Mercato Rossonero: Milan Transfer Activity Inside Out

I can't seem to remember this site. I need to book mark it.

Kalinic was never the right player. He was never going to get double digits for goals. I predicted 4-5 goals. I was one off.

We're kind of loaded in Bernard's position, but why did he want Everton? A team that isn't even in the EL? Rabiot is fine.

Bakayoko? No thanks.

The reason why I think Bakayoko is not a good idea is we need a starter. Not a sub to kessie. To even loan him with right to redeem it will be for 35 million. For a sub? No. He would have to start. Corriere Dello Sport seems to like him a lot. I am not sure about him.

Draxler is a name coming up a lot right now too. I would be in favor of that, but not at the cost of Rodriguez. We don't have a replacement for Rodriguez.

GiancarloC wrote:The reason why I think Bakayoko is not a good idea is we need a starter. Not a sub to kessie. To even loan him with right to redeem it will be for 35 million. For a sub? No. He would have to start. Corriere Dello Sport seems to like him a lot. I am not sure about him.

Draxler is a name coming up a lot right now too. I would be in favor of that, but not at the cost of Rodriguez. We don't have a replacement for Rodriguez.

Apparently Bakayoko is meant to give us different options. Three come to my mind:

1. We have NOBODY to pair with Biglia for a hypothetical switch to 4-2-3-1. Bakayoko is that guy.
2. He is a beast defensively, and in games against stronger teams like Juve, we may need to field him AND Kessie next to Biglia with a view to a more muscular, more defensive midfield.
3. He is capable of being the substitute to BOTH Kessie and Biglia.

So, considering he was awesome in Monaco and we're not paying anything for him yet, I'd say this is another genius transfer.

Meanwhile, the summer of 2017, during which we were excited with all those signings to the point of heart attack, seems in retrospect to be one replete with horrible transfers.

Conti: Best Italian right-back at the time we bought him, but poor guy's been injured for a year. Who knows how long it'll take him to be himself again. I predict he'll come good next season.

Biglia: Very good player, but hasn't hit top form.

Borini: Can't quite comprehend what Borini is and why we signed him. Played in defense, midfield, and attack, and was never an inch above average.

Kalinic: Where to start? Piss-poor all year, embarrassing conduct with his national team, and finally sold at half the price Fiorentina ripped us off for him. Scintillating transfer.

Andre Silva: I guess all Milanisti are sick and tired of hearing about potential, potential, potential. Terrible all the way except in the group stage of Euro League. He may yet be sold for the same amount we paid for him. In that case, no sweat, Andre.

Only Kessie, Rodriguez, Hakan and Bonucci did well.

Note 1: Bonucci did well not on but off the pitch; he created conditions that led to the captures of Higuain and Caldara. They say he helped Romagnoli grow. I hope so, though I'm not sure how that can be proven.

Note 2: I don't think I'll ever find out why/how Jose Mauri has been in our first team since 2015. Forget about selling the douche, how have we not terminated his contract yet?

Sweet rumors going round...

Apparently, we've agreed personal terms with Quincy Promes, by many accounts the best player of the Russian league since 2016. He is fast, has averaged a goal per every two games, consistently provides assists, and has kicked Memphis Depay out of the Holland XI. At 25m, he'd be a damn steal.

Elsewhere, they say Draxler is itching to come to Milan. If we do get Bakayoko, Draxler, and Promes in actuality, it's a clean 10/10 market... considering our budget.

Borini isn't bad as a utility player. He had several goals. Didn't cost as much as Kalifraudic.

Leonardo talked... Draxler is someone he mentioned quite clearly. Bakayoko is most likely to come. I'm just not sure how good he is. He can't pass from what I have heard from Chelsea fans and has a reputation of being clumsy.

http://app.football-italia.net/?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.football-italia.net%2FSerieA%2Fmatch%2F106743#article/footballitalia-125969&menu=news-all

More on what Leonardo has said.

Our budget is now better than what it was under the Chinese ownership. I think what they are thinking about is FFP. We may have one of the biggest vulture funds supporting this team now, but we can't run afoul with FFP again.

With Kalinic we actually had a net savings of 10 million. We took a loss of around 7.5 million on his transfer though. But wages and everything accounted for, it was a ten million Euro gain.

http://app.football-italia.net/index.htm#article/footballitalia-125840&menu=news-all

Funny how accounting can work out. Surprised Atletico was stupid enough to sign him. He is a completely useless player.

Oh and Suso is mentioned as staying at Milan and that Leonardo has no intention in selling.

Draxler + Bakayoko in I suppose would be fine, but I have my doubts about Bakayoko and lately my footballing instincts have been accurate.

According to sources (football-italia for one), Bakayoko will have his medical tomorrow. Hope he proves my doubts incorrect.

And come on guys, let's start posting again.

I have a feeling there will be another transfer or two after Bakayoko. SMS? One can dream. Draxler? Well Leonardo did mention him by name. These would easily put us in CL contention with Higuain upfront. That goal against Real Madrid was splendid... Unfortunately we didn't win but it was undeserved. We played fine football.

Good to see the Milan forum is now back to life

I can't thank Elliott enough for saving us from the plague called Li. You can tell the atmosphere at Milanello is a lot brighter than it previously was

My take on transfers -
I've got no words to express how I feel about the Higuian transfer. yes, I've criticised him a lot in the past for being a choker but There's no denying his talent. You just have to watch his goal yesterday to realize what sort of striker he is, don't think any of our strikers scored a goal like that the whole of last season, plus I don't think he will be under much pressure to proof himself here. All we need is a midfield and the wingers to support and provide for him and I bet, he will be hitting double figures before we know it

on Caldara, I can't say I've watched him a lot but I know he has been rated highly long before his move to Milan. I hope he lives up to the promise and hype around him and doesn't choke under the pressure of proving himself in a historic team like Milan. Eitherways, I'm excited to see how he performs and how he builds his partnership with Romagnoli

On Bakayoko, well I'm the least excited about this transfer but I think the management has got a plan. Maybe Leo still sees some potential in him and I think he brings some level of tactical variations to the table but for 40million, I call this a huge risk. Hopefully it works out for the sake of the team

On Quincy Promes, I've never seen him play nor heard so much about him. Only caught a video of him on YouTube after we were linked to him. He sure looked skilful on the video but like we all know highlights could be misleading. Since Iras thinks he's good though, then I'm on board.. Yaayyh!!

I believe Leo has a special gift up his sleeve. I'm expecting a deadline day "Grazie President" kinda deal alla Galliani. Leo seems to have really learnt a lot from G

I'm so excited for the upcoming season. Next week couldn't come any sooner.
Here's to a great season
Forza Milan!!!

Talking of wingers, I keep wondering why we haven't had a look in on Goncalo Guedes. I'd take the kid over Draxler anytime any day. All it took was one match last season to notice his talent

Yes, he had a quiet world cup but he showed the whole of last season that he has the necessary attributes to grow into a top player

I was thinking since Leo has a good rapport with PSG, why not try to hijack this deal from under Valencia's nose. There's a lot of upside with this kid

I wouldn't take away that Fassone and Mirabelli did have a number of good transfers. But I think what we are seeing is a step above. But it's true that we're not just signing any random player under the new management. Kalinic was a complete panic buy and one that failed miserably for us. I do appreciate them signing Conti, Calhanoglu (who needed more freedom to really shine!), and Bonucci (despite him leaving back to Juventus it ended up working out great for us). Nonetheless, Li NEVER provided financial security to this team and was dishonest about his own financial standing. Elliott wants to protect their investment.

Quincy Promes is 26 years old, and is not that young of a player. I'm wary of taking players that shine in the Russian or Ukrainian leagues. I still remember Luiz Adriano.

Bakayoko's medical is indeed confirmed for monday. (Sportmediaset)

https://www.milannews.it/calciomercato-milan/gdm-milan-offerta-per-castillejo-18-milioni-piu-il-cartellino-di-bacca-per-il-prestito-con-obbligo-di-riscatto-il-villarreal-ha-rifiutato-304615

Oh and another name has come up being Samu Castillejo. He's a midfielder/winger. I just hope this doesn't mean we're trying to sell Suso. Anyways, I think we'll keep Suso. Castillejo may give us more options. What I like about this rumor is we offfered 18 million plus Bacca (loan with obligation to buy). Villarreal refused and want 25 million (without Bacca), but we're not too far off. Poor Bacca... just not worth that much in their eyes... maybe 20+Bacca would work.

https://www.milannews.it/calciomercato-milan/dal-portogallo-milan-sporting-accordo-per-il-prestito-di-bacca-304618

Bacca may be on his way to Portugal's Sporting CP. We'll see.

Can someone please buy him? He can't be that useless.

I wouldn't really mind if we keep Bacca as an option off the bench. Despite his limitations and behavioural issues, we all know he has the ability of scoring goals. Plus he really looked lovely and threatening when he came on yesterday

I don't think Leonardo wants Bacca around because of his terrible attitude. Bacca... a Berlusconi era relic. I do appreciate that Berlusconi did get us Romagnoli.

It's not like he can't score. He did get double digits for Villarreal. I take it they don't like his attitude either. I don't know if we really want him even on the bench if he'll cause problems. Bacca from what I have heard wants to go back to Villarreal... and they have a player we're interested in. So something should be able to work out.

https://www.milannews.it/news/borini-non-convince-con-il-genoa-possibile-opzione-cutrone-esterno-304577

Borini may be out the door too. Wow. We're really clearing house.

BTW, Bakayoko has landed in Italy.

https://www.football-italia.net/126087/bakayoko-and-aina-arrive

So that's done. Well I'll welcome him. Perhaps he'll prove me wrong. He is a big name... but will he live up to his price?

And as far as all this activity (Antonelli even left btw), I think we're clearing up our wage bill as much as possible. I hear Montolivo may even rescind his contract. This could mean we're planning a big move for SMS. I'm starting to think that's what happening.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BmY8cdmgFhZ/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=embed_loading_state_control

Yeah... Bakayoko is definitely in Italy at Westin Palace hotel.

I just wonder... where he'll play. We seriously just didn't sign a 40 million euro bench warmer (5+35 loan option to buy).

uzonero wrote:I wouldn't really mind if we keep Bacca as an option off the bench. Despite his limitations and behavioural issues, we all know he has the ability of scoring goals. Plus he really looked lovely and threatening when he came on yesterday

Don't really see how Bacca is going to play because we have a one striker system with Higuain and Cutrone already.

Thanks for the mention, @uzonero!

Bakayoko's in the bag. 5m for a single-season loan, given he's worth 40m, is wonderful. If he proves indispensable, 35m is nothing these days. If he underperforms, good bye, and good luck.

Rabiot's said no to PSG. If Leonardo doesn't sign him at half the price, I'll doubt his IQ. The lanky guy is a starter at such a star-studded club like PSG, worth at least 50m, and we can get him for 30 tops; some sources speak of 15-20. He can easily have replaced Biglia (32 YO) by the end of the season.

As for wingers, the Draxler links have cooled, and we are now linked with three people: Quincy Promes (25m), Samu Castillejo (15m) and Anthony Martial (65m). Each offer something different, and though Giancarlo's point is valid about Russian imports, I still think that, given the price, Promes is the only one who offers creativity, speed and goals all in one package.

I don't like the Milinkovic-Savic rumors. I have two reasons:

1. If our funds are limited, it makes more sense to sign three players for 120m rather than merely one. We're not Barcelona, we're not more than covered in every role nor have Malcom and Vidal on the bench. For instance, their starting XI simply cannot be improved, so they wanna get Pogba because he's marketable and could be sold any time they feel like it. We, on the other hand, have serious holes in our squad and minus Romagnoli, every single member of our XI can be improved. You can't have the average Calabria at RB while Milinkovic plays in midfield. That just can't work.

2. What happened to us with Ibra was too unbearable. We had to sell him at the peak of his powers to balance the books, and make no mistake: with FFP, that issue still very much exists. I wouldn't like to have another superstar if it meant we gotta inevitably lose it at some point in the future.

Finally, regarding Bacca, his case is like that of Abate, Montolivo, Mauri, etc. When you can't get ANYTHING for them in return, you're better off keeping them. Locatelli was sold for 10-14m. That's awesome. But can you get that for Bacca and Montolivo? Apparently not. So, let's just keep the cryhead with an attitude.

Now that Andre Silva is gone, we can keep Bacca with a clear conscience, knowing that signing any average replacements is gonna cost us at least 15-20m. In a world where Paco Alcacers and Simone Zazzas are priced at 20-30m, Bacca is the best substitute imaginable.

We are selling enough players to balance the books for a move for Milinkovic-Savic and we have a better financial backer now to do so. He would be a huge upgrade to what we have in midfield and also plug the holes in midfield. Rabiot would be great too.

Also as far as Bacca I think he will be gone as he truly wants Villarreal and Samu Castillejo is more attainable for us. Bacca will most likely be included in a deal for him.

Oh and Conti will be great with Milinkovic-Savic. Yes we have some holes in our squad, starting with midfield... So we would just pass up on signing him? That seems seriously strange. Calabria would do just fine and is still a young player himself.

GiancarloC wrote:We are selling enough players to balance the books for a move for Milinkovic-Savic and we have a better financial backer now to do so. He would be a huge upgrade to what we have in midfield and also plug the holes in midfield. Rabiot would be great too.

We are not selling players ONLY because we have too many, but because they're not good enough. We definitely need a Biglia sub, and yet we're getting rid of both of his deputies: Montolivo and Locatelli. That means one thing only: there will be more than one midfielder coming in. So, it's not like we sold Kalinic, Antonelli, Locatelli and (potentially) Andre Silva all to make one big offer for SMS. There will be at least two more players coming in, Bakayoko notwithstanding.

For the books to get balanced you need to go deep in UCL knockout stages, sell millions of jerseys and have your own stadium. That's why, among other things, Elliott aspires to settle that chronic crisis called "the San Siro dilemma."

GiancarloC wrote:Also as far as Bacca I think he will be gone as he truly wants Villarreal and Samu Castillejo is more attainable for us. Bacca will most likely be included in a deal for him.

They say Castillejo is Leo's top target and Promes is Plan B, yet, I don't know the dude one bit. I wish someone introduced him to me in detail here.

GiancarloC wrote:Oh and Conti will be great with Milinkovic-Savic. Yes we have some holes in our squad, starting with midfield... So we would just pass up on signing him? That seems seriously strange. Calabria would do just fine and is still a young player himself.

Obviously Milinkovic-Savic is the hottest midfield talent in the world and no top club in their right minds would pass on him given the chance.

BUT, all I'm saying is, for the crazy price we would hypothetically be paying for him, we can get three players and vastly improve three areas instead of one, including Rabiot who could be considered roughly the same player as SMS.

For instance, we have two top center backs and two average ones, we don't have a show-running, string-pulling central midfielder (e.g. Modric) at all, while Hakan has no deputy and Suso's (Halilovic) is a career-long flop. Despite all these shortcomings, getting ourselves a superstar is anything but shrewd. When a poor guy wins a $1 million lottery, it doesn't make sense to buy a $1 million Bugatti. He needs to get his priorities straight.

The only positive to getting Milinkovic-Savic, beside his technical merits, is the fact that it puts us on the map again; it gives us pulling power, our lost allure. Only in that regard could it be considered a smart move.

40+55 million loan with obligation to buy and Bonaventura is being discussed with Lazio. Then we can get the more attainable Samu Castillejo.

SMS is not impossible and isn't just a dream. SMS is better than Rabiot. We can still sign three players, including SMS.

By the way, many of our problems stem in midfield and getting SMS would solve these problems. He is a flexible player and isn't restricted to one position in midfield.

And Samu Castillejo plays essentially the same position as Suso, so there is your deputy. As far as Hakan, that can wait until the winter. Hakan seems to be very fit.

Our biggest hole is the one SMS would fill, so this is a no brainer for me.