Paloschi >>> Aubameyang. FACT. But if it's a move then I'll live with it. Sort of like Billy and his one year away on loan. Didn't take away the gloss any bit, but he can't call himself a one-club man. If it has to be, Samp would be good. We'll see.

P.Aubameyang i thingk will be really gud Willy mite not be as gud as him

Unfortunately, Pierre is in Dijon this season on loan. He scored a goal for them this past weekend too.

oh thought willy went to dijon

Come on, I'd like him to stay too but even if we play with 2 forwards he'll be fifth choice while if we play with one forward... you'll forget the way he looks...

There was a lot of confusion about which brother went to Dijon.

But it IS Pierre. Here's his team photo:

You're right, I guess. So be it. But if we run out of options in attack (anytime during the season), saying "I Told You So" to the management wouldn't quite cut it.

Aubameyang is no where near Paloschi. he never impressed me...

Ditto. Maybe he'll improve, but one could sense Paloschi as a better player a country mile away. His two goals in the loss we had in the cup matches, and then the goal on his debut, etc.

Ok, Lazio is in for Broochi and the negotiations are reported to be at an advanced stage. I don't have a source for this, but it has been quoted and is rumored.

With the coming days we will see what the situation is

Yeah but with four other strikers ahead of him, he would get little to no playing time.

We're not going to run out of options in attack. We have a solid set of forwards... Inzaghi is most likely the one who will not play many games... but I'm sure Sheva, Borriello and Pato will. Borriello is on his way out of injury soon enough.

As far as Brocchi going to Lazio, I'd like to see that. But I'd like to see a swap deal for Stendardo still happen...

Ronaldo to City, so Leonardo claims

The Lazio-Brocchi rumor is from Lotito's comments on the way in to the Lega Calcio meeting (I believe) and from a statement issued by Brocchi's agent.

I hope it's a swap deal, but even if we off-load him that will be appropriate. I never really been a fan... I think he'll do better at a midtable team like Lazio.

Some more news... Galliani said there was no Kaka option for Chelsea... and a shocking bit of news about Galliani saying that the transfer season isn't closed... even with Senderos arrival...

http://www.transfermarketweb.com/?action=r...amp;idsel=23540

Milan vice president Adriano Galliani has rubbished reports that Chelsea were given an option on Brazil star Kaka as part of the Andriy Shevchenko deal – and has told fans to expect more signings before the transfer window closes.

Shevchenko completed a move back to Milan on Monday after two disappointing seasons at Stamford Bridge, but the details of the transfer remain undisclosed – prompting suggestions in the press that Chelsea could be given a chance to sign long-term target Kaka next summer for a world record fee.

But Galliani insists no such discussions took place and has told fans that Shevchenko and Philippe Senderos will not be the last players to arrive at the club before the transfer window closes.

“The market closes on Monday, but we will make other signings following Shevchenko and Senderos,” he told Calcio Mercato.

----

Yes I know this was probably posted... but I can't believe he actually said that we will make more signings after the two were signed. Could it mean another defender?

Hamma Hamma! Please God make this happen.

I trust Paolo to make it happen

Now who else does he wanna bring in?

It's beyond me. I hope another defender. I do think Senderos will do fine, but another one will be appropriate. It's rather surprising... our transfer season... the depth added to the team has been quite beyond what I thought. How about for you guys? How much has this transfer season defied what you think would happen?

We may end up with what 9-10 signings before this transfer season closes?

I think we've already made up to ten signings...Milan really needed these signing..Over the past 3-4 years..I can say we've made at least 2 decent signings which isn't good for a team like Milan..its a bit surprising with the players we're getting...Talented players for cheap..THats something to reckon with...In the end we'll be scudetto and uefa cup champions...In serie A milan's suffered the most..We needed new blood..new players which is just what we've done..More players would have come if we were in the champions league but with the players we have..I'm really confident...we might end up with 11 signings...Call it 11 signings for the 3-4 years that we didn't sign good players...Flamini for instance is very good defensively as well as offensively...I'm happy bout this signings as well as the rest..I just can't wait for Serie A to begin with milan kicking off with a win...

The bolded section is not consistent with the Italian version of the article (posted on page 335 of this thread).

Here's the original italian and my translation:

L'amministratore delegato del Milan, Adriano Galliani ha dichiarato all'ingresso in Lega Calcio: "Il mercato chiude alle 19 di lunedì, ma non faremo altri acquisti dopo Shevchenko e Senderos. Ancelotti dovrebbe essere molto contento del mercato, ora sta a lui non fallire e farci vincere lo scudetto. Tranquillizzo tutti i nostri tifosi come sempre, nell'ambito del ritorno di Sheva non abbiamo mai parlato di Kakà con il Chelsea. Oddo al Lione? Non ne abbiamo ancora parlato con il giocatore. Per ora è tutto bloccato anche in uscita, l'unico che partirà di sicuro è Paloschi invece Borriello è incedibile".

[The administrative delegate of Milan, Adriano Galliani, said the following on the way in to the Lega Calcio meeting: 'The market closes at 7pm on Monday, but we won't make any other purchases after Shevchenko and Senderos. Ancelotti should be very happy with the market, now it's up to him to not fail and to win the scudetto. To calm our fans: during the negotiations for Sheva's return, we never spoke about Kaka with Chelsea. Oddo to Lyon? We haven't talked about it with the player. For now everything's blocked for departures, the only one who will certainly go is Paloschi and Borriello is unsellable."]

I'll go over it... bringing up wikipedia heheh... just in case I forgot anyone...

So far we have signed/brought back from loan... Viudez, Cardacio, Zambrotta, Flamini, Ronaldinho, Borriello, Antonini, Abbiati, Senderos, Shevchenko, Flamini... hopefully I didn't miss anyone. That's actually 11 signings for Milan right now... we may end up with 12-13 new signings.

We did indeed suffer from lacks of depth, and I think rather then getting 3 players or so per transfer season, our management realized the problem and went all out... and still isn't done. I think one more defender would be good.

Edit: Thanks Tennie, that seems to be a mistranslation. Maybe 11 signings is enough for now...

I'd like another defender too, hopefully this time a competent centerback. However, Galliani said in his interview that there wouldn't be any more purchases. Course, he's been known to stretch the truth before so...who knows?

I think Senderos is competent. Yes, he's not my first choice (I was wanting Kovac)... but he should be a good squad player and will have a role to play in the more minor games where our other defenders sometimes lose concentration.

Yeah Galliani said the transfer season was over with the purchase of Ronaldinho.

We have 11 new signings... I'm sure one more can fit.

Just a question: How many of the players that were bought in, did the team we took them off even put up a fight to keep them? -- Something kdman bought to my attention..

Ronaldinho and Zambrotta were basically kicked out of Barca. Boriello and Abbiati were part ours anyway. The two Uruguayans are an unknown thus far, not much to say as we don't know much about them. Arsenal wanted to get rid of Senderos, but they did want to keep Flamini. Chelsea no longer wanted Sheva. (Who else have I missed?)

The only guy we've bought in that was even wanted by their previous teams is Flamini, which is a little worrying actually!

Which Ronaldo? Which City? I hope what I'm thinking is not true.

yep, so we might not be buying anymore players outright, but there could be a new addition in the form fo Standardo as a direct swap with Brocchi. If this happens I would call this mercato a perfect one

It's exactly what you thinking, but nothing is final yet.

Luis Nazario de Lima and Man City.

I was thinking the same thing. And the realist in me want to believe the Flamini will be the only player that will prove his worth in the coming years. A proven, upcoming, middle-age talent - one that other teams would have wanted too.

The others can/will be good too, no doubt about that, but they are out of the loop, or not into it yet. Top clubs wouldn't want them (or at least in the shape and form they are in). Good window? Yes. Touching great. But still.

The question is will these players do well in their new team?



I don't think Arsenal really wanted to get rid of Senderos, because they have huge deficiencies in their team and the season for them has already started. They had a shock loss of 1-0 to Fulham. Losing players, including Senderos, is terrible for them. Even I had a Gooner fan admit that to me that loaning out Senderos was the last thing that should have happened.

Ronaldinho and Zambrotta are quality signings. It doesn't matter if they were kicked out. And besides that, Ronaldinho gave up 15% of the transfer fee to help the transfer to be concluded.



Why is it worrying?

Well the answer to your question will be revealed on the 1st of September

Oh dear. Well if it has to happen, then it may as well do. I shouldn't worry too much. Besides he's got to get completely fit first. Having said that, it would still be a sight to behold once he starts kicking a football again. In Milan jersey, or otherwise.

I still can't forget his goal against inter. Left foot when the opposition least expected it. Wham! Pure class.

We're living off on scrapes. Discards and such.

I don't see how that is true at all. I'd much rather have the fantastic transfer season we are having... than the one Juventus has had for example... what a disappointment that was. Even Roma was less than impressive this signing season.

I don't see how we are living off discards at all. It's not like we are getting players from lower ranked teams in Spain and England. The players we got for the most part are world class (Ronaldinho, Zambrotta, etc)... or future starlets (Viudez+Cardacio)... and some good squad players (Senderos and Antonini)...

We'll have to wait until the end of May 2009 to find the answer to that.

They did. CB isn't really a position they're in need of, they have 4 or 5 players already in that position that are better than Senderos. They obviously wanted to get rid of him, otherwise why would they be willing to give him to Milan on loan -meaning they aren't even making money from the deal this season - if they were in such need in defense? They wouldn't.

Top teams shouldn't be filled of other teams "rejects". I'm not saying they're bad players (except Senderos), but great players? Flamini yes, but the rest.. we've not seen anything great from them for quite some time.

I can't see Ronaldo staying healthy for long in the EPL. Maybe a Spanish team would be better for him.

Our team isn't full of rejects. They are NOT rejects. They are top quality players. Weren't you the one who was arguing for Shevchenko and now suddenly you're calling him a reject?

Sometimes a player needs a change of venue and team. I'm fully supportive of getting players that want to leave their team. Ronaldinho did pretty well in the Olympics... Flamini has been solid. Zambrotta has started to settle in more and did well in the last few friendly games...

So what... we don't acquire anymore because you think we are gonna get rejects?

Interesting point raised.

I'm not worried by Zambrotta's lack of form at Barca - he's just not suited to Spanish football, and I'm far from convinced he wanted to be there in the first place. That had to make it even harder for him to do especially well.

I think Flamini was probably a very shrewd acquisition.

Shevchenko was a sentimental choice by the owner of the club. If he's half as productive goalwise as he was before he deserted Milan (sorry guys, still don't like the way he left), I'll be happy.

Ronaldinho is a bit of a gamble. Talent? Absolutely. Form the last 2 years? Not so much. I'm also going to agree to disagree with people regarding his performance at the Olympics: I was not encouraged or impressed by what I saw.

Senderos...ergh. Sorry, guys, but I'd rather see the 18 year old Darmian play over him. Darmian has positional sense at least.

This is just depressing. Some will always find something to complain about.

Well I have to go now... I can't stand all this negativity. We have huge amounts of depth now, and every signing we got has a purpose. Ronaldinho was perhaps the signing of the season and did well in the Olympics... he wasn't going to risk injury though and push himself too far.

I wasn't impressed in any, Ten. Encouraged? Yes. He's showing signs and willingness to improve, and with the talent reserves he has, I'm sure he can prove to be an asset to our Scudetto mount this season. Personally, I believe every team deserves at least one Ronaldinho, but whatever the case, I'd very much rather have him in our squad than on the opponent's team.

My $0.02.

The same you can say about Sheva that he was not suited to English football and particularly to Chelsea...

Exactly ... It's like nothing pleases them. The club made 3 kinds of transfers: Milan brought in a Super Star in Ronaldinho, brought in depth with Flamini, Senderos, Zambrotta and Borriello, and Milan brought back Shevchenko just to make sure all will go well upfront!

I don't know what more could be added ? I would have liked a more solid CB like Mexes, but I am content with Nesta & Maldini.

(How many games will Nesta and Maldini play, R7?)

Very true kurt but I think some of the player's situations need to also be taken into account

Ronaldinho had been having problems for 2 years at Barca, even in 06/07 which I think was a good season for him (scored more goals in a season then he had ever previously scored) but the problems were already starting to form both with the management and his team mates. 07/08 ii think things escalated to a newer level and personally I don't believe for a second that half those injuries that he reportedly suffered were real. He wasn't happy there, he started slacking, he gained weight. Undoubtedly his performances were nowhere to be found and coupled with the troubles with management and him not attending training he was dropped completely from the Barca team. So it's really a no brainer that Barca would have wanted all of their problems gone this summer, Deco and Eto'o included, and if someone was willing to pay the transfer fee and the wages for Eto'o Barca would have been more then willing to sell. Deco has been really good for Chelsea so far and at Barca not only was he deemed surplus to requirments bu he was accused of being at fault for Barca's short comings.

Zambrotta was never really suited for the Spanish game, how does a player that was one of the players of the tournament for Italy's World Cup winning team become terrible overnight? I just don't buy it. Even though I do believe that we overpaid a bit for him, I think he's a really good signing. He's still top class at Barca he was never really happy, didn't even want to go to Spain to begin with, and Serie A fits better to his style of play.

Boriello and Abbiati I personally didn't want back but after seeing Kalac and Dida in pre-season I can't help but be greatful that at least there is an alternative. Of course I would have wanted Boruc or Akinfeev, but Milan has never really spent big on a keeper so I didn't really think they would do it now. Hopefully next summer a top class defender and keeper come in. As for Boriello I didn't want this one coming back either, based on the simple fact that he has been given his chances in the past and failed. But I'm hoping that his goals at Genoa will give him the confidence booster he needed. Still would have preferred someone else instead of seeing us pay Genoa 10m for a player we wanted to off load really badly just a year ago.

As for Sheva, well first of all we all know he's Silvio's personal signing, secondly I think he won't have any trouble getting back into the swing of things. He was never going to make it in the premier league, he was never happy there and the football Chelsea play was never going to suite his style. Under Mourinho he was played either as a winger or as a replacement for Drogba, Sheva is neither a winger nor a big strong target man that you can punt the ball upto from your own half of the pitch, Chelsea never played to Sheva's strengths, not to mention, he seemed like an outsider on that team, both on and off the pitch.

Me? I love him and am delighted he's returned. But is he a reject? Of course.

Reject: (According to the dictionary)
1: to discard as useless or unsatisfactory.
2: to cast out or off.

Shevchenko IS a Chelsea reject, and we signed him.

Reject has negative connotation. I will not ever use that term to define ANY of our players.

Good post, han. But I'm still skeptical.

You have to ask the question why Ronaldinho wasn't having a good time of it at Barca? I think he has a bit of an ego problem, amongst other problems, and once he realise he wasn't the one that was carrying the club, he lost interest, as well as his reputation. He is a big, if not the biggest, reason why his time at Barca went bad.

Borriello and Abbiati. These guys weren't good enough for Milan the first time around, so one good season will change that? Just like Zambrotta doesn't become a bad player overnight, these guys don't become top players overnight. We'll see.

Sheva, I agree with what you've said about him. I think alot of the other players resenting how he was bought to the team, which didn't help.