The summer mercato ended just over a week ago, and AC Milan are still experiencing a bit of discourse over the business.
Assessing summer work is a difficult task in September. In fairness, it is a difficult task to do really until May next year. Even then, you could debate that it may even need a longer period to be truly considered evaluable.
Read SempreMilan ad-free and get access to exclusive news. Click here for a free trial!
Of course, judgments can be made now, and can be made sooner than May, which we’ll get into. However, things in football change quickly, and what may seem like a poor idea now could seem like genius in six months.
Stepping back, then, into some cinematic-like view of things allows a bit of a fuller picture, something that is somewhat hard to do for us as fans sometimes. So, this is where we have to use a bit more of a ‘traditional’ media perspective.
Stepping back
On the face of it, Milan have had a pretty interesting summer, which everyone knows. Despite a reset not being explicitly stated by the club, the Rossoneri have had one; that much is unavoidable. The Rossoneri made 10 signings whilst 22 players left.
The midfield is clearly the biggest area that has been focused on, and there are certainly arguments to be had that the Diavolo have a better unit now than they did last season, even if flaws do still exist.
There is also the debate to be had, potentially, about whether the Tijjani Reijnders sale has done more than the sale of Sandro Tonali. Long-term, that answer will be seen, but in terms of here and now, it is probably undeniable.
With that said, there are caveats elsewhere. The defence lacks an experienced option, and many would rather Malick Thiaw had stayed, given that his replacements do not fit Massimiliano Allegri’s bill.
Gripes also exist in the frontline, unfortunately. However, this is normally the most polarising position, regardless of summer spending. Football is fickle in this sense, but for Milan, there is a genuine case to be made that there is not enough; they are not exactly spoilt for choice.
This leads to a pretty big issue.
Barring the deadline day signing of Adrien Rabiot, there is a distinctive lack of an Allegrian feel to this team. Defensively, there is no Giorgio Chiellini, there is no Leonardo Bonucci, not in terms of playing profile – which the team probably lacks too – but in age.
Fikayo Tomori is one of the most senior characters in the squad, which is not a slight on him, and by trade, he is also the oldest member of the defensive unit, again, not a criticism of him. This leads to questions.
Looking up front, there is no Dusan Vlahovic. Here is where we could break it down and say, ‘Well, Allegri did not always have Vlahovic.’ To counter that, there is no Mario Mandzukic, there is no Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and there is no Gonzalo Higuain.
Counter those, you could say that none are Allegri’s top goalscorer, a mantle that goes to Paulo Dybala, perhaps Christopher Nkunku can be that profile for the Rossoneri. Yep, you expected correctly, to go back on that, Dybala was brilliant, but he has almost always played off a physical striker.
This is, in fact, where the problem lies. Each point that could be made can be countered by another point, which can be continued until the cows come home. That discourse helps no one, especially when your head coach says he has no idea how to use your most expensive signing.
Your view
We could be here all night going back and forth on the window, and to tease, there will be a deeper dive into things in the next few days. However, it is not the only opinion that we have of the mercato available.
On the 30th of August, we did a poll in the SempreMilan Insider Discord (which you too can join by subscribing to our Substack, though there are several more perks than doing polls!!).
In that poll, the mercato was given a 6/10, with 42% of the votes giving that score. A 7/10 then followed with 32%, whilst a few voted for 8/10, 9/10, 4/10, and 5/10, creating an average rating of 6.64. The reasoning for that rating was largely influenced by the signing of Christopher Nkunku. However, there was still work to be done in the final few days of the window.
A day later, the same question was asked, and the average rating changed to an 8/10, though votes ranged between a 6/10-9/10, averaging out at a 7.5, though with fewer total votes.
As we know, a busy mercato ending followed, where Alex Jimenez, Yunus Musah, and Samuel Chukwueze departed on loan with performance-related obligations. On the other hand, Adrien Rabiot and David Odogu arrived at Milanello.
So, again, we asked our Discord members for their ratings, with us, the writers, also voting.
Overall, the mercato was given a 7/10 by most members, and the average was not too far off, sitting at 6.29/10. Ratings ranged from 3/10 to 8/10, further showing how widespread the feeling about this summer has truly been.
For what it’s worth, the ratings were largely influenced by one thing. So, rather than solely ask for a mercato view, we also wanted to see the breakdown of things.
So, another poll was started, for incomings and outgoings. The incoming market was scored at 7/10 by most again, but the average dropped to just 5.47/10. In terms of outgoings, though, things were much, much more positive. This time, the rating grows to 8/10, with the average actually matching the most common rating.
Together, these work out at a combined average of 6.74, which would be rounded up to 7 in these polls. In other words, going pretty decently and showing that the overall mercato score of 7 is probably fair.
Where now?
So, where do Milan go from here? The window is seen by most as fairly average, and right now, it would be difficult to disagree with that viewpoint. On either side of the coin, both can be agreed on. These sorts of windows are difficult.
A summer that a 3/10 can be justified as easily as a 9/10 brings more questions than available answers, at least for now. Getting rid of deadwood is arguably the hardest part of a reset, but what is the point if key areas are missed? See what we mean about being here all night?
Unfortunately, it seems answers about the mercato are only going to be available over the course of the next few months. Here is where patience is needed, as much as we, as football fans and humans, hate to be in these scenarios.
Milan’s mercato in a few months could be seen as brilliant or a brutal failure of the needed actions. Deciding which, for now, is a near-impossible task. Ultimately, it depends on which side of the coin you fall upon.
In terms of transfers, I think the rating is fair. The key questions/issues are?
1. The Nkunku and Thiaw transfers: Were they planned or did the management just jump at opportunities that presented themselves? Reports and comments suggest Allegri wanted to keep Thiaw (24 years old, knows the team and the league, partnered with Gabbia for our best defensive run last season) and sign a striker in the mold of Vlahovic/Hojlund.
2. Formation: In a 3-5-2, we have four players competing for two spots upfront. I am all for competition but doubt any two of Leao, Pulisic, Nkunku, Gimenez will be content on the bench. A journeyman or youth player as a fourth choice makes more sense. In a 3-4-2-1, we have six players competing for two midfield spots. In either case, we may have two to four of the players we have spent the most money on warming the bench.
3. Quick fixes and the future: Assuming all loan options are picked up, almost all the players brought in the past two seasons are, as I predicted, gone. Did management learn their lesson? Will we have the same core, same coach, same formation…etc. next season or the one after?
Anyways, we have good players on paper, and hopefully Allegri can make them a good team. I am hoping for wins and excitement to counter the toxic environment created by the last two seasons.
bad mercato
very bad
I think the formation change late on caught everyone off guard a little bit. It really seemed Milan were signing players for a 4231 until training camp, Allegri met his cbs and was like no way haha. I personally like that the squad was trimmed so heavily, the last two seasons there was a lot of bloat and as a result players spoiled on the bench. I like each signing in a vacuum but not sure how some of them fit. I hated the Santi transfer talk. In no way should the management been so open about how unimpressed they were with him. Even though I have my own doubts the guy hasn’t been here long enough to prove anything and he’s a Milanista and we can’t do our own like that even if they do suck haha. Ricci will be our new Krunic which will be what it will. Modric pure class, Nkunku is an opportunity I’m glad we took just wish there was one more CF. I have no problems rolling the dice on a young (hopefully) hidden gem at cb but why not sign Djimsiti too to ensure adequate cover and provide some good experience for the young defender to learn from (can’t have him learning from Tomori or Pav 😂)
6/10 for me, positive for the midfielder and got good value for the money spent, -1 for lack of experienced CB, -1 lack of CF to complement the attack, -1 for lack of WB depth and -1 for the Santi Tare debacle.
“This is, in fact, where the problem lies. Each point that could be made can be countered by another point, which can be continued until the cows come home. That discourse helps no one, especially when your head coach says he has no idea how to use your most expensive signing. ”
That sentence make NO SENSE. The whole point of the article is to debate whether or not the mercato was effective or not based on “points”. Then the 2nd sentence contradicts the first as it is another (very valid) “point” regarding the effectiveness of the mercato!
The whole point is it was a bad mercato because they DID NOT buy the players the coach’s system requires (that’s what the Nkuku point illustrates), and the Red Bird dummies bought players who are worse then the ones they bought (as Pellegatti has already explained) … a point you make in the article:
“The defence lacks an experienced option, and many would rather Malick Thiaw had stayed, given that his replacements do not fit Massimiliano Allegri’s bill. ”
This is a perfect example of Furlani’s ineptness. Selling Thiaw was good business… buying 2 players who are inferior to make an immediate profit is not. A real CEO like Galliani would have bought Leoni and a new cycle would have begun with an italian anchor in the back… like Allegri had requested
We are a couple of injuries away from mid table again this year. The idiots at red bird will continue to run around like chickens with their heads cut off and waste a bunch of money in the winter mercato trying to fix the problems they created in the summer.. like they did last year
The ignorance and arrogance of this ownership and their idiot managers is beyond ridiculous … as has already been summed up by the banned curva sud: “Cardinale, devi vendere, vendere, andare via”
Truer words have never been spoken. The best mercato move would have been kicking Cardinale to curb so we can return San Siro to its rightful place – the best fans in the world cheering on the best team in the world
We bought too many midfielder and doesn’t even buy a striker to substitute Santi. It seems there is contradicting opinion with Allegri and our sporting director Tare
Allegri play 3-5-2 formation so he need lots of midfielders. That’s why he wants nkunku ( modern forward ) play alongside leao 3-4-2-1..
Too early to tell, did you also rate your marriage right after the wedding day?
This. And what is most important, we overhauled the miserable midfield. That was just awful last season. Shame about not getting Leoni or a #9 though.