AC Milan are seriously at risk of being in no European competition at all next season, and the transfer decisions made are partly to blame.
As Corriere dello Sport reports, both the additions made in the summer and the changes to the squad made in the winter are not bearing the fruits hoped for by the management. The investment was there with around €120m spent, yet few get even a passing grade.
A total of 10 players arrived, five in the summer window and five in January, but none have fully convinced. Emerson Royal, Strahinja Pavlovic, Alvaro Morata, Youssouf Fofana and Tammy Abraham were supposed to help build a new era under Paulo Fonseca, but only Abraham has impressed.
Morata was deemed a failure after just five months, going on loan to Turkey. Pavlovic has shown heart but has made mistakes, while Emerson became the ‘favourite target’ for some fans, given that the Brazilian has shown a lot of difficulty adapting to Serie A.
In the winter the decision was made to go be aggressive. Santiago Gimenez signed for €28.5m plus bonuses to reach €35m, and the striker did well initially but now hasn’t scored for two months. He has also been penalised by Milan’s way of playing and a lack of service.
The emblem of the ineffective window was instead Joao Felix, signed on loan from Chelsea with no option to buy. The Portuguese will certainly return to London after this brief spell in Italy, in which he has not scored or assisted in the league, only one goal on his debut in the Coppa Italia.
Kyle Walker has also declined after his arrival in January and will now have to stop due to a fractured elbow. Warren Bondo and Riccardo Sottil (the former costing €10m) have never been used consistently.
Ten purchases that have had little impact on Milan’s season, a strategy that will need to be corrected next summer with the arrival of a new sporting director who will have to manage incomings and outgoings.
I’d still give time to Bondo, Pavlo and Santi. They are young, have the physical tools and just need some time and direction. Bondo was exactly (on paper) what we needed. a guy who can actually defend, Santi was scoring a lot (both un UCL and Eredivise) and Pavlo has the attitude and has shown he can learn the craft. They suddenly did not not forget how to play. We just have not put them in a position to succeed. We are becoming the ManU of Serie A (except without the big money).
Milan management is so smart, they know how to spend much money and aim for quantity.
Why buy 38 million bungiorno when you can get 18 million pav + 15 million emerson royal.
Why buy 30 million ricco when you can buy 20 million fofana + 10 million bondo.
Typo. Ricco > ricci
I think Fofana is good, just was placed in a bad situation…. had to play every game and just burnt out… also Sergio likes high-pace/strong defensive midfielders, which he’s just not….
look at Inter midfield… regista, box-to-box, and an all-rounder… if you aren’t defensively strong or have 3 at the back all the time, it’s just gg… when we lose the ball we can’t get it back and when we have it we can’t risk it that much since we know we won’t be able to get it back…
Tiji-Fofana
Tonali (Bondo)
that’s a very balanced and just an amazing midfield… I personally don’t know what to do with Musah… Bondo needs time and RLC has missed the entire season and when he’s available his technique is horrendous…. so in midfield we basically have only 3 players, since Tonali as of now is just an example
the 4-4-2 system that Conceicao loves can be played but better LB is needed and Leao needs to pushed into ST role or at least supporting striker role… Tiji can shift to LM, Puli on RM, but again you don’t have a “destroyer” for midfield to “protect” Fofana
OUT: Musah, RLC, Chukwueze, Tomori, Emerson, Theo, Terracciano
IN: Saelemakers, Tammy(keep, loan plus option at 15-20M), get someone to cover for Tiji and Fofana and also a high level CDM, Coppola, de Cuyper/Udogie (best option to get both, but no budget for that)
only then will this team see some stability and balance
Pav was the only signing to genuinely prove himself. Literally everyone in the stands told you guys like Emerson, walker, morata, and Felix weren’t gonna change anything. Ricci, buongiorno, and frendrup all would’ve been fantastic signings, but you chose to ignore them for cheap alternatives and players who didn’t fit. This is entirely on you
Pav has had a very bad year. I’m not ready to give up on him but he’s been bad more times than not
Please no more Ricci . Out of Milan world bro. We already have Bondo in his position.
Maldini was fired for what compared with this situation generated by Ibrahimovic & Moncada ? It’s obvious this two clowns are the “architects” of our transfers from last summer and winter and coaches choices…
Maldini was fired for a 5th place finish. Zibra looks to be removed after this season. Seems fair on both accounts
F off we finished FOURTH. Look at the f’ing table.
These so called fans are f’ing disgrace.
The story keeps on changing for what Maldini was fired for.
First it was spending 35 mil on CDK
Then it was because players left for free
Then it was because he openly criticized ownership
Then it was because he was power hungry
Then it was because he was not a team player
Then it was because he was an inexperienced director.
And now according to you it was because Milan finished 5h.
All kinds of stories. I wonder what would come next.
One thing is clear, this management and ownership has done more than whatever metric was used to get Maldini fired. They too should be fired. But that is neither here nor there.
This is called money laundering
Are we going to ignore last season? They sold Tonali. They let CDK and Krunic go with no replacements. Are we going to pretend that RLC, Musah, Chukwueze, Pellegrino, Romero, Okafor…etc. were successful signings? Even Reijnders struggled in his first year. Are we going to ignore the sales of Kalulu and Simic this season?
These points need to be hammered home by the media. The problems didn’t start this season. Last year we finished 19 points off Inter and were out of the Champions League in the first round.
Their whole campaign since the takeover to this day has been a one big mess and a disaster. I’ve never before, anywhere seen recruitment job done so bad.
I just love to repeat this because it’s incomprehensibly bad:
2,5 seasons
250 millions spent
22 players bought
3 of them actually show their worth
3 coaches changed in one season
2 consecutive CL group stage elimination
9th in Serie A
What the f*ck are these clowns still doing here? We’re the biggest laughing stock in the world of football. It’s not even tragic anymore, it’s hilarious.
Average 10 million for a player. Yes, we get cheap player.
The last man the biggest laughing was Maldini & Massara bro.. 🤣🤣🤣
This is the MoneyYourBall Moncada works. Hahahahaha
Surprise surprise American owners ( who know nothing about football) placed individuals in charge (who know nothing about managing football clubs) and now the club is failing