It is not over-dramatic nor hyperbolic to say that AC Milan’s whole world has been turned upside down within three weeks of the season ending.
The surprise retirement of Zlatan Ibrahimovic after the final match of 2022-23 was an emotional curtain call after a rollercoaster campaign with players, fans and even the big man himself in tears. Or so we thought.
Then, it became apparent within 48 hours of that win against Verona that club icon Paolo Maldini and his right-hand man Ricky Massara were being relieved of their duties as the technical and sporting director, plunging the project into disrepute.
There were all kinds of destabilising rumours that followed with suggestions that the dressing room did not take the news well and that Maldini wanted to replace Stefano Pioli with Andrea Pirlo, among other things.
However, the dust then settled as it always does and it seemed the new management duo of CEO Giorgio Furlani and chief scout Geoffrey Moncada had reassured key players about the strength of the project and the desire to build.
Their first major action will be to sell fan favourite Sandro Tonali. According to Fabrizio Romano among other sources, the midfielder will join new Premier League power Newcastle United for €70m including bonuses, and Tonali will get a potential €9m net per season for six years.
It is just over a week since we wrote about the importance of optics when it comes to Milan’s project, and how the proposed RedBird ‘Moneyball’ model runs the risk of seeing the club develop into another Borussia Dortmund or RB Leipzig, given the emphasis on player trading to self-finance signings.
The news of Tonali’s sale does not exactly reinforce the notion that the modus operandi of the Furlani-Moncada duo will be to keep the young core and build around them with complimentary pieces, instead it is quite the opposite.
Maldini’s foreshadowing
There were some rather interesting comments from Maldini last summer pertaining to the club’s new-found economic strength and how that leaves them with regards to the necessity to sell players in relation to rivals Inter, for example.
“Big offers rejected? Yes, more than one. We told some clubs to not even show up. We have the accounts set, we don’t have the necessity to sell, but there are no unsellable players,” he said.
The two-part answer to the question is a fairly apt summary of the Tonali situation too. Milan do not need to sell anyone – they are set to register a profit in the 2022-23 accounts – but it would be amiss of them not to listen to offers that come in.
The problem is that nobody could foresee such a huge bid coming in for a player that is held very dearly in the hearts of Milan fans. The news exploded overnight earlier in the week that Newcastle had put forward €50m and then €70m, and that Milan were reflecting.
Therein lies the difference between the two clubs in play here. It took Milan weeks to close the negotiation for Charles De Ketelaere last summer, often haggling over €1m here and there. Newcastle could raise their offer €20m in a matter of a few emails.
Thus, Maldini’s words begin to ring true. The Rossoneri did not put Tonali on the market, yet a Premier League side with vast riches came along and really tested them with bid after bid, to the extent they are possibly paying above the market rate for the player.
Emotion vs. objectivity
There is a quite simple way to separate the two sides of the argument when it comes to the sale of Tonali, and it is the head versus the heart.
Of course some will argue that both say the same thing in this scenario, but the basic premise is that all Milan fans would have liked Tonali to remain at the club and become a bandiera (flag-bearer), just as the boyhood Milanista probably dreamt of himself.
For many, the boy born in Lodi represented more than just another player. He was a symbol for Milan’s project because of his ability and his potential, but also because he was tracing the path that supporters around the world fantasise about.
This feels different from the Kaka and Andriy Shevchenko sales for a lot of people because those two players hailed from Brazil and Ukraine, with no real concrete ties to the club and where taking an obvious upwards step in their career was always a possibility.
Tonali was different. He was born and raised in Lombardy, his father was a season ticket holder who went to games home and away, he did the hard yards at Brescia and Milan stole him from under Inter’s noses. It was the fairytale.
Not only that, but he won things with the club too. Tonali’s upward trajectory ran parallel with that of the team’s as Europa League football turned to Champions League football, and a Scudetto was followed by a return to the semi-finals for the first time in 16 years.
Now, he is leaving the team he adores and one which will play in the Champions League for the third season in a row in order to move to the north of England. Newcastle have an exciting project of course, but they aren’t his club.
The counter-balance to this is to look at the financial side of things. There is always a difference between what other clubs would probably deem a target to be worth versus what that player is worth to their club.
Sometimes it can see negotiations break down pretty quickly, in fact we see that pretty often, though Newcastle have the spending power to match virtually anyone in the world at the moment and they were willing to meet Milan’s price.
Transfermarkt are of course not the one defining source for player valuation, but just as an interesting example they have Tonali’s worth as €50m. Their algorithm factors in a lot of different metrics too from statistics to contract situation.
That implies the Magpies are paying a bit over the market rate for a player that Milan deem to be very important to them but quite literally – by the very definition of the word and what has unfolded over the last 48 hours – not unsellable.
The Rossoneri are a very data-driven club since the change in management, and the ‘Moneyball’ method does not account for sentimentality. It accounts for doing objectively good business, even at the expense of taking a big PR hit.
Uncertain image
That leads us onto the next aspect to consider, which is how all of this appears both from inside the Milan environment and to the onlookers.
Starting with those outside looking in, the club must resemble a bit of a mess right now. Maldini and Massara’s exits so soon after the season ended were a very bold and obvious change in direction, and had Milan been on the stock market we might have seen major movements, such was the shock.
For other teams, it is the kind of business that perhaps makes it obvious that the Diavolo do not have any untouchable players, not even the ones who are touted as future captains and are so attached to the club.
In fact, it says that everyone has their price and the negotiating table is always open. It didn’t take long for rumours to follow suggesting that Theo Hernandez is the subject of interest and €100m might be enough to begin a discussion.
For Milan’s rivals, it is good news for the time being. Of course so much hinges on what happens in the coming weeks and how/if the money received is reinvested (more on that to come), though at present Stefano Pioli has lost a key piece and all the uncertainty does not exactly lend itself to an imminent Scudetto challenge next season.
Moving to the Milan fans, there is a mood of anxiety, frustration, disappointment and even anger at what has taken place over the past three weeks. When it seemed there was a platform to build on for 2023-24 and beyond it has been ripped out from underneath with blow after blow arriving.
You would be hard pressed to find a fan who at present feels more confident about the future based on what has unfolded. Instead, the vast majority appear confused and if anything quite alienated by the actions of the owners and management.
Do you feel more or less confident about Milan’s project than you did after the final game of the season?
Of course it’s not as linear as this, but just wanted to do a quick poll.
— Kilpin. (@KilpinChronicle) June 22, 2023
What about the other players? Well, if the rumours of unhappiness in the dressing room after Maldini’s exit are true and the attempts to reassure about the strength of the project were then followed by the sale of a star player, the mood will be an interesting one.
From a purely speculative point of view, there is zero guarantee that other key pillars of the squad such as Theo and Mike Maignan will want to hang around knowing that they are essentially trading chips.
They are important to the plans of course, but they now know they have a price and no emotional investment will be involved in the decision making of the powers that be.
It is crucial to mention at this point that Milan followed the correct protocol for the sale of a player. An offer came in that they deemed to be good value and they presented the opportunity to Tonali, who could have said no but instead decided to accept the idea of a move away, with how much resistance we may never know.
The reality and the future
Not for the first time this month, the entire Milan world will have to try and return to a state of peace and begin to think about life without Tonali, and what now comes after him.
There is a vital premise to all of this: Tonali’s legacy at Milan could be one of bringing in the money to make the squad better overall.
It is an irrefutable fact that the team need strengthening in a lot of areas including full-back, right wing, No.10 and striker, and the budget going from €50m to €120m – as a working example – helps create plenty more room for manoeuvre.
With things as they are currently though, Milan have weakened the area they were arguably weakest in to begin with. Franck Kessie was never adequately replaced last summer as Aster Vranckx and Tommaso Pobega never hit those heights.
The former has now gone back to Wolfsburg after his loan expired while Tiemoue Bakayoko has also left and Ismael Bennacer is out until 2024. That means that at the time of writing the starting double pivot would be Rade Krunic and Pobega.
Going into the summer there was the need to sign two midfielders, now that probably becomes three. Tonali operated both in the deeper-lying role and also as a mezzala, so one of each of those must be on the list.
What is imperative though is that Milan do not try to replace the Italian ‘in the aggregate’, thinking that signing more players of lesser quality will take the team forward. Now, the liquidity is there to secure signings that really make a difference.
How much of the money is reinvested and how it is reinvested is what a lot of supporters will hang their entire opinion of RedBird and the new regime on. As aforementioned, if they do things right the squad can improve.
The challenge now though is that the squad has to get better. There is no alternative. This is a fan base that are very much on the edge and even the most tolerant have a limit.
Losing Ibrahimovic, Maldini, Massara and now a supposed pillar of the future in Tonali is a very difficult way to start the summer, and it is one that must be perfect from here onwards.
It’s just crazy how Milan ended the season quite well and preparing for next season with more confident after Ibra retirement speech. But Cardinale just changed it into a nightmare by fired Maldini and Masara and selling Tonali, one of the key player and future Milan captain, in less than 3 weeks.
Ibra retired, Maldini & Masara got fired, Milan godfather just passed away, and Milan future captain got sold :/
And Theo is probably leaving. Newcastle is not the only club that wanted to get him. I think Real would have already been back for him if there was no possibility of Mbappe transfer this summer, they are waiting to see what will happen with that.
Now the clubs know that Milan will sell, they will come at it. They aren’t stupid not to get the on of the best LB in the world when every Milan player has a price. They know how it is done.
Shame on you Milan leaders.. shame on you! Pioli!
These owners will set the club back 5 years. Won’t qualify for champions league next season and then there will be an exodus of Maignan, Theo, Leao etc.
The balance sheet will look ok and that’s all they care about.
Good luck to Sandro Tonali, but this is a great deal for both him and Milan.
Hands down the best article written here this year.
💯
Funny though how it’s from “Maldini/Milan can’t sell anyone” to “Milan is a feeder club” in 0.1 seconds before even the mercato has even opened. Apparently there’s nothing in between those two options if you believe the “true fans” here.
Well you’ve literally wrote in the past “Maldini/Milan can’t sell anyone” so we know which camp you’re in yet you come here and writing that like you’re somewhere in between the two lol
No you’re not, you’re also part of the divisity in the chat
“Well you’ve literally wrote in the past “Maldini/Milan can’t sell anyone” ”
Have I??? Check again. I never ever said that. After his sacking I said that was probably one of the reasons but I never criticized him while he was in charge. Go ahead, the comments are all still there. Check the facts if you don’t believe – and I know you don’t.
Bro you’ve literally wrote that Maldini is gone because he couldn’t sell players
What did I just type above? Let’s see… Bro.
“After his sacking I said that was probably one of the reasons”.
And how does that change anything I said?
Let’s analyse this a bit, shall we?
“Funny though how it’s from “Maldini/Milan can’t sell anyone” to “Milan is a feeder club” in 0.1 seconds before even the mercato has even opened. Apparently there’s nothing in between those two options if you believe the “true fans” here.”
So OK, I said he probably got fired for his inability to sell. Fine. How about the the other side. Have I EVER said or even implied Milan is a feeder club? Nope. So, your point? I don’t think you have one as you CLEARLY missed the whole point of this original comment.
Coacine is a hell of a drug 😂😂😂…One of the reasons lol. Spin spin spin. Bro you are the problem ur claiming here. You’re not in the middle, you’re in the extreme..you might be back tracking now given how woeful the new management has been but you’re also one of those anti-Maldini ppl like Poli. And it’s not true that Maldini couldn’t sell players. He might not be selling at the rate you like but they did offload players over time.. I’d like to see them offload the deadweight this summer but it’s always hard to offload deadweight
I’m very sure You will not be at the curva sud next season, and I’m very sure the guys that will be there do not share your opinion. So lets have fun talking….
ah the curva sud.. only thing those are good for is singing and making nice prematch images
“I’m very sure You will not be at the curva sud next season”
You think? I don’t have the money to fly to Milan 3-5 times per month even though I’d love to.
There’s nothing spectacular in the ability to sell your key players. We could easily sell Leao, Theo & Co. from couple of years ago. I don’t mentioned Tonali because it never occurred in my mind about him leaving. But no, they rejected the offers. Because they have different views about the future.
We can judge from the ability to sell some deadwood players, obviously this is something lacking from the previous management.
American arrogance is going to ruin Milan. They want to run milan like a fast-food chain. Hey guys don’t expect even half of the 70 mil to be re-invested in the squad. Furlani and Scaroni will tell us the following in a lengthy interview in September: “it was important for us to balance the books and ensure a financially stable future for Milan” mark my words guys.
We will be investing only 40-50 mil this summer. We should have been investing 100 mil (original 40 mil transfer budget + 70 mil – 10 mil for cardinals greedy pocket)
We will get Kamada, Thuram, loftus on loan and maybe maybe maybe fratessi. That’s it.
Lazio, Napoli, Inter are miles ahead of us. From now on we are competing with Roma, Juventus and Atalanta for CL spot. We are back to where we were in 2019-2020 season.
All of this reminds me of 2012-2013 where we sold Thiago silva and Ibra to psg, the rest was history…..
“We will get Kamada, Thuram, loftus on loan and maybe maybe maybe fratessi. That’s it.”
Even if that’s all they get, it is a big upgrade from what they currently have, so well worth the sale of Tonali.
“Even if that’s all they get, it is a big upgrade from what they currently have, so well worth the sale of Tonali.”
Umm, we can get Kamada/Thuram/RLC on loan _without_ selling Tonali though. So, if only these 4 comes, then it would be like:
Tonali = Fratessi (around 40M?) + give or take 20M (since we have to give Brescia their cuts)
I’d rather have Tonali than Fratessi+20M tbh.
Not me. Our midfield was our biggest weakness last season without Kessie. The Bennacer – Tonali pairing was not getting it done and we were getting bossed by even bottom table teams. Tonali is overrated and Newcastle definitely overpaid. It’s a good move to sell, now will they invest the money wisely, we will have to wait and see.
Inter won the Thuram battle… he is signing with Shinter
Thuram going to Inter. I don’t have faith in this project anymore. A couple of weeks ago. We were link with good additions. Since Tonali saga, it looks like Milan is experiencing bad luck. Ilkay to Barca, Thuram to Inter so is Fratetti.
American arrogance aka elliot money and professionalism made Milan reborned just after Italian senility and Chinese stupidity have almost ruined the club. Bunch of Milan fans are just whining and crying like little kids who’s favourite toy was taken away by evil daddy
Elliot did a good job onboarding competent people with clear ambitious plan in place and stick to it. Cardinale destroyed/destroys the soul of the club each passing week and treating it like a soulless corporate entity for money. I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re spending a lot less than the sales received and them pocketing the money and you be happy with us becoming a soulless feeder club, since we can’t be a soulless PSG.
More frustrated with the things happening in Milan than the summer.
Don’t want to open this page but I am unable to control myself.
Surely many fans are feeling like this, but this is what Maldini made us to believe in team and now as everything is falling apart out of dreams.
Most hard day’s for all fans.
I feel it like this by only following since 4years but people who are Milan since their childhood would be much difficult.
For Maldini who have not done anything other working at Milan all his life might be having hardest days of his life even he couldn’t have felt this hard after loosing champions league finals.
Honestly, the values for the players will only.go down next season after Pioli craps the bed. Might as well sell high since Redbird doesn’t seem to care about winning.
Most Milan fans are fckn frustrated except a few Bootlickers of this tapeworm named Cardinale.
.. just I said before.. according to all these Cardinale bootlickers.. Cardinale is the second incarnation of Jesus and Virgin Mary combined, so he can do no wrong. He will NEVER EVER take ANY money from Milan because Apparently, owners can never take money from the businesses they own. LOL God will smite them otherwise lmfao
Oh and BTW, don’t you know.. ‘Milan’.. needs to raise exactly 550 mil to ‘invest’ in the future and infrastructure by making two free signing this season so far. Selling tonali is a ‘stellar’ business to raise Milan to the top by raising 550 mil.
They are the true fans of Milan. The are so ‘sad’ that Tonali, who love Milan and Sacrificed his SALARY to play for Milan are being sold that they are advocating for Theo, Mike to be sold as well.. because hey… MILAN MUST RAISE 550 mil, for the GOOD of Milan, and nothing else, AT ALL, specially not to pay a dumb@ss’s loans to Elliot. lol And to do so, Mike and Theo MUST be sold as well if an offer comes in lol
They can’t call for selling Leao yet because it will be a dead giveaway that they are here to $uck Cardinale’s cok.. but they.. All for the good of Milan right? 550 mil must be raised to save ‘MILAN’s a$s, not Cardinale’s because he can never be wrong, do wrong, or see wrong. lol
#TapewormFreeHealthyMILAN
#CardinaleOut
#ForzaMILAN
This is a completely unhinged rant, and all in your head. Fact is, if Milan use this sale of Tonali to sign Frattesi, Thuram, Kamada, and maybe either Loftus cheek or Savic, they will be a much stronger team.
Tonali was overrated and not worth the kind of money they were offered. It’s a smart move for Milan. We will see if they invest it wisely.
Tonali definitely wasn’t overrated but 80 mil for him was definitely overly generous. Sad to see him go.
He was definitely overrated. He was Italian and a Milan fa, and apparently that’s enough to make you world class even though your performances were nothing special. Even this season, he was nothing until around March.
What makes you so sure Tonali NEEDED to be sold to make all these transfers available? The oh so wise investments we are making NOW could’ve done Without SELLING Tonali, and potentially Theo after reaching UCL Semi’s don’t you think? Thruam kamada and Savic could’ve all done within 50 mil. What’s the point of Tonali’s sale exactly? If a sale is needed that much, wouldn’t Tomori fit the bill better? young potential CBs are far cheaper and we have plenty of them, easy to replace as well. Italy IS the land of defenders afterall.
Can you wait until the end of the season to post your rant? It’s like trashing a movie before watching it because you didn’t like the name. Crazy.
I think he’s 100% justified. To stick with your crappy analogy: why watch a movie when you know the directors now suck (cardinale and redturd), the plot sucks (all business no emotion), and a main actor who was perfectly cast (tonali) is now replaced by God knows who and we 100% know they won’t be as into the project as the initial person was.
I know you’re trying to be the calm objective one here but this is not the time to be objective.
“but this is not the time to be objective.”
😆 that made me laugh 😃
@“zoro” No it’s never the time to be objective for you lot is it because you’re all too busy foaming at the mouth while running around with your hands in the air.
Even if he didn’t NEED to be sold, it’s just good business. Our midfield was weak this past season WITH Tonali. A change was needed. You have a team offering you way more than the player is worth, you have to take it. Tonali gets overrated in the media because he’s Italian and he grew up loving Milan, but he’s not a great player and I think Newcastle will soon find that out.
Could Tonali be a good 3rd option at MF, Yes. But Milan have many needs right now and this money can be used to fill them. It’s a no brainer to me.
What do you mean it’s a no brainer? Who can we get that is better then him that we can actually afford?
The midfield was weak last year but in our best games he was always there , reliable , consistent & above all always committed and influential. Do you think Newcastle would have paid that money if he was a bad player? Seriously.
Who can we get that is better in a 2 man midfield that was left exposed because of Pioli btw as when we played Isma in the playmaker position Tonali was always solid.
Would have been better to sell Bennacer though since Tonali is more functional and takes less time on the ball making play more fluid. Of course Bennacer´s injury doesn’t help with that.
Even if it looks financially good to you the sum is only over inflated on paper if he is sold for 70-80 mil depending on the outcome in addons because bresciia will get a portion of the fee send their way.
I was of the view that it was 30% but could see someone mentioning 20% in another thread so lets assume its 20% and the fee is 70 mil then we will get 56 mil and if its 80 mil its 54 mil we will get and tonalis valuation is around the vicinity of 45 mil so its not really that great a deal when we also consider what we paid for him which was initially a loan fee of 5 mil and then a transfer fee of 14.5 mil , thats actually not a good deal in my view considering his value to the club and even the fact that he could have been sold more expensive down the road. I would have prefered him to stay though.
Thjis sort of business is attrocious even if we might be in a need of cash but that tells more about the ownership being a miser when we have doubled some of our advertisement deals n the last year to bring in30 some mil and has reached champions league semis (100+mil) + have played for a full san siro all season,
duh !!! 80 mil its 64 mil my bad but still not a super great deal, its at most a decent deal financially speaking unless the resale clause is of some size and that he ends up sold to a super rich team that offer above 100 mil,
Thuram is signing with inter. Kamada is free and was about to sign before M&M were fired.
Tonali is not overrated. Newcastle are not spending like drunken sailors.
It’s not smart to sell your core player if your serious about winning.
Guys like you K are not true Milan fans. Your either an inter or some other team’s fan or you’re paid troll.
Well written. The only way to say if this has been a fiasco or not is to
1. Assess at the start of season based on signings and…
2. Reassess at the end of season based on objectives achieved.
FORZA MILAN ⚫️🔴
No. This IS a fiasco as milan isn’t just about objectives. It’s about il cuore rossonero. Otherwise why follow the team? If it’s literally that black and white as your happiness as a fan is only measured by the club being successful or not then why watch Milan specifically?? Of course I want Milan successful but it also matters how, otherwise I’d just be a Man City supporter, they’re a great team objectively.
This IS a fiasco as it’s taking all true fans love about the team and flushing it down the toilet all in the name of business…. I don’t post much on here but this has me very angry with the direction this club is going. It doesn’t feel very much like Milan at this moment in time, and it’s hard to see it ever feeling like that anytime soon with this management at the helm. And that… hurts.
F*ck il cuore. This is business and we will be better after Adam Driver is gone from this club.
That statement is very strange. F** il cuore? What do you support then? Why are you a fan? I’m not insulting you I’m honestly asking. It doesn’t make any sense in why you’d even pick a team to support if this is your mindset.
Why are you here? If it’s all about business and money go support the likes Apple and Tesla. This is football club. This is sport.
@Savo Calcio
Amen brother.
Great article. Simply put, this seems like a good deal for all parties on paper. But as a fan there is no hiding the fact that this hurts. It feels like a punch in the gut. Tonali was among my favorite players, not because he is a world beater, but because he is a Milanisti. I try to remember that Tonali wasn’t even born when I started watching Milan and the players are not the club, but this one feels different. If we are a stronger squad for it and challenge for silverware again next season I will be satisfied in a way, but in a deeper way I will still be sad that Sandro is gone.
Tonali’s sale should make NO sense under any metric to ANY milanisti my friend. It’s not like we are targetting some legendary 80mil players out there. We are signing Kamada, Thuram, SMS/Frattesi and a RW. After reaching UCL semi’s we should have at least 50 mil budget, which will cover most of those signings except RW. And if a sale was a must, Tomori should’ve been sold. Now we have created a MASSIVE Gap in the middle and no replacement in sight. People are sayinG Frattesi.. but in his entire last season, the only valuable goal Frattesi scored against a big team was against us.. against TAta and that too credited to unbelievably bad goalkeeping. Tonali has no replacements.
Tonali has plenty of replacements. Our midfield is nothing even with Tonali and if we get rid of Tonali and buy 2 or 3 players instead, plus CDK finally showing up, we will be much better off and actually competitive because our midfield was the weakest part of our team by far.
Tonali is not an 80m player. Full stop. Love him but, no.
we are not getting 80 mil we will either get 54 mil or 64 mil due to fact the that bresica will have to be paid as well, Maybe even less.as 20-30% wil go in the direction of brescia.
Agree 💯. I can see both sides of the argument on this sale. On the one hand we should have said “Tonali’s an untouchable future captain of this team – look elsewhere” On the other we’d be stupid not to accept such an inflated price for him. All we can hope is that we get SMS or similar asap.
It’s not that good financially even.
Paid 15m+ for him. Brescia get 20% so of 70m they get 14m. So we profit 56m minus 15m paid so now we’re roughly ar 40m…. wow great. And we’re going to spend it on Frattesi who I like but they’re not even the same player. So basically we are trading a straight swap Tonali for Frattesi. Brilliant. Wow such a great deal!!!! Wow!
70mil is not an inflated price tag at all. You people obviously dont follow the English premier league. Arsenal offered 90mil for Rice who is a DM same as Tonali. And Rice is worse player than Tonali. Tonali has better numbers than Rodri, yes Rodri who is considered the best DM and just won CL. If a team in England was selling Tonali they would have gotten 100+ for him.
I rarely comment here, but I needed to tell you your statement is absurd. Rice and Rodri are probably the best 2 holding mids around. Tonali is nowhere close to them.
I’ll just put this here, I think it says a lot about people that are happy about this.
“Until a few days ago, he only had Milan in mind and even when training with his Italy Under-21s side, he had only the Rossoneri in mind. He had no thoughts about leaving the club and playing in England.
Geoffrey Moncada had a telephonic conversation with the midfielder, who was then at the Italy Under-21s retreat in Romania. It was made clear to him that if he didn’t accept the sale, his contract renewal beyond 2027 would not happen. This convinced Tonali that he isn’t wanted at the club anymore.
It is stated that while the common narrative is that everyone is happy with the move, that isn’t actually the case because there is a feeling that Tonali has essentially been forced out.”
If this is true, I really hope I bump into Moncada one day. I’ll give him a good lesson.
even though ill leave my final judgement for this mercato when it ends i have a hard time seeing it become satisfying regardless of the moves they make but obviously there might be positive surprices but i gotta say im a bit relieved that i dont live in italy or milano because im so furious and might have done something dumb as act outwards aggresively if i ever were to meet any of those at the helm of the club. because as i see it the club is selling its soul by how the management has acted in the last 3 weeks.
Ive been a milan fan for over 30 years and even if i wanted to stop being one it runs so deep in my blood that i doubt i could as my love for the club is too big a part of me by now but this is heartbreaking,
And to think that the merry band of Cardinale’s cumguzzlers are celebrating this $hite is fcking DISGUSTING. Anyone who advocates this kind of cr@p to a loyal, young, potential player from ANY CLUB is a traitor in the guise of a ‘fan’. Period.
Such a crude thing to write. Kind of makes me ashamed of being on this site at all. IT’S A F*KCING GAME. People are violently dying on this planet from hunger and war, and this transfer is the reason to go and write this sh!t? And for the other one to be talking about physically assaulting people? You all need help. Get a life. So sad.
Yes, it is. Nobody is forcing you to read, when you see my name just move on. Now F off
“vero”.
It’s apparently a report from La Repubblica. So I take that statement back. Chances are it’s not true.
But, reports are circulating that Tonali was really emotional and apparently cried after he learned that Milan are ready to accept the offer and greenlit the move.
Two questions: 1. Have you ever considered a career in journalism? 2. Are you from the same town as Juro?
I read this elsewhere too. I remember I did say that Daniel Longo tweet was just not going to age well and for Moller to pick it up and run with it like it was true is just not going to build good credibility in you’re writing. ”
If u think objectively what is more likely out of Tonali forcing a move or the club selling him, it quite obvious what the most likely action was
“my personal opinion…”
But only you can have a “personal opinion”, no?
No are you stupid? Everyone has one.
You can think that Milan should sell Calabria tomorrow if an offer with his transfer market value comes in. But I don’t value people like that at all, as I’ve said, that is my opinion. If you don’t like I don’t give a F. 😀
So what exactly are you saying? Calabria and Tonali are untouchable because they are Italian??? That’s the thinking that will hold this team back. Calabria was not good this past season, he’s the reason Milan had to switch to a back 3 in the middle of the season, because he was constantly out of position and leaving the defense exposed. That along with Tonali never tracking back and marking his man.
You just need attention, you are one of those PR teams paid by the board to do damage control. If Tonali is that bad, please pull your shirt, wear a jersey, and boots, and take his place. I have been a registered fan since 2007 and I started following ac Milan in Istanbul final we lost against Liverpool. I loved the team so much. I know Real Madrid, Juve, inter, and man united but I chose Milan, I have seen good, bad, and ugly. I watched Milan games even if Italy is over 6000miles from where I am. I pay to watch the Milan match. Even when there is a power outage and I will have to buy Premium motor spirit(PMS) pay the view center attendant times 10 to 20 times the normal amount just to watch Milan play. I have watched Milan match even if Italy is 1hr ahead. In the early 2000s when most Milan match is 9.30 pm my local time, risk my life, and my money even if I know we will lose, I was but a boy. I am always a black and red all through and through. Sometimes when I tell people I am a Milan fan they will laugh who follows that team I will say me. If you know me you will know I am a Milan fan. I remember when a fan suggested lautaro Martinez to the board that time he was in Argentina. Great player but he ended up in Inter. I was there when Milan sold Ibrah, and Thiago Silva but I was there when we replace them with players like Yepes and the like. Even after eleven years of being in the wilderness, I stood. but bro. I am considering my membership of AC Milan now. Not because of Tonali but the board. Thuram to inter is almost a done deal. Fratessi will end up at Inter. We will be in serious soup. We don’t hate the new management but they should not touch our sensitivity. Lemme tell you, Cardinale, Furlani will beg Maldini to come back you want to bet that with me? Take it to the bank. I tell you if Daniel Maldini was on our team last season we will have been crown champions. Maldini was our lucky charm. But he was sacked we will regret that. But I may not be there to see that. Because I am spent already being a Milan fan. I am leaving with my legends ibrah and Maldini. Cardinale has done nothing for Milan. If we invested in January like we have done for about 3 seasons now probably we would have gotten to the champions league final. If Kessie was given what he was worth then by now we may have been champions of Europe and Italy. So bro before you start commenting on all comments telling us how great selling Tonali is know some people commenting here spend nothing less than 2 dollars on data just to see Milan play. In a country where 80% live below 1 dollar/day. It might be little to you but know it means a lot to me. That is my 8hrs salary as an engineering graduate in Nigeria. Shalom.
You are weird man, you legitimately hate italians but somehow want to watch an Italian team? Some very real mental issues. It’s literally every post is anti-italian. May have a few screws loose, I hope you find peace…
I think he just doesn’t care about opinions of others. Or maybe opinions that differ from his. That’s how he rolls. Different Folks, Different Strokes, Vero. It’s all good. 🙂
Yeah, I don’t care about what people think of my opinion. I literally wrote that. Good thing you figured it out without asking. Good job!
Once your opinion leaves your thought and you put it in writing, post it in the public domain, and you say you don’t care how others see it, it shows you are stupid and insensitive. If it is your opinion keep it to yourself. As long as I see, read it, and affects my sensitivity I should comment on it. So stop acting like a child grow up.
Spot on analysis by Oli. Echoes my thoughts even the objectivity/financial part. Yes we have money now but where does it go? How much of that are they going to use? There are some things that money can’t buy. Also, now that clubs KNOW we have some money, they’ll raise their price to get a chunk of our pie. Ideally there should have been a replacement signing in the background already being made. Now we’re heading into an unknown territory and this is where Moncada and Furlani may have a make or break moment. Again once more, we don’t know what the project is lol
I am a member of the Reddit AC Milan community as well.. but holy Fck, only in this blog I see so MANY Cardinale’s Cumguzzlers in one place. In reddit, no one ever even thinks about advocating for ANY one of our other starters being sold.. but here… it’s quite different. lol VERY. VERY. SUS.
Go cry into your Tonali blanket. We will be better off without that overrated fraud.
That’s one hell of a Way to talk about a player in a team that you apparently … ‘support’ lmfao. Let me guess.. Theo and Mike are the other overrated frauds who needs to sold? Perhaps.. LEAO is the biggest fraud of them all? lmfao Shall I throw in Benny and Kalulu too? These frauds must be sold as well I presume? lmfao
Come on man, seriously, please don’t say that.
There’s definitely some guzzlers here. They take down pints at a time of the stuff, some even get drunk off of it.
“Going into the summer there was the need to sign two midfielders, now that probably becomes three.”
This. We all know how hard it is to settle in to Pioli’s system. And now basically we need 2 new midfielders to fill that vital double pivot role without the Piolossimo experience. Back to square one.
Being mentally tough to sell players for a profit is a big part of being a successful club. When a big offer comes in for a good, but not great, player then take the profit and reinvest. This was a great move.
Great move, I have a feeling it also affected Thuram not want to join. You know, when you don’t know if you’ll be force to move next season because Milan is a selling club. Confirmed to Inter. Amazing, right?
Watch us lose Thuram and Frattesi to Inter. I really hope Furlani and Moncada fail miserably this summer and it all collapses for RedBird. Muricans and their cheap entertainment need to f*ck off back to their 3rd world sh*thole they call country.
I think as Milan fans we want all want the best fir Milan. That us to be competitive and win trophies, albeit we all going about it differently. There’s one thing we all must be clear about, this latest development comes across as if the owners are ripping the fabric of the team by starting to sell key players that have Milan at heart. In my opinion if Tonali is overpriced at €80 million, then Declan Rice is not worth half of the £90 million being offered by Arsenal. At this rate we are destined to lose two more key Milan players(Possibly Theo, Mike and/or Leao)…once Tonali sale goes through. As Milan fans we have a long summer ahead of us, and if it is true that we already lost Thuram to Inter..then we are starting to struggle to attract players ..that would’ve otherwise give everything to wear the Milan jersey
Next years will be desaster for Milan for sure . Americans will get rid off everybody who loves the club, they will buy bunch of mediocare players and I bet in any amount of money that Milan will end next year between 6-10 place in Serie A . I live in Florida and follow american sports so for them this is just a business and nothing more. Long term they want to make money of the team, not to spend. Good buy great AC Milan.
I was about to buy two season tickets for 2023/24, glad I didn’t just yet, and will likely not. I can not support an organization that is run by ignorant financiers, which don’t seem to have any sensitivity for the tradition, and respect for the supporters.
The world is poisoned by these private equity firms that are short term numbers driven – now its football, now its our team.
I’m not convinced in this kind of articles to balance the story, look at the two sides of the coin, one door closes another one opens…
Reality is, on one side we had a Milan icon that produced fantastic results in the past 3 years, on the other we have some no names (lets hope they do good).
I would really like to be optimistic, but instead of speaking about how to avoid another January like performance, or the performance before and during the Euro Derby, we are trying to find bad point in Maldini’s work and we can not stop quoting the name of a Hollywood movie with some good cast, but no football in it.
Forgot to mention the date of the movie 2011, we are about to revolutionize Milan with a 12 years old movie about Baseball :D:D. I mean its high time to stop mentioning that term “Moneyball”, after all there is a word for that in football, and is called “good scouting”, and we know that that is just a small part that makes you good in our beloved game.
Fany management of Milan. We lose now even Thuram. So fan should ban the games, and tell the management what we think about their policy…
I would not get carried away with pragmatism or Moneyball or anything else.
The simple reality is that they jumped at the first opportunity to sell a player, seemingly unconcerned that they were selling the soul of the club, like a bunch of desperadoes inexperienced with negotiation.
But it’s more than that.
Look at our assets and possible replacements then do some math.
Theo could fetch 80m. Carlos Augusto at Monza, which club Berlusconi’s family want to sell, could be bought for about 15m to 20m. He is a very good player. Valeri at Cremonese is adequate back up and would cost a song due to relegation.
Maignan is another asset worth 80m, possibly more. Vicario was signed by Tottenham for less than 20m. Carnesecchi would cost less than 20m and Sportiello has already agreed terms.
In either scenario we’re making 60m from the sale.
We know we’re trying to spend the proceeds of the Tolani sale on Frattesi. Tha5 leaves us 30m and a single starting calibre centre midfielder.
This was a disgusting decision because of what it meant to Milan, almost as if they wanted to sever the connection to the next Maldini or Pirlo, but it was also just really dumb, bad business betraying a complete lack of planning.