Mercato Rossonero: Milan Transfer Activity Inside Out

forza.milan wrote:

ES wrote:So, 36.6m to take Vazquez in Jan or 30m in June. We're also reportedly getting this Sensi kid as well (next Verratti apparently ).

Watched him a couple of times this season... the kid has talent

I'm all for the club investing money in talented Italian youth if we actually plan on investing the time as well. Enough of this selling young talent like Saponara, SES, etc... Not that these guys are world beaters or ever will be, but they're good examples of how poorly our management has dealt with youth in the past.

Sinisa seems to have a good youth policy. Problem is, Papa Berlu is already planning on sacking the poor guy.

[Fabrizio Romano] Vazquez has agreed terms with Milan for a June transfer. Milan plan to close the deal with Palermo at 15-18m + bonuses.

June

Not sure how to feel tbh. As a January signing he would have been decent as a stop gap, but to have him come in June is a sad indicator of what's to come. If a 27 year old Palermo player is expected to be our long term n.10 we're in for a rough ride.

Cruijf wrote:Not sure how to feel tbh. As a January signing he would have been decent as a stop gap, but to have him come in June is a sad indicator of what's to come. If a 27 year old Palermo player is expected to be our long term n.10 we're in for a rough ride.

Have you ever seen him play?

15-18m for one of the league's best playmakers is far from something that should cause pessimism for the future.

Please, one of the best playmakers in the league is not saying much

There seems to be this perception that he's a kid - he's not. What we're seeing is what we're getting, and what we're getting is a 27 year old who is decent (good if I'm generous, but certainly not great) and not getting any better. He had one good season and suddenly he's gonna take us to the CL?

Rather someone like him than a kid at the moment. We need results now. Youth policy is good and I'm glad we have a manager who's willing to give youth a chance, but sometimes you have to sprinkle in some good players who have proven themselves in the league. We're vying for top 3 finishes here and a player like him could go a a long way in helping us get there.

That being said, I'd say it's only worth it for the aforementioned price. If the club plans on splashing $30m on someone like him then we have a problem.

Cookie Monster wrote:Rather someone like him than a kid at the moment. We need results now. Youth policy is good and I'm glad we have a manager who's willing to give youth a chance, but sometimes you have to sprinkle in some good players who have proven themselves in the league. We're vying for top 3 finishes here and a player like him could go a a long way in helping us get there.

I see your point and I agree to an extent, but I'd rather a short term signing like this happen in January, with the intent of getting us into the CL this season. In the summer, I'd much rather we go after younger players with higher ceilings.

Maybe I'm naive, but I'm still holding onto the hope that we can challenge for the title in the next 4-5 seasons. We don't have the money or prestige to buy title winning players now, but if we invest in youth now, we can grow our own title winning players.

Vasquez is neither a title winning player nor does he have the potential to become one. Hence my opposition.

I don't mind Vazquez for the aformentioned price as well, but if we re going to set 4-3-1-2 as our main formation (we probably will) then he needs to arrive in January, we have a crap selection of AMs, and we're in dire need of someone like Vazquez.

However, like Cookie said, if its 30m then Zamp can sod off

Kevin-Prince Boateng is close to securing his release from Schalke and agreeing a deal to re-join AC Milan, his agent has confirmed.

The midfielder has already been training and playing in friendlies with Milan for the past two months since being suspended by the Bundesliga club following their 2-0 defeat at Cologne in May.

Boateng's representative Federico Pastorello has now revealed a deal to bring an early end his contract with Schalke – which expires at the end of the season – is in the pipeline, which would pave the way for him to represent Sinisa Mihajlovic's side from January.

"We have taken an important first step and now we look to end the agreement with Schalke in the next few days," Pastorello told MilanNews.

Not too mad about this. Since he will probably do jack shit from Jan-June and leave in June. In the the extremely unlikely event that he does find form and is able to do something of note, then good. Still, that scenario will probably not happen and I would prefer he don't join us to begin with.

Despite being a regular starter as of late, it's unlikely that Milan will redeem Cerci from Atletico by end of the season [@FabrizioRomano].

Suso is going on loan to Genoa [Sky]

Conte is at the top of Milan's wishlist [Sky]

Genoa-Milan relationships still going strong as ever .. sigh

need to start watching more Genoa , future players info e.t.c

As for Conte , i can't take such reports/rumors seriously tbh , maybe with a grain of salt .. can't buy into that , i'll have to see it to believe it

Thoughts on Boateng returning ?

Meh, he isn't gonna elevate this side. But at least he's better than Cerci (when he's not taking shots) on his day, if he can play the same way he played RW in 12/13.

Anyways, wasn't he used as a striker at Schalke? He even had the #9 shirt lol

Supposedly he was to 'be' a striker , but he obviously got found out. He was never a striker , i will never understand why he always wanted to play so close to the goal posts . He has little to nothing of what makes a real striker.

His place is on the right wing , or in a middle 3 , assuming an already established midfield , he can do well there. But for him it's the right wing with Milan , Miha ain't going to try him up top with Bacca , Luiz Adriano and Niang . And then , there's also Balotelli and Menez , let's not forget. Attack is locked down and thankfully so , i couldn't deal with it tbh (:

Hmm i don't know how he will do , but i do believe the competition on the right wing will do everyone good. Tbh , if Boateng ever returned in form , there's no way either Honda or Cerci could keep him out of the 11. I know this much.

But that's a big if , obviously . I've mixed feelings about this , what i feel is that he should at least prove good for competition in the neuralgic position that is RW this season . I don't really believe in either Honda or Cerci , they are both inconsistent and it doesn't mean that much to me when i see the one over the other , simply because it doesn't really take that much for the one to displace the other. Had they found Bonaventura in front of them they would never play .

SO , meh... i welcome the inside competition , not sure which Boateng will show up . I do hope he can help us , he's 28 , had a huge break to recharge batteries and he does love the club ; it could turn up quite nicely.. could be a total failure ..

In general lines i've mixed feelings , not sure what to expect.

We need to buy an attacking RW. Somebody who is fast, creative, and is good on 1 vs 1's. Cerci is awful, Honda is too slow, and I don't think Menez has the workrate to play there.

Cuadrado would've been perfect but of course Juve got him

Casciavit wrote:We need to buy an attacking RW. Somebody who is fast, creative, and is good on 1 vs 1's. Cerci is awful, Honda is too slow, and I don't think Menez has the workrate to play there.

Maybe.. Candreva? I don't see many other options right now , feasible options that is . Even Candreva can't be considered feasible without paying a substantial sum. There are really good players out there , obviously , however it's pretty redundant bothering about , it's Galliani we are talking about here. I would have liked Candreva personally , but it seems we already got Boateng for the RW ..

Cruijf wrote:Cuadrado would've been perfect but of course Juve got him

He was very expensive , so meh .. Anyway , not sure about Cuadrado. Certainly , a very interesting player , however he doesn't seem the same player without the tactical freedom he was afforded in Fiorentina . I can't say i wouldn't have him of course , just that imo there are better options for our RW . I'd possibly want Cuadrado as RB , but not RW tbh , no .

And that's not because he would be bad there , because i think his characteristics are better suited for RB , his A game is at RB taking on the entire wing , it seems kinda limiting him as far as space goes . anyway ,

would still have Candreva over him

Calciomercato says its us vs Inter for Candreva. Tbh I've given up on understanding our transfer policy. Why are we going after a RW and a TQ? Either we play 4-3-1-2 or we play 4-3-3, we can't have both

As long as we are going after actual quality players instead of free scrubs, I don't think it can hurt us. And having options doesn't hurt either.

Cruijf wrote:Calciomercato says its us vs Inter for Candreva. Tbh I've given up on understanding our transfer policy. Why are we going after a RW and a TQ? Either we play 4-3-1-2 or we play 4-3-3, we can't have both

4-4-1-1

Easy enough.

Cookie Monster wrote:

Cruijf wrote:Calciomercato says its us vs Inter for Candreva. Tbh I've given up on understanding our transfer policy. Why are we going after a RW and a TQ? Either we play 4-3-1-2 or we play 4-3-3, we can't have both

4-4-1-1

Easy enough.

4-4-1-1 ? Hmm , that is correct , but only in part. I'll explain shortly . There's also 4-1-4-1 like Pep does it and of course , the 4-2-3-1 .We could even play a variation of the 4-3-3 , 4-2-1-3 , if we'd like .

However , nothing is easy enough when it comes to it really , nothing is certain considering the team may not adapt well to the change . Trying to specifically shoehorn formations is something which , whenever we tried in the past -with any roster and with any coach- , it almost always failed .That said , Vasquez is apparently a potential summer transfer , therefore there's time yet to start making such questions . Things will have changed by then anyway , we don't know what to expect right now . There's still the entirety of the 2nd half of the season ahead.  



As for the 4-4-1-1 . While this formation would still agree with our direct play -if we must insist with it/if Miha is still around (sigh) - , Vasquez would be for all intents and purposes a second striker in that formation , whether we would like to baptise him as a TQ ( under the formation) or not. Seedorf did this with Kaka behind Balotelli , Kaka wasn't playing as a TQ but as SS . It will be the same with Vasquez as well , which means he would be playing much closer to the goal than the midfield and only in occasion occupy the role and area of the TQ . It won't be your standard AM even if you play an AM there , it just becomes 4-2-3-1 if you do , it stops being 4-4-1-1 . Since we want him to play AM and not SS , it becomes 4-2-3-1 .

4-4-1-1 is basically just another variation of the classical 4-4-2 , in order to fit Vasquez i agree , 4-4-1-1 is definitely an option , but he won't be playing as de facto TQ , but 2nd striker , just with different characteristics and role to , say , what Niang /Luiz do in 4-4-2 . That's pretty much it really . Emphasis would be mainly to support and assist rather than score , with a few words. Or occupy an other empty position in the instant during the attack and fill for someone else that wasn't in place .. That's just details and tactics though , if you would have him as de facto TQ doing TQ things , then it's not an option , he won't be an AM in 4-4-1-1 , even when he is one. So , imho , not easy enough if the case in point is 4-4-1-1 . And since you meant it with Vasquez playing AM ..

If we want wingplay and a real TQ actually playing TQ , it's the 4-2-3-1 and only that . Personally i'd still preffer 4-2-3-1 over any other formation right now that requires a TQ , however that still leaves us with too many forward options not being utilised at all , or risking our luck playing them out of position frequently, which is a big nope .

Now.. In the extremely off and highly unlikely chance we somehow get Ibrahimovic back in the summer , let's just assume just for the sake of it , then that would mean we will be playing 4-3-1-2 (sigh) , especially if Vasquez becomes our player in the summer . However , that is obviously a big if to begin with , but with Ibrahimovic and Bacca here , there's not much else to talk about . It's either Ibrahimovic and 4-3-1-2 , or no Ibra and we might be playing 4-2-3-1 come next season , that's if Vasquez actually happens .

There really isn't much else if we want a TQ really . I suppose there's also 4-2-1-3 .... but ye , it will probably result in hoof game given what we currently have and i doubt Vasquez has the speed and explosiveness required to make it work anyway , since it relies heavily in the 10 doing extraordinary things on the counter. Maybe if we had prime Kaka

Was on facebook checking the Milan Fans page for anything new , when  

#‎GdS‬ reports that Genoa could turn to Cerci if Perotti decides to leave the club.

#CorSera ‪reports that Banega and Rabiot are the realistic targets for January while the dream of Candreva is virtually impossible.

So , what do you think of the recent rumors , possible departures included ?

Read (and heard) Nocerino is going to Panathinaikos in Greece . Starting to believe Panathinaikos is our guardian angel really , first Essien and now they are reportedly close to Nocerino . lel .
I know they are really desperate , we should be working closely with them and offload as many scrubs as we can , wish i could contact Galliani about it , i could save Milan ffs

There's also El Shaarawy coming back after Monaco ditched him (kinda saw that one coming when i read he still hadn't played the games required for Monaco to sign him 1-2 weeks ago). Sigh . Apparently all of Roma , Genoa and Bologna are interested in his signature . If i am honest , i wouldn't mind if the club gave him a 2nd chance , especially with the 4-4-2 we play now. But i feel it's highly unlikely if we get a decent enough offer for him , so meh . Best of luck to El Shaarawy , either here or elsewhere . But i really think with Cerci possibly leaving and both him and Honda being meh anyway and with our lack of depth on the wings in general lines , we should really keep him around until June at least , see how he did and then act accordingly . That's what i would do anyway .

Like , what do we even have for the wings? There's Jack , and then Boateng? , Cerci ? and Honda?? Niang ?? Pls. I'd honestly keep him till the summer , what would it hurt ? I guess they are expecting offers , so yeah .. something tells me it will just be another loan doe (:

Rumors about Diego Lopez and De Jong leaving . I guess that's unlikely to happen in January , but i am not excluding anything . Obviously if they get any good opportunities they will , especially De Jong . Personally , i would offer some money and De Jong for Banega . Sevilla would probably consider this strongly , especially if it's true that Krychowiak is joining Arsenal. (honest as fk , tried for the lulz to write Krychowiak from memory and it was correct , dat proud)

I think our recent relationship with Sevilla could have easily helped this offer go through , with Rami and Bacca deals in the summer.. They would get some money from a player they risk losing for nothing in a few months , get a Krychowiak replacement or just a decent DM in De Jong , and De Jong would find a club that i guess would at least appeal to him , with Bacca dropping in some kind words for Sevilla.. La Liga being attractive as well .. Wish i had Galliani's phone , it all works out on it's own ffs

Anyway , lol about Rabiot , Candreva and Witsel , we ain't signing any of them in January . I'd say there's some chance for Banega only , but i am certainly not getting my hopes up. I also saw something about Lavezzi , but i've seen this one before , i have nothing to say . If Galliani is willing to give him 4, 4.5m a year , he would join , i guess. Is he worth it? Nah . Could help us though , in any case , i can only see Inter signing him in January , doubt it will be us , assuming he even leaves PSG lel

If we are going to persist with a 4-4-2 this season then a RM is desirable, be it Candreva, Mirallas, or anyone else, however i know somehow throughout, Silvio will enforce a 4-3-1-2, he lives and dies by that formation lol

Rabio and Witsel, i can't see happening, so we can forget about them. Banega i'm skeptical, GDM hasn't reported on it and besides, we already have a pre contract agreement with Vazquez.

As much as i like ES, i think his chapter with us is over, he'll most likely be off to Roma/Bologna.

I have no idea who might be a tangible target this January, and i have slim chances of us getting big names after a spending spree last summer. That, being said of the players i'd like to see shipped off:

-Nocerino
-Suso
-Poli
-NDJ (if he isn't necessary anymore, then there's no need to hang on to him)
-DL (See above)
-Zapata
-Mauri (loan)
-Ely (loan)

Of the list above, probably Suso,Noce, Mauri and Ely will be the ones to go.
Boateng has arrived, so he takes up 1 spot of those players, so that leaves 3 other arrivals? (Not sure, just speculating). Recently, GDS has been linking us with Soriano, i haven't seen him as much as i like tbh, but if its Miha's wish then i don't mind (I was also skeptical about Romagnoli in the beginning but he turned out fine). So thats 2 spots now, Soriano+Boateng, other 2= Candreva+CB?