Journalist urges fans not to manufacture divide among Milan management that doesn’t exist

By Oliver Fisher -

AC Milan decided not to invest a big amount of resources into the January window but this is not because of any kind of disagreement among the leadership, a journalist has claimed.

There has been frustration from sections of the fan base due to the lack of activity last month. While the Rossoneri’s only real move on the market was to replace Pietro Pellegri with the 18-year-old centre-forward Marko Lazetic, Inter decided to bolster their options by signing Robin Gosens from Atalanta and Felipe Caicedo from Genoa, while Juventus landed Dusan Vlahovic and Denis Zakaria.

The well-known journalist Franco Ordine has written a column for MilanNews during which he reflects on the January transfer window, revealing his belief that the management are not divided like some fans and pundits have attempted to portray, but that there also should not be huge expectation for a big summer spending spree.

“It is necessary to understand the mood of the Milan fans, without however descending to levels of vulgar revolt. It is necessary to understand not only why we are in sight of the second derby of the season, but because in some way the management (perfect when referring to the economic difficulties of the shareholder) of Beppe Marotta has followed the pattern that was in the days of Adriano Galliani for Milan (in that case with Silvio Berlusconi’s money),” he began.

“Rather, it is good to avoid an error in football grammar: that is to divide the responsibilities between managers and shareholder so as to re-propose the ancient dualism that certainly did not bring results in the early days of Boban and Maldini. The choice not to spend except for first choice targets (Botman and Renato Sanches) was Milan’s and each of the two divisions must take responsibility.

“The blame game serves no one except to divide what has united in the past, namely Gazidis alongside Maldini-Massara and Pioli. It is evident that by doing so the risks increase because Milan, with Juventus strengthened, they must play against Napoli and Atalanta for the Champions League, remembering that while luckily against Allegri they have already played without Vlahovic, they will still have to face Napoli (soon) and Atalanta (at the end of the season).

“It is also deeply wrong to imagine that Milan could spend 120-150 million next summer to buy a very high level central defender, midfielder and striker. In this case, it means cultivating the illusions of the fans whose memory will then have to be reckoned with.

“Finally, I would like to point out a figure that can lead to some healthy reflection. Do you know how much Roma spend on their wage bill? 180 million, more than double the amount spent by Milan. This is not about the budget Scudetto, the future of the club has to do with it. If you have clean accounts you can have a future, otherwise sooner or later you will have to pay the heavy debt bill.”


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