Yes, I think you managed to find the balance here and explain all the tactical aspects nicely.

What I still hope for us to do is grab that 3rd spot. Because playing Europa League (other then money) doesn't bring much. Look at Inter...

Calling Bacca's performance against Juve fair is incredibly generous. He was sub par. His skill set is such that he offers very little other than finishing ability so when his finishing is poor it greatly effects his rating. He had multiple good opportunities and flubbed them all. I expect far more from some one who is purported to a star and a lethal finisher.

Perhaps. Ah well, let's sell him...

Anyway. What's our status right now with the takeover and all? Why is our winter budget cut?

Well lets see, we have no CL money, no Serie A money, but we do have 200M deposit from the Chinese. Not sure of the usage of the 200M, as Galliani puts it we have to sell before we buy.

Id be surprised if we end up with a good signing, think it will just be a shuffle if anything.

The 200M are not for Milan (they are for Finvest). As I understand it, the agreement between the buyers and current management is that the transfer market will be "net zero". Neither party wants to sell Bacca, so it will be others (like Luiz Adriano) that would fund any purchase.

Realistically speaking, I would not expect us to make CL this year. EL is a reasonable expectation, CL a bit of a stretch.

And when will the takeover finally happen? Any news on that one?

I understand your cautiousness guys, but bear in mind that Milan have to fight for a 3rd spot against Napoli and Lazio, who ain't bad but also are not unbeatable. I think it's more then doable. In January we play Napoli which will be a big thing. We'll see.

February? March? Who knows ...


Yeah, CL is still possible, but IMHO it is a stretch. I agree that Napoli and Lazio are not that great, but neither are we (a few injuries and an off day for some key players, and we can easily drop more points). Also, it looks like Inter may have gotten their act together, and they are not that far behind us.

Indeed, absolute farce of a takeover again. Not quite on pure fraud levels like Bee but not a LOT better!

Any thoughts on Gago? I have to assume this is a temporary solution until we get real money.

Not too keen, but wont hurt for rotation

He used to be spoken of very highly. But very very injury prone. When we already have Mati Fernandez, why him? I would have liked Ganso, but I guess Gago comes with experience playing in Europe.

Rumours of the summer mercato - including Bernardeschi and/or Berardi. Two names I like. Still don't see that mid-fielder name being pulled though. Or the centre back. Is Paletta really that good? I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try.

Looks like it's going to be a very lean month coming our way

We're going in with ridiculous loan + option to buy for players... Our management thinks that everyone is as gullible as us and would be willing to get rid of players for nothing just as long as they offload his wages

We're giving Luiz Adriano away for nothing, but we're happy because we don't have to pay the ridiculous wage packet he was given by Galliani to begin with

We're simply unable to sell any of our players for actual money, even while the club is going through a good period performance wise

This winter mercato could have been a great opportunity for us to cement that CL spot had we made the right moves. I know Badelj doesn't excite anyone but trying to get him on a short contract would have been ideal for us. He'd be the guy to shore up our midfield until we cross the finish line this season. Don't get me wrong, I think Locatelli has a bright future, but the kid is clearly not a regista and that's what we need, not to mention that Kucka tends to have one good game and four terrible ones.

Also, we're going to have problems with the attack if we don't try to bring anyone in for that left side. Bona has been doing very well there but I think he was even better in the midfield 3, and we've missed him in that position in the last few games. Bertolacci I think can be someone we can look to, his performances have been pretty solid for someone returning from such a long term injury, definitely better than anything I saw from him last season so he at least gives me some hope.

I just don't think that what we have is enough to get us into the CL, we're been over-performing massively since the start of the season, to expect it to continue is completely naiive.

Reality is nothing much will happen in this transfer market. As I understand it, Galliani is bickering with the Chinese leadership, and he seems unlikely to raise any money by selling players.

There appears to be a 30M offer for Bacca coming from China, and there are rumors of a possible DS for Zaza exchange with Juve, which would give us a replacement for Bacca (I hope this does not happen).

Also, talk continues on Deulofeu, but I don't see what we can offer to Everton. Also, we are talking winger / forward, not sure this is what we really need right now.

Zaza is sh*t.

Indeed. As a reminder, see.

Failed at West Ham. Failed at the Euros. Ideal Milan panic buy.

Ideal Galliani panic buy.

Apparently Niang to Arsenal remains surprisingly on.

Would be great. Niang is mentally not in it any more. Even at his best his effort and usefulness are questionable.

I don't get why we don't do any transfer efforts. Adriano, Niang and a few other could at least be trimmed off and we could try and get one or two decent players instead. I'm not saying we're gonna sign Ronaldo, but...?

Selling is (much) harder than buying, especially if you want to get some cash out of the deal.

^^ Yup exactly. Clubs know we're selling because he's bad. At this moment in time we wouldn't get a jot above 12 million for him. Dead loss, while his performance in the first half of the season would have warranted at least 18.

Sell for 12 I say. At this rate, we'll get even less in the summer.

The quoted sum is 20M. Arsene apparently 'really wants' him.

I read today that we have sent an offer for Deulofeu for 500K for the loan with an option to buy at 18 Million. I have only seen the guy play a few times, but anyone young and promising is a good player to have come off the bench. Plus 18M isn't much in today's market. He would bring another option on the wing which is necessary at this point. It seems that we won't be doing any real business this window (admittedly no team has done much business), so this is better than nothing as far as I'm concerned.

What do you guys think?

I think it's a good buy. I think we're really thin on the wings. Delofeu if I'm not wrong, comes from the Barca school, so in a lot of ways, he's almost exactly similar to Suso. We're too dependent on Jack and Suso at the moment on the wings, thanks to Niang's wretched form and desperately need cover there.

My worry is that he comes from a different league, so I'm concerned about his ability to adjust quickly.

Looks like Deulofeu is a done deal. Straight loan, we pay 750k, and Barca still has the right to buy him back.

A player who isn't good enough for Everton isn't good enough for us.

He's miles better than Niang, and that's good enough for me (for now)

It's a loan with an option, win win for us

Either way if/when the money flows in from the new owners we'll be looking at more permanent solutions for that left side (Keita, Bernardeschi, Insigne and Berardi all being mentioned (don't know how realistic some of those are though)

Is this just a default comment because he's a Dutch U23 international with a foreign name? You've never watched him play. Or never paid attention to him when he played. He's 'by default' better than Niang but then, so am I.

We signed him, if anyone cares.

Under the circumstances, I think this is a good move. From what I have been reading he is a rather versatile player, which means his arrival will give us more options op front and in midfield. And it is just a loan, which means we are not going to get stuck with him if he turns out to be a disappointment. This summer we will (hopefully) have money for more serious investments, and (unless he turns out to be much better than we all seem to think) Delofeu will be gone.

Now if we could only sell Niang and bring in some cash ...

I think you just answered your own question right there...

I don't claim to know what Deulofeu can do as a player, I don't claim to have watched him play before either. I actually didn't even know who he was when we were first linked with him. My only thinking atm is that anyone is better than the bumbling, stumbling, clumsy Niang. Who aside from being a mediocre players who mainly relies on physicality and nothing else; he has a terrible attitude to boot. So yes, I think in this case I think anyone is an upgrade over Niang, who in a season where our coach has had tremendous success with the young players in the group, he's the one who still can't manage to take advantage of the situation presented to him.

Like I said, I can't claim to know much about this Gerard kid (Deulofeu is too hard to write from memory so I'll just call him that), but I'm happy that we managed to sign him. i don't know if he can be a proper solution for us but he'll give us options. He can play on the left or right of the wings from what I heard which will be useful for us if (god forbid) Suso is injured

Also, an update on the Niang situation. Some EPL clubs are interested (mainly WHU, Crystal Palace and Everton), they should definately be the priority as they have the cash to spend. If we can get something out of Niang it would be a miracle

Why is it so important to get something out of Niang?

Niang is reported to have said goodbye to the Rossoneri today with weird sudden rumours Liverpool have signed him.

That came from nowhere.

What concerns me is not only is he not good enough for Everton, but he's not good enough for a struggling Everton. What further concerns me is he's not only not good enough for Everton, and a struggling Everton, but one which has a Dutch manager who would be more likely to favour a Dutch player.

Beyond injury and ability I am also concerned about attitude. We seem to be in a really crummy market, taking Roma rejects, Everton rejects, players who simply aren't in favour at their current clubs. We got lucky with Romagnoli but of all our signings in recent years, other than Bacca and perhaps Bonaventura, who have we signed who was a serious first team player at their existing club and who wasn't a Genoa quality team?

Can't think of anyone. It's a diabolical market.

Deulofeu is also a right winger by trade, which is where we play Suso. If he's to be switched to the left, sure, I'm willing to give that a chance. But really, this current market is painful to witness. It's so un-Milan it's not even sad any more.

Your post is frank, honest, and appreciated, but it sums us up that we're so desperate for anyone to come in we accept unknowns and assume because they're new and shiny they must be better than what we have. Never mind the fact that Olivares was ghastly from day one, never mind what a shambles Acerbi, Armero, Mesbah, Onyewu were - they were new and shiny and presumably had to be good. Alas they were not.

I understand where you're coming from, but for me this is a desperate signing again. I'll give him a chance to prove me wrong, but if he couldn't do it at Goodison I'm unconvinced he will do it for us. Look where Taarabt ended up.

It's always a gamble. But we're in a situation where we must take these shots in the dark and try. Maybe some of them end up like Suso.

Please keep in mind that we are operating with zero budget on this transfer market. That will (hopefully) change this summer, so I would not look at our recent past as an indication of what will happen once we get new owners. However, until that happens, it is what it is.

As of right now, we needed someone that can play on the wing, and Deulofeu gives us that. From what I have been reading he is reasonably good (has played on Spain's NT up to U21) and is rather versatile (can play right, left, and even center as a "false 9"). I am not sure if I would dismiss him as an "Everton reject", at least not yet.

Random but Niang to Watford is a done deal.

Suso and Romagnoli are rare gems. We can't do that every time. I've never seen our bench worse than it currently is.

He is an Everton reject - he lost his place about a year ago and has played barely 15 times since. Koeman doesn't want him. Whether the term reject is derogatory doesn't really matter - he's surplus to them and that makes him what Adriano (fairly or not) was to us - a reject.

Hopefully he hits the ground running for us and proves me way wrong.

Lucas Ocampos to come in on loan to replace Niang.

Oh btw he's yet another Genoa product.

Zero budget true, and look at what we're ending up with. Absolute rubbish.

Hopefully that will all change once we get new owners. Hopefully. (Because I agree with you that our current modus operandi is not going to lead us anywhere.)

Yeah, but a alternative is nonexistent. At least until the takeover happens.

We're going backwards. We're not even sitting still. Montella made us punch above our weight but now the energy has gone and there's only hot air left. And that sees us sinking.

Indeed. Hence my writing this season off. It's not taking place till next month at the earliest, leaving us nothing but free transfers and loans till the end of the season. And all we'll do is go downhill till then.

Well, why not give it a chance? I know chances aren't in our favor, but why not try? There's not much we can lose anyway?

Because I prefer to expect the worst and any good that comes is a glorious bonus rather than expecting the good and being broken hearted when it doesn't happen.

Yeah, that's the tagline of this whole forum.

Because we're desperate for a CM and we have no cash

Plus getting actual cash for a player we own might seem like a novelty to some but it's how we should be doing business instead of being happy just to send players away for nothing like we have been doing thanks to Galliani

Niang at Juve would fetch 20m easily (hello Zaza, Giaccherini, Matri, etc) Niang with us is worth basically nothing, and we're just happy to send him to any club that would take him, hey as long as we don't have to pay his wages it's all good right?