Journalist Franco Ordine has praised AC Milan’s directors for the work they were able to do in the summer transfer window, which has allowed them to ‘complete last year’s squad’.
Milan welcomed five signings during the summer transfer window: Alvaro Morata from Atletico Madrid, Strahinja Pavlovic from Red Bull Salzburg, Emerson Royal from Spurs, Youssouf Fofana from Monaco and Tammy Abraham from AS Roma.
The first four were permanent deals done for between €13m and €20m plus bonuses, which is very much the sweet spot that this management and ownership have established in terms of – in CEO Giorgio Furlani’s own words – finding value with transfer fees paid.
The overall squad cost has gone up by €20m when factoring in the transfer fees amortisation and gross salaries added minus the costs saved for those who have left, yet it remains quite substantially behind that of Inter and Juventus.
Ordine spoke during his weekly column for MilanNews and amid all of the negativity surrounding the management and their decisions, he provided a more positive outlook on the summer business.
“I can also make a couple of reflections. The first: I am convinced that the market has completed last year’s squad with some distinctions,” he began.
“In attack, the arrival of the Englishman has certainly strengthened the role of centre forward, Fofana has plugged the hole of the containment midfielder, Pavlovic was – at least for me – a discovery, Morata does not need adjectives while Emerson Royal seems to me to be the weak link in the chain.
“The coach himself defined him as ‘even more attacking than Calabria’ and then we need to rethink his use if we are looking for tactical balance. But it is the overall system that needs to be reworked because against Lazio in the first half Milan was very buttoned up, in the second too forward-looking.
“It is up to Fonseca to rebalance the set-up like you do with car tires. Another reflection: Bennacer must be recovered at all costs because he could be useful as soon as the three weekly matches begin.”
Wonder how much he gets paid to PR Milan. I’d like that job even if it is writing lies
Royal earns 4.6 mil pr. year and if we only count the Serie A matches then he earns 121052.6 euros pr. game played. Obviously he has to train as well but if I got your question right then it seems like the answer you are looking for 😀
How much does ordine get paid is what we meant
Oh my bad then 😀 I cant really help with that.
Maignan
Calabria tomori pavlo Theo
Fofana Beni
Puli tijani leoa
Morata/tammy
In the spirit of Berlusconi!
– Milan should always have two striker on the field!
Play a 3-3-4
——————————-Mike—————————–
——–Pavlovic———-Tomori———–Theo———
—————Fofana—————–Bennacer———–
—————————Reijnders————————–
–Pulisic———————————————Leao—
—————–Abraham——–Morata——————
That’s not a formation brah. If you really want 2 up front 442 or 352 is the only way with this crop of players. Ofc we bench leao for both, can’t play ss in 352 can’t play lw in 442..
I would like to see:
———————–Maignan———————–
———-Tomori – Gabbia – Pavlovic———–
——-Royal———-Fofana———Theo——–
Pulisic————-Reijnders————–Leao–
————————Morata————————
We HAVE TO start sniffing out the attacks and not be caught out of balance. We KNOW Leao is gonna give the ball away, Passes be misplaced and headers lost, so having two super attacking gupp-backs and poor pavlovic and Tomori supposed to clean up on the clunter, it makes us fragile and vulnerable. Better to move the fullbacks up and solidify with a CB as sweeper; Tomori, woth the teo tall lads around him taking the marking job. So far, Theo has not chased back, and Royal is still finding his feet – aif we play with 4 at the back, Calabria needs to start on the right. If he improves his defensive game, he can deputize in the center, like Theo did last year.
We spent money on Fofana, and he certainly has the qilualities to become a solid holding mid, with Bennaver so off form the spot is his. Reojnders is the odd man out, but Chuks continued struggles for form makes it an easy switçh of Puli to the right and then a withdrawn Trequartista role is where he needs to find himself fitting in. His finishing leaves much to be desired, but his passing is at times exquisite.
Milan do not “need” to score more goals – 5 in 3 games isn’t fantastic, but it’s fine. If we kept 3 clean sheets we’d be top of the table. Instead we are almost bottom with 2 points.
We need to stop the leaks… there’s plenty of creativity up front, set a formation and drill the players on attacking patterns,for each defensive lineup we meet. The Tĥeo/Leao engine on the left must be revived, and Puli was our best right winger all last season.
Exactly what Fonseca brings to the table that Pioli lacked remains to be seen. There are no signs of change for the better…
What is being said in this article, that the management “completed the work done last year” is perfectly accurate – We populated a few more spots in the team with players who come cheap and have potential trap as sales object before the end of their first contract, to be sold after first contract extension or sooner.
This Milan is a showroom for Cardinales “sporting assets” and never have the adage “All PR is good PR been more true than during last weeks cooling break. If any cash-rich clubs had any questions regarding he availability of Milans most expensive assets, it was on display for everyone to see. Can’t blame how they feel – The project they joined is dead. Their professionalism and childish protest, however, is unacceptable.
If we can get €100 mill olusnfir the pair, we have to call it a catch at this point. Sell, or we will have another Hakan/Kessie duo.
All that said, I really hope those 45 seconds of play shown by Ĺeao, Theo and Tammy was a sign of things to come… but we won’t win of we need to score 3 goals to win, woth a leaky defense.
If we are talking about a trash 11 of AC Milan, they did complete it now. From last year, how many players are really worth it? Last year 7 players signed, 1 good. This season it is a bit less, but probably 2 good players. It is improving in a way.
i think milan fans need to have patience, season just started and everybody is throwing in the towel already….gotta give players time to be at their peak and perform, especially when they are working with a new coach