Sky journalist Alessandro Boban has taken a fresh look at the manner in which Giacomo Bonaventura was allowed to leave AC Milan on a free transfer.
Speaking during an interview with Milan Live, Boban tried to think of an explanation as to why Bonaventura’s time at Milan ended in the way it did, but he couldn’t.
Bonaventura has been thrust into the limelight thanks to his superb form under Vincenzo Italiano at Fiorentina and his goal for Italy against Malta after being recalled to the squad for the first time in three years.
Bonaventura joined Milan in 2014 from Atalanta for €5.3m and he was a very hard-working and reliable player for six seasons. He made 184 appearances and scored 35 goals, also getting 30 assists.
Milan ended up letting him leave the club on a free transfer to Fiorentina, a move that was something of a surprise. Boban tried to explain why this happened.
“At the time I did not explain this decision to myself, I thought Bonaventura could suit Milan from a technical point of view. Even today I still can’t explain it and he probably can’t explain it either. Every time we ask this question, Bonaventura himself doesn’t have a definite answer,” he said.
“On the one hand there was a team that wanted to deprive itself of the player for market reasons, and on the other hand there is this boy who instead loves Milan deeply because he is a Milan fan.”
If we’d kept Jack, we wouldn’t have had to go through the Calhanoglu drama, and he’s still be there as a senator helping this younger lads develope. Oh well.
Giacomo is really nice guy 💐❤️🏆
The Banter Pirlo. I love Jack, he’d still be getting good game time now. Made zero sense.
Let’s not make it out to be like he wasn’t going to be in decline. As much as I like Jack as a player, his best days were behind him. He left at the right time. He left when he made the best contribution he could to the team without being a burden later on and for fans to not hate on him.
His best days were before that injury I believe somewhere around 2018 season. After that he wasn’t the same and he lost.some pace. Still had great technique but wasn’t the same player as before. His goal contributions also died down the season after which was around the last season he played for us. His first season at Fiorentina I watched his games initially but stopped because he wasn’t the same as before. He was quite laboured in the pitch and easier to dispossess which was a trait he used to count on. Physically he wasn’t there anymore and even in his first season with the viola he wasn’t doing all that great. He is making a rebirth of sorts now but his form (even in the viola) has been hit or miss. I think he probably had a season or two more left in him before he left Milan but that’s about it. And we would not have been patient with him if we were to look at this displays after he left.
Good luck nonetheless.
I was a fan of bonaventura before he arrived and at the day of his transfer i remember i had been out partying all day and was extremely surprised that we had gotten him for such a low fee which if i remember correctly was in the vicinity of 5-6 mil euros which was a steal in the middle of the day. I would gladly have kept him till this day even though he most likely would have been a backup player by now so considering his current form, fiorentina seems like a good suit for him at this point of his career, ill always like him a great deal.
Loved Bonaventura as a player, I think he was the best buy that Galliani did in his last years. That said, he’d been going down on the hierarchy, first it was to Paqueta and then to Calhanoglu. In the final 4-2-3-1 setup, he’d be played mostly as an AM.
That said, he had a fairly high salary for a backup player and also was 31 years old and couldn’t play for 90 min without being subbed. I’m not sure if any of the two parts (him and the club) were ok with continuing together.
The club got Diaz on a free loan with 500k salary, while Bonaventura found a club where he could still be a focal point. That was best solution for both at the time. I’m very happy that he was able to get back in the NT.
Thank u boss for such an analysis some fans write as if the club was wrong on letting him leave. It was the best decision for both at that time. He wouldn’t been in the NT if he stayed coz he was going to get less playing time n financially it will drain the team to pay such a salary for a backup player
he had 2M net salary. If that is high then idk
Since Berlusconi-Galliani sold Ac Milan and the American took over the club, it turn into a club where italians talents aren’t liked, can’t explain it, it’s Ac Milan not inter, why there aren’t rossoneri in LA Nazionale, very word Milan is located in Italy not USA, France, England… Etcc
I can explain it, they want to win. Not be a feeder program for a national team that frankly is not very good.
I cheer for both the Rossoneri and gli Azzuri, and couldn’t care less if there is no overlap.
I can live with a transition period where we doesnt have too many italians as they generally are priced higher compared to players of equal talent from other leagues but in the longer run i deffently expect and demands at least half of our players to be italian but whether we aquirre some or promotes them from our own ranks is a differemt matter but i started following ac milan over 30 years ago and the italians in the team played a great part in that and im not even of italian nationality.
Can we switch-trade Pobega for Bonaventura 🙂
I cannot make heard nor tail of most of Milan’s transfers other than to point to the very large commissions paid to agents.