falcao is nowhere near as bad as he was at Manchester or Chelsea . He's found himself again , but obviously prime Falcao is gone. He's 31 years old and his injury record makes you worried. He could give us a big hand this season , but i am not warmed up to the idea at all. Besides , i don't think Monaco will sell him too if they sell Mbappe , he's also their captain . Imo this won't be happening , he's simply a name on their list , just a possibility .

Kalinic will be last resort , when all else fails.

As for writting a mad check for any of Auba or Belotti ... i don't think Fassone works that way . They want to keep the enthusiasm well going of course , they've made it a point whenever they had the chance , however they also said more than once they aren't going to pay on unfair terms . I get how you said that , like there's a tiny little chance this may happen , but imo we're not paying 100m for anyone this summer , we'd only pay so high if we had a chance to get Ronaldo lol

I personally think it will either be Kalinic & Ibrahimovic , or Belotti , somehow. I've given up on anything else . In any case , i would be happy .

Surveying through the world's most expensive center forwards, the names that pop up most often are Benzema, Suarez, Diego Costa, Lukaku, Kane, Cavani, Higuain, Lewandowski, etc.
I am not hyping the guy up too much or anything, and I'm not biased because he ain't a Rossonero, but I really believe that, all things considered, Aubameyang has strangely and almost unbelievably become the best in the world in this position.

He is 187cm, comfortably the fastest striker on the planet, has a great sense of positioning, and boasts the sort of finishing ability that is simply breathtaking (as also evident against Bayern the other day once again). He is sadly not "young" anymore in the footballing sense of the word, but instead at the peak of his irrepressible powers; something our new team, in fatal need of immediate results, should die and kill for.

I said all that to assert that I truly understand the Dortmund management's reluctance to give the guy up. You can't find such a world class goal specialist for 13m every day. To Dortmund, he's not hard to replace; he's irreplaceable.

To get him is, I think, even more important than getting Bonucci. A player who can carry the team and win matches on his own is rare these days. Bonucci is an absolute leader and a one-man back-line at times, but he's no match-winner and we've been dying for one since Ibra was pushed out by Don Silvio.

I don't give a shit about issuing a 'statement of intent' i.e. a prestige signing. I don't care what others pay for Pogba or Neymar. But I do care about my team, and if I were in charge of the money, Aubameyang would be my first signing. If Yonghong Li wants us to truly take off and fly in Serie A, he has to pay as much as Dortmund demands. It's just so worth it.

The winger or even the midfielder can wait. Personally, I'd sacrifice other positions to get our man. We can somehow live without Renato Sanches or Cuadrado, but not without a truly lethal focal point up top.

Ibra is simply unplayable, Belotti a future superstar, Costa such a complete and excellent targetman, and Falcao a born goal poacher, but there's no question who is the dream signing.

I get how you see things about Auba . I've even said that i might have even paid 100m if it was up to me for Belotti , although i know that's insane , for me it would be worth it down the road.. and really , Aubameyang would be an amazing signing no doubt about it , tbh if we were to pay 100m somehow , Auba is at least more worth such a huge price compared to Belotti.

That said , you can be sure if he was trully the best CF in the world , at the very least one of PSG , Manchester , Chelsea would have bought him instead of Morata or Lukaku. All three were linked with Auba in the last 2-3 months . Imo , he is one of the best surely , but not the best. In fact , it's rather weird that neither United nor Chelsea bought him and when you look instead who they actually got.. you can't help but have questions .

At the end of the day however , regardless of what others did.. fact of the matter is BVB wants 100m and it looks almost definitive at this point that we won't be buying anybody for 100m. I am not sure what's the point spending any more of our time and efforts for Auba.

It's August 7th , Auba won't make a fuss in order to leave and they want 100m. They have absolutely 0 reasons to drop that price , so we either pay it or just move on . I've personally done that already , now if things change , great . If things don't , can't say i would be surprised.

https://twitter.com/ACMilan_Brasil/status/894593169500897282

Pato posted a Milan kit picture and said we will have exciting news tomorrow

Not happening