Journalist Franco Ordine believes that the AC Milan management have the obligation to strengthen the squad in January.
Milan have already made one signing since the window opened, bringing in striker Niclas Füllkrug from West Ham United on a loan with option to buy deal. It is an addition that didn’t get unanimous approval from the fan base, though so far in the minutes he has had, the German has looked useful.
Read SempreMilan ad-free and get access to exclusive news. Click here for a free trial!
Now attention turns to what other components of the squad could be bolstered. There is a lot of attention being paid to the centre-back department, with the expectation being that a more experienced option could arrive.
Franco fires a warning
Ordine published his weekly column for MilanNews and he dedicated the entirety of it to stressing how important it is for Milan to do business this month, in order to hang on to a top four spot.
“For once, since it coincides with the day I’m writing this column, I’ll start with Max Allegri’s press conference because it seems to offer the most interesting insight of the week, especially considering the news surrounding the health of the Rossoneri squad.
“Both Pavlovic and Fullkrug are currently out: both, according to the coach, could be back in ten days against Roma at the Olimpico. Meanwhile, Gimenez has accelerated his recovery, but his return to action isn’t expected before the end of March, making him unavailable at this crucial stage of the season.
“Responding to a question about the historic precedent of 2011, when Van Bommel and Cassano , among others, arrived in January , decisive in the Scudetto victory, Allegri stated: ‘Two extraordinary players arrived: Van Bommel was wonderful, Antonio had extraordinary qualities. They were invaluable. That doesn’t mean we need two players this year; the squad is fine as it is. The important thing is that we’re happy, and above all that I’m happy’.
“In other words: there’s no point in waiting for the promised defender to arrive because we’re happy as we are. I’ve known this for a long time: Max is a staunch corporate man and has never made a single mistake in his communications. That’s why I’m not surprised.
“So I’m not addressing him, who in this case isn’t the master of the situation, but the AC Milan executives. Because they’re the ones who work on the transfer market and have long been aware of this technical need to address a technical deficit in the squad, which also needs to be strengthened in other positions to have a better chance of finishing in the Champions League next season.
“Because the current scenario is this: Inter and Napoli are not comparable to any of the pursuers, and therefore the top two spots are theirs to contend with. Meanwhile, Juventus – with Spalletti at the helm – have gotten back on track and is poised to move even closer to fourth place.
“Roma, too, despite being ‘rejected’ by Raspadori, has nevertheless secured Gasperini two attacking players who could prove very useful in rotation. Not to mention Como, which have begun a climb that could take them very far and, like Milan, are not competing in cup competitions. Here’s a fact that no one uses in the Fabegras case, while it’s repeated like a refrain in the case of Milan.
“So, securing a position, at least that of defender, would have been useful as well as indispensable for the rotations that the championship forces you to make due to injuries and suspensions. Now let’s take stock: if Allegri’s statement was used to dim the lights on the search for Furlani and Tare, well then, okay.
“If, on the other hand, this statement announces that Milan will indeed stick with the current squad, well, there’s no point in it. The gentlemen on the third floor of Via Aldo Rossi are shouldering a deadly responsibility. Because no one will forgive them for not bringing in a reinforcement.
“They tell me: but there’s no money. Okay, but excuse me: will risking missing out on the Champions League for the second year in a row generate money?”
Well we’re going through yet another “dedicate moment” – on the brink of either winning every game or losing it.. in order for the January arrivals to have any impact they’d need to be Lewandowski Benzema Gila levels but we all know that won’t happen – we’ll wind up with another couple of no-names from Ligue 1….
Regardless of the quality of the available players in the January market, we have the shortest roster of all of Serie A, and that’s not good. Even if added players wouldn’t be geniuses, they’d at least help with rotation, in case of injuries and suspensions.
I think the managers are being penny wise and pound foolish, because like Ordine said, if you miss the UCL again, we’ll pass on 100 million Euro in revenue. So, if we don’t invest a bit more now, we risk losing a lot more in the near future, both athletically and financially.
We simply cannot afford staying out of UCL another season. That will cost us Pulisic and some others too probably. Not to mention no one (important) wants to come without UCL.
That’s exactly right. Puli is happy at Milan but in his career phase, he can’t afford to miss the UCL twice. Hojlund is doing well for Napoli. He didn’t want to come to us, because we are not in the UCL.
Missing it again will be a disaster, but these managers don’t seem to see it.
Milan bought players for 157 mil and sold for 176 mil which should leave the numbers at + 19.20 mil besides of that Milan is pretty much guaranteed money in the summer for some of our outgoing loans with options or obligations.
True but isn’t this money used partially to cover the deficit we made last season by not qualifying to any European tournament ?
We also spent A LOT during winter last season.
Besides that, never be too optimistic about outgoing loans. Teams will always ask for discounts or straight up give up on players. Musah for example doesn’t seem impressive enough for Atalanta so far to justify them paying 25M€ for him.
No, not really. Even without making the UCL, we still posted a small surplus, last season. Yes, Reijnders’ sale become necessary given the fail to qualify to the UCL but that amount took care of any lingering deficit, which is why we ended up spending a lot in the summer.
————
The other part of it is, yes, we spent a lot in the summer, but unwisely. Jashari, Nkunku, and Ricci so far have not justified what we paid for them (although maybe they still will, once Jashari recovers full fitness, and Nkunku has definitely showed signs of life the last two games; still, they were very expensive and it is still uncertain if they will be consistent and justify the expense).
Paradoxically, the cheapest signings with free or low transfers were the players that paid off the most, Modric and Rabiot.
It’s not always the money, but rather, smart scouting and good opportunities. We have a very mixed record regarding that.
Maybe.
Sure that could be the case but I assume that was covered by last seasons finances.
I definitely doesn’t expect Musah getting sold to at least Atalanta even if I would welcome it. Colombo has met the 5 goals stipulated in his contract and only needs to play a couple of Serie A matches more to be sold by obligation for 10 mil. Jimenez probably will fetch us roughly 20 mil. Chukwueze roughly 10 mil. Pobega roughly 10 mil. Those players pretty much guarantees us something in between 40 and 50 mil guaranteed cash as contracts are met by performances or obvious interest. Most of those players has buy obligations in their loan contracts.
Last year, the managers didn’t want to pay the additional 3 million Euro of difference between Conte’s requested salary and Fonseca’s. Then they had to get rid of Fonseca mid-season and hire Conceição for an additional 1 million Euro.
So they “saved” 2 million Euro but ended up not qualifying for the UCL, thus failing to earn 100 million Euro. Meanwhile Conte won the Scudetto and Napoli are playing in the UCL, while we placed 8th and didn’t even make the Conference League, much less the Europa League and even less the Champions League. Great, just great; we saved 2 million, yay!!! (insert sarcasm here).
Save 2, lose 100, the balance is minus 98. That was the ultimate incompetence.
And apparently, they are doing it again. I shake my head.
“And apparently, they are doing it again. I shake my head.”
That’s why heads must roll! Should have already happened last summer but missing UCL again should trigger a “clearance sale” in the management.
If the balance right now is minute 98 Million, then where is the money to buy players?
minus*
The balance regarding not hiring Conte. It doesn’t mean that this is the full budget balance. We sold players, we sold tickets, and merchandise. We actually posted a small surplus.
But we could have had a huge surplus and wouldn’t have needed to sell Reijnders, had we hired Conte instead of Fonseca.