Winter Mercato January 2016

[Jay Crisp]

In fairness to him, Rano did well at Bari when he broke through alongside Bonucci. However, back then he was compared to Nesta, something I can't say I ever thought about when seeing him.

Xhaka's a sore point for me, knowing we've been linked to him and not gotten him is frustrating. He's not been firing on all cylinders this year, but he's head and shoulders above any midfielder in our team. The last couple of seasons he's been outstanding. I posted this earlier in the summer, but this is an interesting article on him:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/24603...-in-flames

To quote a specific section:


Now that's an excerpt that doesn't paint Xhaka in the best of light (I implore people to read the whole thing and not just this bit), but it's that personality, the slight arrogance and confidence as well as leadership that our team is lacking in abundance. That mentality of wanting to win, not just survive is something that is part of Milan's history and culture that we've lost. The fact that he went through an extremely tough period and was on the verge of being sold and instead reacted by proving himself on the pitch and being the undisputed star of the side is the mental strength we don't have. Not to mention he's an outstanding regista with great talent and also has fight in his game. It all sounds like qualities we need in Milan right?

Same goes for Allan, I'm very bitter with him not being considered. Again, it's the same sort of story, a guy who was bossing in midfield at Udinese, both playing in front of defence and as a box to box midfielder. He's got a lot of fight in him, his tackling stats I think being some of the best in Italy for a good number of years now. Technical ability, pace (which is so undervalued when we discuss players we need), the ability to take on opponents are also qualities he has. He's actually surprisingly technically gifted, which isn't always recognised because of the more notable tough destroyer qualities he's known for. However, if I'm correct I think he actually played as a wingback in early parts of his career, which would explain why he's able to work so well box to box. Again, a good article on him:

http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/meet...M8xOPnBV4A

I'm actually really bitter, because these guys would make such a difference in this Milan side. I'm not saying they'd fix all our problems, as I said in other threads, I think it's very deep, never mind the obvious issues we still have in defence with no partner for Romagnoli, or at least another midfielder or playmaker we'd still lack even with these two. However, they actually show a lot of qualities we really need. They have the sort of work rate and personalities that Miha would probably love, never mind the fight that both offer, again fitting perfectly with what Miha wants to build. As far as cost, together they would have probably cost a similar amount we were prepared to pay for Kondogbia. Urrgh, Galliani's an incompetent fool!

In hindsight we could of had Xhaka and Verratti in our mid for a cost of 22m IIRC ...2m more than Bertolacci.But as long as Berlusconi and Galliani are here I have no doubt that we'll never see these kind of purchases , guys like Xhaka Verratti Varane etc... becaue our management are legit idiotic .We will however see guys like Vergara Didac Ely Mauri .The cheapness of Milan (despite this last mercato) has no bounds.I mean when players are around the 20 mark a little older too and they play for a small club Milan just baulk at a 10/11/12m fee.Yet we'll spend 20m on Bertolacci 12m on Matri no problem , not to mention 50m in wages alone last year to Zaccardo Agazzi Essien Torress Mexes Muntari Pazzini Seedorf .

I fear the coming year because the team is crap , it lost 92m last year despite 248m revenue , this year the revenue is less than 200m so expect the same loss or way more seing as they spent 90m to be 11th and contend for 9th 10th 11th in the table.Bravo cut some crap players spend 90m and look worse , only Milan.