Alessandro Nesta, Filippo Inzaghi, Alberto Aquilani, Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Those are the names that the Rossoneri wave goodbye to this summer, in a transfer window that sees them sent back to the drawing board.
While it could be said that both Nesta and Inzaghi were in the back end of their careers, in Silva and Ibrahimovic they lose not only their two talismen, but also two of the best players in the world in their respective positions.
Although, they received a substantial amount in return (reported to be €62 million), AC Milan now faces the dilemma of how to move on in their aftermath. This however will be more easily said than done. They are still recovering from the nightmare of last season, which began with them sending Andrea Pirlo to rivals Juventus. In Pirlo, they felt they lost a player who was past his prime and whose loss would not hamper their progress.
Andrea Pirlo, proved them wrong in the most emphatic manner of all, he led Juventus to an undefeated season and returned from the Euro’s as Italy’s star performer. Now though, Milan are considerably more cautious not to repeat such errors, thus, they have sent their star men to free spending Paris Saint-Germain instead.
Upon reflection the losses of Zlatan and Thiago Silva not only weakens them further, but widens the gap between them and Juventus, who have strengthened further with the additions of Lucio, Giaccherini and Giovinco. Therefore, the moves that they make between now and the start of the season are critical in determining whether Milan will be able to achieve any level of success next season.
Their first signing of the window was an absolute masterstroke, managing to capture Riccardo Montolivo on a free. As a natural regista, he will be able to fill the void left by Andrea Pirlo’s absence. Aside from this addition though, little has been done to remedy the quantity of top calibre players they have lost.
They could argue that a replacement for Zlatan is not really required given that they still have Robinho, Pato and Cassano, but while they are all technically gifted individuals, AC Milan have thrived more recently through the use of an influential target man. History has also shown that the long-term fitness of both Pato and Cassano are rather unclear. As such, they should look to take advantage of Manchester City’s excess of talent and make a swoop for Edin Dzeko, who would be a perfect fit for their style of play.
More of a concern is that they have no real heirs to the positions vacated by Nesta and Thiago Silva, in order to partner Philippe Mexes. Combine this with their weakness at full back, the whole back four fair considerably unfavourably when compared to that of league champions Juventus. Thus, new signings in this position is no longer a choice, Milan must commit to signing a few defenders to help return them to glory.
They have indicated interest in Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa who I believe is a perfect fit to help Milan through their rebuilding phase, not only due to his dominant performances for Montpellier but also because of the versatility he would be able to provide to Massimiliano Allegri’s side.
However, I believe their marquee signing in defense should be another squad player at Manchester City, Micah Richards. Having started last season in blistering form, the whole nation expected him to be guaranteed a place in the England squad for the Euros. However, in the back end of the season he seemed to fall out of favour with Mancini and he was subsequently left out of Roy Hodgson’s team. As a result he is rumoured to be available and given the ability he has shown I believe a bid of 20-25m would be suitable for all parties involved.
His addition to the team would provide a huge boost to Milan’s chances net season and may even put them back in contention for the Champions League places in Serie A. However any aspirations they may have for a Scudetto would require almost zero transition time for all signings they do make, which may be asking too much in their first year of life after Nesta, Ibrahimovic, et al.
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this has made me laugh. you think Milan who had to get rid of their best players due to financial problems should spend 20 to 25 mill on a second string player in Micah calamity Richards the only 25 mill associated with Micah is his food bill. the facts are you could buy Skrtel and Agger for approx 30 mill both are much better than Micah
the future stands with youth my friend.
Hope you are not saying 25mn Lira for Mikah Richards. This is the problem with us in English football. We still believe that we are the best. English players are super hyped, due to the home grown quota are over priced & over paid. Otherwise, how many English players are showing their “talent” outside England?
Milan ‘ll not be desperate to fill up 8 English players, therefore I don’t think, they are going to bid over 5/6 mn for a pretty average player, 90% of whose attribute is physical. In a much compact & tactical Italian game, Richards ‘ll be booked in almost every match (sometimes twice). Also, we are talking about Italy, I believe in Seria B there are better Right Backs than a player failing to make the cut of a very average English team & rightly so.
Mikah is going to enjoy his fat pay check at the expense of the Arab (sp)oiled money till his contract runs out & as a free agent, he ‘ll look for another fat deal somewhere in England, where any top team ‘ll need some big “Home Grown” ass to warm the bench.
Even without financial crisis, AC won’t have paid over 8mn for Mikah.