AC Milan have been a lot more active on the transfer market than the rest of the Serie A teams this summer and there’s good reason for that. While others are scrambling for a budget, the Rossoneri have everything worked out.
In his latest piece for The Athletic, James Horncastle discussed the situation of Serie A in general and why a club like Milan have been so active compared to the rest (who are standing still). To make a long explanation short, it boils down to the financial health of the clubs.
Paolo Scaroni announced yesterday that Milan will make a profit in the financial year of 2022-23; their first profit since 2006. Meanwhile, the likes of Inter and Juventus are struggling financially and this is affecting their mercato strategies, as explained by Horncastle.
To name an example, Inter were forced to sell their star Marcelo Brozovic in order to secure the services of Davide Frattesi from Sassuolo. Furthermore, the €329m loan from the US hedge fund Oaktree – which will continue to increase due to interest – hangs over their heads.
Milan’s transfer budget may have tripled thanks to the sale of Sandro Tonali to Newcastle, but the Rossoneri have been following a detailed plan. CEO Giorgio Furlani, chief scout Geoffrey Moncada, Hendrik Almstadt and the data team as well as RedBird figures Luke Bornn and Billy Beane have all been involved in the process.
All the while keeping the accounts in order, making them a priority, unlike most of the Serie A teams. This is also why Milan have been able to move swiftly on the market, while others have had to scramble for funds.
Furthermore, the Rossoneri have avoided hefty signings, finding their sweet spot at around €20m per player. This is something we discussed at length in a recent feature.
Financial stability and a strong transfer market to appropriately reinforce parts of the team that struggled last season.
And Inter has a loan like the one we did in 2017. There are some dark clouds ahead for them.
For all the bozos, read the Athletic article. Thank you Elliott and RedBird for instilling proper corporate governance. I think over the next couple of season it will be clear that Milan is the best operator in the transfer market, and that will (hopefully) be reflected on the pitch. I’m very optimistic about the future right now. The final piece in the puzzle is the stadium, and we’re making progress having decided to abandon the farce that is the renovation of San Siro. They just need to accelerate on the actual planning and construction now.
Juve’s been cheating (as usual) and Inter’s been paying everyone in cash for years but according to some we’re the ones who are “doomed” because we’re upgrading the squad.
“Juve’s been cheating (as usual) and Inter’s been paying everyone in cash for years”
Let’s not forget that Inter had serious problems actually paying the salaries for their players a few years ago. Let’s see if they’ll face that again next spring as their doom’s day approaches (24.5.2024).
I never denied Elliott or RedBird the credit that must be given when discussing financial aspect. They took the club that was on a brink of bankrupcy and cleaned the books out to perfection. Even generating a small profit. Of course since I work in similar area, balance sheets are quite flexible to manipulate so what they are actually generating, we’ll never know. They are afterall ex Goldman Sachs bankers running the club. Also, the stadium project is something to look forward to. It seems the project is serious and that must also mean, there are already investors behind it. Kudos to that.
Team they are building on the other hand, still have a lot to prove and we can only discuss after season’s end. They are buying promising names. Mostly. But as a team they are yet to show their power. As a fan of AC Milan, I sure fully support the team and hope for a strong campaign.
… oh no…. Doom & Gloom…. Americans…. End of the world…. 🤣
FORZA MILAN ⚫️🔴
You kind of summed up the story of the past few years for half of the people here. 😀