Didn't impress me.

https://footballwhispers.com/blog/brilliant...rrible-tiemoue/

One quick google to find out if I was going mad and apparently not. This is the Bakayoko I saw.

Danny, I don't think you remember.

Bakayoko started terribly with us, didn't get much play time in the beginning and when he did he looked very sloppy. But then Biglia got injured and he started playing regularly, and he was very impressive. A dominant presence in front of the defense, he was one of the reasons we missed CL football for only one point that year.

We should have signed him permanently, but given the recent racist incidents back then along with Chelsea's demands made it so he got shipped back at the end of the loan spell.

This.

He didn't have the confidence at first, but with Gattuso backing him up, he did really well. I'm not sure however he is an absolute priority...and the price tag Chelsea are slapping on him is outrageous.

Danny, I really don't think you're remembering Bakayoko... His first 2 months with us were atrocious no doubting that, BUT as soon as Rino started playing him regularly he was amazing for us. Not just our best mid, but one of our best players, no ifs or buts about it.

That being said, considering Chelsea don't want him, the 30m asking price is ridiculous and there is no way we'll pay that. Tonali is an exceptional talent, I have my doubts if we'll be able to sign him, but getting him would be a statement of intent for sure


All the players we're looking into show that Paolo and the rest know exactly what this team needs. I'm happy that we're looking at the right profile for once.

The problem is that 30M in England's market is a very normal price. Just look at the money Chelsea is spending this summer:

40M for Hakim Ziyech
60M for Timo Werner
56M for Ben Chilwell
100M for Kai Havertz!

Not sure which are done deals and which are rumours, but the price tags are insane for entirely unknown players. So, 30M for somebody who's shown both in Italy and France that he's good is not that farfetched of a price. Obviously for us it's out of the question.

What a gyp football has become...

Danny wtf... Did you only watch his first 3 games for us or something?!

Very close to signing Tonali apparently.

Man, that would be such a good addition. I wonder if Pioli is planning for a Bennacer-Tonali partnership.

Appears so.

If I'm wrong I hold my hand up. Pity X doesn't

At least I don't trash others to redeem myself.

****************************

I think you're off with the remarks on Bakayoko. Yes, he made some stupid gestures with the Lazio shirt and was fined but overall the player showed heart, passion and quality for Milan. He was very motivated and the fact that he's willing to halve his salary just for Milan whereas I'm sure he could find another team says plenty to me.

But I don't see us signing Diaz, Tonali and Bakayoko. I mean where would then Hakan, Kessie and Bennacer fit in? And I don't hear any rumors about us selling Kessie or someone interested.

Anyway, is Tonali really that good? Haven't seen Brescia last season.

Really? I just admit I'm wrong and you then join the party say 'you're wrong'?

Wow, real lack of class around here these days.

So Tonali is getting really close to joining us as inter has pulled out apprently.

Out strategy seems to be quite good it seems till now we are trying to get all 3 tonali, bakyako and diaz on loan with options/obligation to buy. Considering our budget issues.

Sorry, must have missed it, don't get jumpy

Tonali to Milan is like almost official. I haven't seen him, but he's a highly rated youngster. Ofcourse, is a great signing. But we need also players that will give some instant impact.. I'm thinking of a certain Suarez.

Suarez salary at Barcelona: 15M.

You were saying?

As for Tonali, I'm very delighted. One of the greatest prospects of Italian football. Last year we missed on Barella, glad we didn't miss on Tonali.

I don't see us signing Bakayoko having now signed Tonali. I can very well see a Tonali-Bennacer duo in midfield, with Kessie as sub. As for Diaz, he's an AM who also plays on the wings. I'm thinking Rebic-Hakan-Diaz behind Ibra.

Yesss why not! Have you seen Diaz play? For sure, he will be a good addition I guess to what we have.

I don't see us getting Bakayoko either, for me it doesn't make sense.

I was hoping to get a big name in that RW position, or at least someone established. I haven't seen Diaz play, only YouTube clips, but I have no doubt he'll be an improvement over the two Barbie dolls we have playing there.

Sorry mate, weird mojo going on these days. All good

PS we got Shamrock Rovers, which is basically the Irish cousin club of Celtic.

Apparently we're determined to sign Bakayoko as well. That's a bit perplexing. Four starting mids for two roles? How's that gonna work out?

Any club aspiring to be serious will always have two top players for each position.

Okay, Brahim Diaz and Tonali is kind of official now.

Who would you like to see us sign next?


I'm already pretty happy with this transfer season! I would really like us to sign one big star if possible (in the RW position like X-off), but I know with the money we have at our disposition this will be difficult. I'm surprised though, we should have much more money available this year since we managed to sell Suso and company.

Apart from just Suso... We've managed to reduce our wage bill quite significantly so far.

https://sempremilan.com/mn-almost-e30m-cut-...important-trend


Maldini & team have been conducting some impressive work so far already. And although I would like reinforcements to several positions still. I'm already pretty pleased with what has been put in place thus far (re: Tonali, Diaz et al)

Don't want to get ahead of myself but we're also linked with a certain highly rated RW from Florence (but... I'm not calling his name cuz I don't wanna jinx it & I'm not holding my breath as I don't wanna get my hopes up, cuz it seems like a long shot; but... If we pull that off - Impressive, impressive stuff!) Rumored at the moment to be a potential Paqueta + cash swap in the works.

And not to be greedy or overly hopeful (but, once the right players exit and given the reinforcements that are supposed to be arriving, reach, we're already in a much improved state on paper)... But the defence still needs reinforcements... LB (sub), RB (both have had hot and cold seasons, Calabria finished off a bit bitter, but they lack consistency. Conti is also as fragile as wet cardboard it seems. And we don't really have an out and out ST backup to Ibra (apart from Colombo at this point), but I feel like we can get away with Rebic or Leao in alternative roles for a bit.

The transfer season still has a month to go, so a lot can change still... Not to mention the other teams in the league are also going to be reinforcing, so it's hard to make concrete predictions. However we seem to be on the right path for a top 4 finish.

Our midfield on paper is of great quality for the first time in ages, and should be of quality to improve in the future as well.

It looks like we're signing all 3.

Pioli has said himself that he wants a team with 14 starters, that means players of a certain quality won't always play. I think we sometimes forget the days we had Rui Costa, Stam, Serginho, Ambro etc on the bench

We have a lot of games to play next season, we need a deep enough squad that isn't just about quantity, but quality as well.

Think of games in previous season where we played well against teams like Juve, but once the 70th minute came along we crumbled because they can bring on D. Costa or Mandzukic, while we bring on Krunic.

Bakayoko, Tonali, Kessie and Benaccer is a top notch midfield 4 who will all get more than enough playing time.

Are we really going to complain that we have too much quality now? After a decade long of mediocrity?


Why? We need 4 starters for that double pivot. If Bennacer gets injured we are royally screwed


For me, the ideal player to join would be Chiesa.

He's a hardworking RW who's fast and has great end product. A perfect compliment to Pioli's style imo

I still think we also need a RB and CB as well. But Chiesa is the dream for me this summer

So, what would the starting duo be? Let's assume Bennacer-Tonali. You think Kessie and especially Bakayoko would prefer to warm the bench only to play when it's required?

And I hate heavy rotation.



Chiesa would be great. He's right-footed, which is not ideal for 4-2-3-1, but nevertheless he'd be a huge signing for us. Too bad Fiorentina are asking for 70M.

Have not been on this forum for a while :-)

First of all, congrats Fillipo !!!

In any case, I went back to the start of the year to "catch up". Lots of negativity, partly justified under the circumstances. The beginning of the season was a complete disaster (sadly, I had high expectation for Giampaolo). We had an amazing run towards the end, but it remains to be seen if we can sustain this. Pioli seems to have figured out how to get the most out of our players (which not that many coaches are able to do), but his track record has me slightly worried.

The transfer market so far has been promising (in particular, stealing Tonali from Merda felt very good, I believe he has a lot of potential). Diaz should be a good addition as well (though I would have preferred something other than a dry loan). Did not see yesterday's game, but it looks like Roback is amazingly good for a 17-year old (and I would not be surprised if we see him playing from time to time in the first team). Somewhat disappointed in Kalulu (though he may just need more time).

It is good to see Ibra back (he may be old, but he adds a lot to the team, in particular instilling a winning mentality), and we have gotten rid of some of our dead weight (e.g. Biglia). However, we still have players that do not belong, like Duarte, Halilović, and even Paq (yes, he scored yesterday, but he is slow and needs space to do well, so I do not see him being successful given how we play now).

I think we still have some serious "holes" that remain to be filled if we are to reach CL (which we absolutely need to do). Our CBs are too slow (and we do not have enough "depth" in this area). Our entire right is sub-par (Samu is a bit underrated in this forum, but I agree we need better). Also, we need more depth in midfield (Baka would be a good addition). I think we are covered up front (Leao is another player that is underrated in this forum, give him more time and he will blossom with help from Ibra).

I see questions as to why we are getting multiple players competing for the same role (e.g. 4 players for 2 slots - Kessie, Benna, Tonali, and possibly Baka). The reality is that we will need that this year. Serie A schedule is more compressed; we play EL (and I hope we will take it seriously), which means Thursday matches; and we now get 5 subs, which will benefit teams that have a good bench. So depth is important (more than in the past), and I believe good coverage in the double pivot is critical (and, in fact, Pioli requested 4 good players in this area). I can argue that one of the reasons Kessie has been inconsistent is that we have played him all the time, which is not sustainable.

Finally, I will make a controversial statement. Lots of negativity around Elliot in this forum. While I am not a big fan of Gazidis, I am real happy that we are finally running the club as a business. With all that B&G did for us, at the end they are responsible for sending us down the path of mediocrity. With FFP, the only way to be successful is to have solid financial management (something we never got with B&G and we are getting with Elliot).

At a personal level, I became a grandpa at the end of last year, so I am enjoying the new experience :-)

With a compressed Serie A schedule, EL, and 5 subs ... we are going to rotate.


I did not expect Tonali to happen, yet it did :-).

Commisso is not in a great place to negotiate, Chiesa made it clear he wants to leave (he is a Milan fan, BTW), and if Commisso waits until next year Chiesa's value will plummet. Also, the Viola would like to see some money out of Rebic (they get half of his resale value), and they have some interest in Paq. Bottom line, not easy but not impossible either.

Question is, there are other areas that are more critical AFAIAC (like the CB situation), will we have the transfer funds to cover all we need?

A grandpa? Wow, that's amazing congratz.

I agree with you, Roback did well yesterday! I would like to see him given some minutes.

I don't agree about the CBs though, I thin we are quite covered in the defensive positions...in my modest opinion.

Everyone is talking about Chiesa...he is good, but is he that good? Injury prone as well, and inconsistent.

Roma and Kjaer are ok. However, with high pressing we need someone faster. Also, no depth (Musa and Gabbia are sub-par, Duarte is a massive disappointment).

I guess Chiesa is good enough to make the NT (though Italy no longer is that good, so this does not mean much). He is fast and has good work-rate (so he fits the system). The question is will he adjust to the pressure of a "top team" (well, arguably we no longer are a top team, but we like to think we still are). For example, Bernardeschi flopped at Rube.

Oh come on. Roma is top class, so is Kjaer. Musa is an okay backup. Okay, I agree with the speed argument though. Someone with Thiago Silva characteristics would be nice for sure.

For Chiesa, I'm not saying he sucks, but I don't think he's top class, at least not yet. I'm just saying with 50/60 million, I would have some other nice ideas ;)

I don't think we will end up paying 50-60M if we do get Chiesa :-). Either we negotiate something reasonable or we will pass (you are right, there are other options). Will see.

FWIW, I have more faith in Maldini + Elliot than previous regimes. Leo and Mirabelli had a tendency to massively overpay for players (both transfer fees and salaries), the new regime seems to be much better at negotiating deals. B&G towards the end went for the wrong players (over-hyped has-been types, paid massive wages to get them on a bozeman, most of them complete flops), and the talk of building a young team was ... well, all talk.

Great post... I agree with almost everything you've said. Welcome back.

I too have recently started back coming on here.

Congrats on becoming a grandfather!

Romagnoli is a good defender, but it stops there. He isn't great and he certainly isn't world class. He has had his fair share of games where he not only looks outpaced, but out of sorts.

Speed isn't a requirement of a top defender (just look at Nesta vs Messi), but if you're exposed because of it, it's because the rest of your game is lacking, positioning and awareness.

We have to realize that we have not reestablished ourselves as a top club as yet, so what might be great or acceptable to us, is not a shoe in for other competing sides.

Anyway, this wasn't supposed to be a post bashing our side or our captain. We're currently in a good place (at least where we left off last season). Our CBs can do with some improvement for sure though.

FM said it well...
"Roma and Kjaer are ok. However, with high pressing we need someone faster. Also, no depth (Musa and Gabbia are sub-par, Duarte is a massive disappointment)."

We should be able to get through the season with the defense as it is, but I surely can do with improvement. Only issue is acquiring enough reinforcements for all positions when we are still forced to be frugal.

Maldini & the current management deserve credit though. They've made some errors, but they've been improving immensely.

I must be the only soul in the world who thinks RW is our most critical area. At least for CB we have two very good defenders in Romagnoli and Kjaer, but at RW who do we have? Mediocre/rubbish solutions. And for a 4-2-3-1 formation the wings are crucial.

We could probably play Diaz there, I guess. But someone like Chiesa would be a huge step forward. He's not world class, but he brings a lot of quality.

Some nice news, my congrats to you. Nice to see something pleasant 'this' year! (ok I know it was last year but hey ho)

I think Samu does more for the team than people realize. Plus, as you said, we have Diaz.

OTOH, we need depth in the CB role (as we do for the double pivot). If either Roma or Kjaer gets injured or suspended, what then? If they get to play multiple games a week, how long will they be able to perform at a top level? Musa is still injured and he is not that good, Gabbia is not that good either, and Duarte is real bad.

Castillejo does the bare minimum. He's not terrible, but he's not that good either, i.e. mediocre. And don't get me even started on Sale-maker.

As for our CBs, yes, Musacchio is injured, but I actually think he's a very reliable CB. I've always rated him, one of those players that people for some reason have a problem with, like Abate.

Gabbia is alright I guess for 4th choice, and Duarte we haven't really had the possibility to evaluate.

That being said, I agree we need another CB, just wouldn't want us to forget about the RW position for its sake.

New rumours about Jovic today, but I read that we might convince Madrid on the basis of a simple loan, no right to purchase.

That's also how we got Brahim. Which sucks, obviously. If he shines with us we'll just see him return to Madrid without having any possibility of signing him. Cos apparently Madrid believe a lot in him.

I've always felt the same way, believe me...

Dry loans do suck, for the mere fact that they disrupt the side's chemistry at the end of the loan period. But so it goes sometimes.

It's a two way street, we develop their kids, and in turn we get our positions filled on the cheap... It's a temporary solution no doubt, but even if they do actually perform well and they got to go back to their club... At this stage it's likely to mean we accomplished our club objectives. Which in turn would mean we have a bit more clout moving forward in the market, as we reestablish ourselves as a top club, we'll be more of an attraction to players, not to mention we'll probably have CL football to offer.

And if of course, they didn't fit the bill... They f<vk off... Simple.

We just can't afford to allow ourselves emotional attachment to these loanees.


EDIT: this is all me searching for a silver lining...

I am not real happy with the Diaz deal, but I can (kind of) see the logic. Get someone (that in theory is) good for the role, make it to CL, and with the extra money buy someone next year.

AFAIAC the situation with Jovic is different. He is a striker, so he would be coming in to act as a "vice Ibra". Zlatan has ... what? 1 year left? 2? Part of the value of having Ibra is that he can train his replacement. But ... what is the point of training someone who will go away? So I would rather we leave space for Leao and/or Roback. Or someone else with potential that can grow into the role.

Watched Italy play today (had the TV on during my meetings, one of the benefits of working from home, I guess :-))

Not overly impressed by Chiesa ...

Told you

It's okay, we're good, we have maldini and roback

Who the hell is Roback?

You are not watching milan friendlies? A youngster we got.

Btw, milanapp is putting milan friendlies for free

It was an interesting game, watched most of it :-). The game was intense, more than you would expect of a friendly. The 4-1 result is not reflective of what went on. There were times when Monza looked better than us (two of our goals came in late on great individual performances, and we can thank Theo for saving us from Monza tying 2-2). The team had some good moments ... and times that were cringe-worthy.

Pagelle (CM and Rossoneri Live:
- A. Donna - 6 (CM), 5.5 (RL). I started watching after the 1-1 goal, but I can see why he is 3rd choice ... at best

- Calabria - 7 (CM), 7.5 (RL). I think he did well. Interesting how he seemed to play as CM after Kalulu came on. Unfortunately, if we sell someone he is more likely to leave than Conti (as he will generate a plusvalenza while Conti will be a loss on our books).

- Kalulu (came in late to replace Calabria) - 7. Did better than the game against Novara and scored a very nice goal. Not convinced we can count on him. He is fast, though.

- Bellodi - 6. I thought he did quite well for a youngster. However, he is going on loan to Ascoli.

- Duarte - 5. I think both CM and RL are being generous. Generally a bad performance, and he is credited for being responsible for all 3 goals we took in in two friendlies.

- Theo - 6. Played the full match. I think he did well, but he got "dinged" on not being as fast and effective as in the past.

- Kessie - 6 (CM), 7 (RL). CM dings him for being less involved in the action than he normally is.

- Pobega (came in late to replace Kessie) - 6.

- Benna - 5.5 (CM), 6.5 (RL). Dinged by CM mostly because he is lacking form.

- Krunic (came in 2nd half to replace Benna) - 5.5 (CM), 6 (RL). Did better than I have come to expect from him.

- Roback - 6 (CM), 5.5 (RL). I did not see the Novara game (where apparently he did wonders), but I was not overly impressed. Yes, he is very young and Monza played well defensively.

- Laxalt (came in late to replace Roback) - 6

- Paqueta - 5.5 (CM), 6 (RL). I was not impressed.

- Diaz (came in late to replace Paq) - 6 (CM), 6.5 (RL). He had a couple of interesting moments, but he obviously needs time to fit in.

- Maldini - 6.5 (CM), 7 (RL). His goal was rather impressive, and he seemed to gain confidence after that. However, I do not believe is ready for prime time.

- Samu (came in late to replace Maldini) - 6. A few good exchanged with Diaz.

- Ibra - 6 (CM), 5.5 (RL). I think CM is being generous, he has had better days.

- Colombo (came in late to replace Ibra) - 7. His goal was impressive, other than that he did not do much.

All in all, some of our young players may not be starter material (yet) but they are close, which means they could help with "depth". I would give them a chance to mature and improve, rather than spending money on mid-level talent (which is all we can afford for some key roles) or geting more players on a dry loan. After watching this game, I think a solid CM and someone to replace Samu are the highest priority right now. Paq and Duarte need to go. Krunic also needs to go if we bring in a 4th player for the double pivot role.

Not really.