Milan’s transfer window preview: a new era begins

Milan’s transfer window preview: a new era begins
2017-16-05 - 17:15
When you ask fans or pundits what Serie A needs to do to return to the standards of the league’s glory days the answers range from better stadiums, to a more internationally focused marketing approach, to the ability to keep top players and especially a return to the top of the standings for Milan and Inter.

Of all the items on the wish list, the one that would likely have the most impact is without a doubt the milanesi clubs challenging Juventus for the title. With that in mind, let’s a take a look at what their plans are for the summer window starting this week with Milan…
 
With the sale of the clubs to Chinese investors finally in the books, new directors Marco Fassone and Massimiliano Fassone replaced Adriano Galliani as the new architects of Milan’s squad. The two former Inter executives spent the preceding months scouting players all around Europe and can now finally start taking concrete steps in bringing much needed reinforcements to Milanello. Considering that they also need to convince Gigio Donnarumma (and his agent Mino Raiola) that they have an ambitious plan moving forward so he’ll stay long term, it’s not surprising to see them being so aggressive in their pursuit of players.

Fassone and Mirabelli have started their reign by trying to finish a deal that Galliani had started working on last summer. The rossoneri are expected to complete the signing of Mateo Musacchio, the Argentine defender had agreed to terms with Galliani last summer, but there weren’t the funds to complete the deal with Villareal - now the financial circumstances at Milan have changed and Musacchio is expected to be the long term partner for Alessio Romagnoli.
 
In addition to a strong central defender, Milan is aggressively pushing to sign Ricardo Rodriguez to replace Mattia De Sciglio after losing to Arsenal in the race for Schalke’s Saed Kolasinac. The versatile Swiss defender is determined to play in Italy, a country he often vacations in - he put his money where his mouth was by agreeing to take a pay cut to join Inter a few months ago, but the nerazzurri then started focusing on Udinese’s Samir because they found his exit clause of 22.5 million euro to be too steep. Milan will offer that sum to Wolfsburg with part of the fee being paid out as a bonus should certain parameters be reached.


While improving the defence with two international level players is certainly a great start, Milan’s biggest weakness in recent years has been the midfield. Milan will look to bring a few additions to compliment Locatelli, Montolivo and Bonaventura. Just like with Musacchio, the rossoneri are linked to a name from the past in Milan Badelj, who previously played for Vincenzo Montella at Fiorentina. The Croatain midfielder has just one year left on his deal which should lower his price.
 
It will be interesting to see how much of a fight Fiorentina puts up to avoid seeing one of their most valuable players be reunited with Vincenzo Montella, who left the Tuscan club on bad terms a few years ago. If you remember the Salah and Jovetic’ sagas they are known for holding grudges, but the expiring contract gives them less leverage than with the two previous situations. In addition to Badelj, Milan is also looking at two other midfielders who have proven themselves in Serie A despite their young age.
 
Lorenzo Pellegrini could follow the Romagnoli blue print to arrive at San Siro. Just like the former Sampdoria centre back a few years ago, Pellegrini came up in Roma’s youth system and is finishing a very successful season at Sassuolo. While Roma has an option to buy him back for around ten million, the midfielder born in ’96 would have to go agree to terms with them- Milan has been in touch with his agent to see if they can acquire him.
 
In addition to Pellegrini, Roma and Milan are also competing for Franck Kessie’s signature. The Ivorian international took Serie A by storm in his first half season in the top Italian division after playing on loan at Cesena, his performances had been so impressive prior to leaving for the Africa Cup last January he had been linked to numerous top Premier League clubs and Paris St Germain. Even prior to Monchi’s arrival Roma had an agreement in place with Atalanta on the basis of around 28 million euro, but Milan offered the player substantially more. 


Milan is also in the market to improve their front line, and right now probably regret Carlos Bacca’s decision not to accept a rich offer from China last January since his value has likely diminished. In addition to working on Suso’s extension, Milan is looking for a central striker that can make a difference while also fitting Vincenzo Montella’s system better. The former Fiorentina manager travelled to Monaco to watch Pierre Emerick Aubameyang play in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, but his exorbitant demand wages wise makes his return to Milan almost impossible. 
 
An alternative, Milan would like to sign Alvaro Morata. The Spanish striker could be intrigued by the possibility of playing regularly the year before the World Cup, and considering that his fiancée’ is Italian, a return to Serie A could make a lot also for personal reasons as well (but must also be said last summer Morata refused to consider the possibility to join Napoli because of his strong ties to Juventus).  While Milan fans are hoping the club makes a push to sign Andrea Belotti, at the moment Milan has yet to take any concrete action to sign him. 


For the winger position, Mirabelli has been working on signing Keita Balde for quite some time. The talented former Barcelona youth team product has a contract expiring in 2018, and since Lazio has struggled to get him to agree to an extension they will almost certainly sell him this summer. But the rossoneri will face some tough competition from Juventus who is determined to bring him to Turin, as an alternative to Keita, Mirabelli could go for Papu Gomez, who while older than Keita, is coming off a sensational season.
 
Milan will also work on retaining Gerard Deulofeu, the Spanish winger would like to stay with the rossoneri to increase his chances of playing in the World Cup, but odds are Barcelona will exercise their option to buy him back for 12 million since it’s considerably below his market value - Milan could then buy him for a higher fee or to try to work out a loan with an option to buy deal. Milan does have a familiar face to deal with at Barca with their former director Ariedo Braida- they may be able to work out a deal that benefits everyone.


With Serie A having four spots in the Champions League starting next season, it’s very refreshing and timely to see Milan shift their mercato strategy from free transfers and desperate loans to buying players with upside by paying actual transfer fees. A team featuring the likes of Musacchio, Badelj, Papu Gomez and Morata would certainly have much more appeal than a young Italian Milan and would go a long ways towards increasing the profile of Serie A in the world.


David Amoyal