AC Milan’s draw with Juventus on Sunday highlighted some worrying signs regarding the potential shortcomings of the squad.
While on paper a 1-1 draw away from home against Juventus is far from a disastrous result, there have been some concerns about the performance that Milan put in. Above all, the fact that the Rossoneri only had one shot on target – Alphadjo Cisse’s goal – was seen as a worry.
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It took Federico Gatti’s 92nd-minute header to salvage a draw for the Bianconeri. Yet, Goncalo Ramos and Diego Moreira struggled, who were two big-money signings. The lack of another centre-back saw Mario Gila replaced by Filippo Terracciano. In short, some questions were raised too.
‘Still a lot of work to be done’
According to Antonio Vitiello – who published his weekly column for MilanNews – the €150m that Milan spent in the summer window could have been better allocated, and we may see this in the results (or lack of).
“The draw against Juventus highlighted the fact that there’s still a lot of work to be done. AC Milan is a work in progress, and it’s going to be anything but an easy season,” he began.
“Milan’s performance was extremely disappointing. In Turin, we all expected something better from Ruben’s team, but the Portuguese coach, very lucidly and with great intellectual honesty, admitted that his team played truly poorly, without seeking justification or resorting to various excuses.
“This, however, is already a step forward, because it shows that the AC Milan coach is aware of the team’s limitations and the issues they face. If he had simply stated that they had earned a point against Juve, it would have been very worrying. Instead, he wanted to highlight his players’ lackluster performance against Luciano Spalletti’s team.
“A clear sign that, for Amorim, the game comes first. Results can only be achieved through play. The real problem is that at Milan there’s never time for experiments, because at a club like the Rossoneri you have to win right away. There’s a lot of work to do.
“The first two matches against Torino and Venezia may have been a bit of a disappointment, but Milan are truly a work in progress. The work is enormous, and the situation from a team perspective is quite clear. In Turin, we saw a group that’s still forming, still needs to find its own identity, and isn’t ready yet, but there’s room for improvement.
“At the same time, we saw a team that isn’t complete, just as we said a week ago in this editorial on the last day of the transfer window. Sunday night’s match confirmed that the Rossoneri squad has gaps that haven’t been filled in the transfer window. It wasn’t a 10/10 window, as the Portuguese coach claimed, but it was a window of opportunity that instead leaves many questions.
“Could the €150m have been spent better? Could other positions have been filled? The answer is yes. Also because Milan, despite the investment, don’t seem ready to compete for the top spot. It will be another difficult season, hoping Milan can move closer to Champions League qualification.”
Let’s say the club was unlucky in 2 occasions one the clubs fault. Not selling Estupinian at the right time and buying another LB. The second Tomori who didn’t want to leave which I believe what’s right to reintegrate him since we have limited options but can’t blame Milan for this one.
Pretty much. The big issue however is not how the money was spent last window transfer (I actually believe the transfers are ok-ish, 7/10), but rather how the club simply couldn’t sell the extras. Nkunku, Gimenez and Fofana are still, at the end of the day, Milan players and there is serious doubt it will be easy to sell them in the next summer for a decent price. The Leao situation became a (clown) saga due to the fact that all the parties interested in him simply forced Milan to lower the price, mostly because he really isn’t hot stuff.
After the departure of Fofana, I expect a great midfield signing like Sandro Tonali quality not to retain RLC and Jashari, the latter is clearly not ready,we should not have spent much on Goncarlo Ramos, keep Nkunku, Camarda and bring in Robert Lewondoeski for free use the money for Tonali but clueless management
What a bunch of gibberish
Stones – FREE
Tiago Santos – 25+
*Athekame
Grimaldo – cca 20
MC – 40 million €
Liberali – peanuts
*Nkunku
SC – FREE or LOAN
Maignan (Torriani, P. Terracciano)
Gila (De Winter)
Stones (Gabbia)
Pavlovic (Diawara)
Tiago Santos (Saelemaekers/Athekame),
??? (Modric, Comotto)
Rabiot (Ardon, Musah)
Moreira/Grimaldo (Bartesaghi)
Chukwueze/Liberali/Zaniolo (2 of 3)
Pulisic (Nkunku, Cisse)
Ramos (Camarda, ???)
It goes without saying (that) we shouldn’t have spent that much money on Ramos (and Moreira), time is money as well but they were both well overpaid.
Red Bird is not going to risk business operating plan
They exchanged Nkunku Leao Gimenez – -> for Ramos.
Gave space for Cisse and maybe Camarda.
Than they bring Moreira and Gila, to exchange -> for Fofana Ricci and Bennacer.
Now Fofana Ricci Nkunku and Gimenez are not definitive transfers. That’s why they spent 150 on 3 players.
Fofana Nkunku Ricci and Gimenez are still Milan players and until they resolve their sale they probably won’t easy spend more money.
Possibility is only Tomori potential departure on January 2027, for maybe 5mil, where club would save 5 mil, and bring someone like Inacio in January 2027.
For next season defense would be complete, probably with wingback position if Amorim stays. They would focus more on departures and new investments than.
That’s even worse. They could have kept Nkunku, Camarda, Athekame etc. And still save $100M for next summer. Ramos transfer is a big gamble I it works. For $75M you can get much more proven people. But the point is they are not willing to pay salaries and superstars don’t care about Milan anymore. It’s all history….
Camarda? You mean Fofana?
Do you know what is problem with Nkunku ?
Small Cisse
Cisse is the biggest problem with Nkunku.
Cisse scored 2 goals, by creating his own chances. I remember Nkunku scored only once against Fiorentina.
That is problem of Nkunku and many other transfers. Are those kids who manage to do something and Nkunku on gross 9 million and I think ammortisation 7 million – only know how to take penalty.
Milan would kept all players and Allegri if they get champions league. Because all cardinale take care of is business. He doesn’t care trophies or players.
Now, Nkunku is still Milan player. And trust me, everyone here will love to see Pulisic or Cisse or…name other player, if they score more than. Nkunku and Milan grab better position.
BTW we all forgot already Bennacer Hernandez and Leao, and they were last players who bring us scudetto.
And now Ramos. Why Cardinale splash 75 million?
There must be some warranties. Like his operational team, Amorim + Amorims team and player by himself.
I dont know. Me personally for now can see some difference on central forward position. But, but at the end after sale of last star, I only want to see results no matter of personal achievement of any player in to the team.
Sure, all the spending isn’t because they want to win trophies! Stop posting.
you know ball… bunch of people here screaming nkunku, a clown who caries balloons in his socks for penalties… i’m happy with the mercato but we could have done better with the lwb positon and another cb… the disappointing part is actually failing to permanently get rid of nkunku and fofana
We’re paying such large amounts now for the inactions and actions of ownership/management over the years. First of all, the ‘inaction’ of not investing in the winning team which would have meant a few quality additions to a team capable of challenging for the domestic title year in and year out along with consistently decent finishes in the UCL and by extension the money that goes with jt. By the ‘action’ of dismantling that winning team and replacing it with lesser quality players (not to mention coaching changes), the results of which has shown to be the case as we miss out on UCL spots, we’re now left at a point where we need to replace an entire team and a half just to get enough quality in the team to get us back to UCL spots where we can get additional money to bolster the squad. And even that is not guaranteed. This has been a massive failure in Business 101
💯 – we’re the Man U of Italy – just complete incompetence all round… they even got scored on in the dying moments at the weekend 😂
Its difference because Milan is holding strict salary cap
Even they sell leao for extremely low price just to cut him off salary bill
Milan increased ammortisations i think is around 160 million with all loaned players but kept salaries on 100 million limit.
No, their stadium is falling apart, we’re building one. We won our league this decade, they haven’t! We’re maybe 2-3 years away from winning the scudetto, they haven’t a prayer of catching Arsenal, Man City, Chelsea or Liverpool – all four with vastly superior spending power. We’re the biggest spenders in our league.
Perfectly said @IKWYDLS
There was never any inaction, stop making things up. This have been proven over and over again yet you insist on lying through your teeth. You’re not a fan, you’re here to push an agenda. The issue with the owners is not nor has ever been how much they spend, the issue is how the money was spent.
Well if you bothered to read I said specifically what I meant by inaction.
Re: “First of all, the ‘inaction’ of not investing in the winning team which would have meant a few quality additions to a team capable of challenging for the domestic title year in and year out along with consistently decent finishes in the UCL and by extension the money that goes with it”
The inaction refers specifically to when we made a UCL semi and instead of investing (ie on top of what we already have which was a good team) to remain competitive OR better yet get a few pieces to challenge on a more consistent basis, the ownership/management chose to sell our quality players and replace them with inferior players (as I pointed out via the results). Why? Because Maldini told them they needed to strike while the iron is hot would have been to costly? And they did the opposite. Why do you think we’re in the predicament we’re in right now? What Maldini mentioned then is what Gerry has now woken up to and is doing now. What’s different is that instead of investing to challenge for honours, it’s now investing to get out of a hole he dug. A scenario that could have been completely avoidable had he listened to ppl in sport who have won major honors for years and continued to win as a director.
“The issue with the owners is not nor has ever been how much they spend, the issue is how the money was spent.” This I wholeheartedly agree with fyi. In fact you could say it seems you agree with me because they started dismantling that team after the UCL semi and brought in a plethora of useless players. Precisely my point
According to transfermarkt, Ramos value is 30, we paid 74, Moreira worth 25, we paid 50 and Leao, worth 50, we sold for 38. Gotta love those shrewd businessmen.
Transfermarkt is as good as the “worth” of your house or your business. The actual sale price depends on what else is being offered, who is out there shopping, and how much leverage and patience you have. It sucks to buy at a premium and sell at a discount, but it’s either that or we end the season battling Cagliari for a spot in the upper half of the table.
Gonzalo Ramos is a disgraceful signing, a weakling.
Should have kept Athekame, got rid of Estupinan, Musah, RLC. We could have got Frattesi (5M loan, ok Inter reluctant to loan to us but then we buy him), Grimaldo for 15, Doue for 30, Senesi free, Kean 5M loan, or Parrott for 16, Hogh 12.85, Trossard 18. Palacios 22.5. If Alaba is still available on a free , take a risk with a short term contract. Injury prone but brings quality, experience, leadership, depth and positonal versatility.
All I read is how you basically want AC Milan to do the same mistakes. Maybe it is time to actually move on and spend big if the club wants to stay relevant.
Inthin it’s time to offload some players whose don’t have even a bunch warmer level, such Estupinian-Rlc-Jashaari-Tomori.
Of course everyone thinks they know exactly what Milan should have done to make them guaranteed league winners…
There’s no way that our spend in 2026 would make us league winners. Of course there are still holes.
We bought Ramos and Gila with 100M of that. We have them for 5 years. Gila at about 12M per year looks a bargain unless he has long-term health risk and, whilst there are better value no9s out there, Ramos is a great add in a position we’ve been lacking, albeit at a premium price (~25M per season).
The only real questionable spend is Moreira and we have no way yet to know how he turns out.
Obviously we wanted to sell more and this was the big failure of the window. We are still paying for Nkunku, Fofana and other players we wanted to ship out. People keep bringing up not selling Estupinan but if the coach wants him then so what? If we sold for 9-10M it wouldn’t have helped this season’s budget anyway (we’d use the salary saved for a write down).
No wonder Vitiello is such an acclaimed sporting director.