“Everything hinges on this” – Mazzara puts pressure on Cardinale with Amorim not satisfied

The pressure is increasing on Gerry Cardinale and the AC Milan management to accelerate the transfer business.

Milan made two big statements earlier in the window by invested around €100m on the signings of Goncalo Ramos from Paris Saint-Germain and Mario Gila from SS Lazio. Only Sankhoun Diawara has arrived since, for €3m from Troyes, and worryingly there has not been a single sale.

Read SempreMilan ad-free and get access to exclusive news. Click here for a free trial!

The lack of outgoing business risks definitively stalling the plans to keep overhauling the group Amorim has at his disposal, one that must play quite a specific and tactically complex 3-4-2-1 system. Time is running out, with three weeks left in the window.

In his latest column for MilanNews, Pietro Mazzara has made it clear that the time has come to start speeding things up or Milan risk giving Amorim an incomplete squad incompatible with his ideas.

“The week that just ended saw a series of events that, in some ways, intersect. AC Milan returned from their southern hemisphere tour with more doubts and concerns than certainties, with an urgent need to complete the transfer market that can no longer be postponed,” he begins.

“Amorim’s blatant communication about his satisfaction with what he saw in Perth and Jakarta aside, the technical truth is objective and clear to all. The plan drawn at the end of May needs to be reversed: spending immediately to bring in the starting players and doing everything possible with transfers, even if it means turning them into capital losses or loans.

“Gerry Cardinale endured the boos the fans gave him before and after Franco Baresi’s funeral. An episode that divided opinion, not so much because he was booed, but because of the occasion on which those boos were made.

“But, on the other hand, that walkway into the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio was the first real moment of close contact between the AC Milan patron and the fans of the team he owns.

“The boos struck Gerry, unwelcome to the founder of RedBird, who had managed to calm part of the crowd with the purchases of Gonçalo Ramos and Mario Gila, pumping over €100 million into the mercato for their transfer fees.

“But then a complete paralysis emerged, both in incoming and outgoing, where the Almstadt-Gardiner duo has yet to produce the cash flow Cardinale would have liked to generate to match the outgoings. Selling is a rare, complex thing which, as in the case of Sandro Tonali’s sale, can really p*ss off the fans.

“But today, if you’re not good at it, you find yourself in a significant stalemate, and your players, faced with your need to cut numbers, depreciate. And what sense would there have been in spending €100m right away and not completing the squad?

“Time is still on its side, but it’s starting to run out, and teams, as we know, need time to shape themselves. Gerry bet on Ruben Amorim; it was his choice, he’s his man, and it’s unbelievable to think the Portuguese coach is truly satisfied with the current squad.

“Spoiler alert: he’s not at all, and Tomori and Fofana’s absences are a strong indication of that. At least three starters are still needed, including the wide midfielders and an attacking midfielder, who probably need to be joined by another defender with the ability to play a key role.

“What will Cardinale do? The current squad has proven to be ineffective in Amorim’s footballing vision; it’s full of players who – based on the results on the pitch – are mistakes of previous management, but who a ‘traditional’ management team would have managed earlier.

“Examples include Okafor, Emerson Royal, Thiaw, and others from the past. Transfers were planned and completed to raise cash and reinvest. Cardinale can’t disappoint Amorim; he can’t afford for his decision to be held against him in the future for not having acquired the players who fit his game and leaving him with a team that doesn’t match his expectations.

“Therefore, it’s time to start spending again. And if for once the accounts aren’t in order, they certainly won’t default. Acquisitions are needed, regardless of the sales. That’s now clear.

“Everything hinges on this, on Cardinale’s determination to deliver what he promised Amorim: a team ready before the transfer window closes. There’s a lot to do, but only a change of heart from the owner can unlock things. The rest of the transfer window, albeit arduous, could follow suit.”