AC Milan general spiel 2.0

[San Paolo]

did amybody else get a tear in their eye reading the letter from Super Pippo, or was it just me? Super Pippo has shown you don't need skill like Messi to be a champions all you need is heart, passion, expert timing and an eye for a goal. how many goals did Pippo score from 18 yards out or more? very few i'd imagine. So long Super Pippo, thanks for Athens and thanks for all the wonderful memories you have left us all with, we may never see a champion in our red and black shirts again that show the hunger and passion to win like he did. once again thanks for the memories, Pippo. Grazie e ciao amico mio.

[RomaShield27]

Word on the tweet, Montolivo to Milan is a done deal, yet another free signing.

Van Bummel defo , rejoice.

[RomaShield27]

Seedorf: 'My last game for Milan'
By Football Italia staff / Sunday May 13 2012

Clarence Seedorf confirmed today will be his “last game” for Milan, but is still considering the offers from Brazil. The Dutchman is one of several players whose contract expires next month and, like Alessandro Nesta, Gennaro Gattuso, Mark van Bommel, Gianluca Zambrotta and Pippo Inzaghi, he is not going to renew.

“It will be my last game in a Rossoneri jersey, but I will continue playing football,” the 36-year-old told Sky Sport Italia ahead of today’s meeting with Novara.

“Will I go to Brazil? I haven’t decided yet.” Botafogo have prepared a proposal to bring Seedorf to South America, aided by the fact he already has a house in Brazil.

[DavidP]

he looks happier than he ever did at milan

[RomaShield27]

Wtf is that jersey? ^

Sad scenes at the San Siro, so many big names leaving.

Great to see SuperPippo score on his last game. Always been a class striker. He went from a being one of those really annoying hatchers who was always offside and everyone thought was shite to being recognised as a pure goal machine. Is he retiring from the game or what?

Never mind that Nesta, sure he's only a Laziale pig-farmer. But also one of the best defenders I've ever seen playing the game. Pure class.

[RomaShield27]

[p_maldini_3]

i was crying way too much this morning.

[Bagg10]

[red]

Chuffed Inzaghi got a goal.

He's averaged a goal every 144 minutes for Milan, apparently.

Nae bad.

[vtec]

[vtec]

[vtec]

[p_maldini_3]

[RomaShield27]

Not even Muntari's?

[taz]

Italian giants Milan have confirmed the Bosman free captures of Bakaye Traorè and Riccardo Montolivo.

Both midfielders, Traorè arrives from French club Nancy and Montolivo has joined the Rossoneri after his contract at Fiorentina expired.

The Malian, 27, has signed a deal until June 2015, while Italian international Montolivo has committed his future to the Diavolo until 2016.

Traorè revealed earlier this month that he was heading to San Siro, while the former Atalanta player underwent his medical in Italy’s fashion capital on Wednesday.

[RomaShield27]

/ Tuesday May 22 2012

After a host of club icons said an emotional farewell on the last day of the season, Scott Fleming analyses Milan's mercato strategy.

“Here they treat you like a king,” commented Milan's Antonio Cassano two weeks ago, in his first major interview since his health difficulties last year. “Those who leave immediately regret it.”

The truth of FantAntonio's words was borne out the following weekend, when Pippo Inzaghi, Gennaro Gattuso, Clarence Seedorf, Alessandro Nesta, Gianluca Zambrotta and Mark Van Bommel all made their final appearances in Rossonero against Novara.

Gattuso and Van Bommel, the definitive hard men, both burst into tears; Ringhio on the field, MVB when he was shown a montage of his bone crunching tackles – ironically sound-tracked by Coldplay's 'Fix You' – by the good folks at Milan Channel. Zambrotta had to be pushed and prodded forward, so overcome was he with emotion, to receive the applause of the Curva Sud, where three enormous banners resembling jerseys had been draped, bearing the names of Gattuso, Inzaghi and Nesta.

This was Silvio Berlusconi's mythical 'Milan Family', so often a byword for corniness and over sentimentality, in action, and you'd struggle to find a more genuinely moving spectacle on a football pitch.

Their emphasis on a family dynamic has both underpinned and undermined the Diavolo's success in recent years. According to Seedorf, retaining the same core of players for so long allowed an extraordinary team spirit to blossom. “When you play for such a long time with the same teammates, a rapport builds that is beyond the professional sphere. You become almost like brothers.”

But has their gratitude and affection towards the men that took them to three Champions League Finals in five seasons during Carlo Ancelotti's reign blinded the Milan board towards the need for regeneration? Well, yes and no.

The caricature of Milan as a decrepit band of old duffers, still promulgated by more than a few English media sources whenever the Rossoneri are drawn against Premiershit opposition in the Champions League, has been defunct for some time. Gradually, Adriano Galliani and Ariedo Braida have lowered the average age, phased out certain veterans and supplanted them with quality players in their mid to late twenties, the likes of Thiago Silva, Ignazio Abate and Kevin Prince Boateng.

However there has still been a lot of responsibility placed upon ageing legs. Despite Zambrotta and Inzaghi being out of favour, Nesta's injury issues and Gattuso's eye troubles, the sextet serenaded beneath the Curva Sud on the last day made 86 Serie A appearances between them during the season past. Dramatic change still needed to be enacted, and thankfully, now it has been.

Midfielders Riccardo Montolivo and Bakaye Traore have already been acquired, a deal for young Brazilian 'keeper Gabriel is said to be close, and various others, including Francesco Acerbi, Paulo Henrique Ganso and Nuri Sahin, have been touted for moves to Milanello.

Montolivo, perennially regarded as a youngster but now less than three years away from his 30th birthday, is the ideal replacement for Alberto Aquilani, who the club began to treat like the invisible man when he neared the number of games needed to trigger his buy out clause.

Big, strong, versatile and good going forward, Traore is precisely the type of all purpose midfielder that Massimiliano Allegri loves. The assumption that Milan will simply buy the same amount of players that leave should be avoided, as Allegri has spoken of a “25-26 man squad, including three goalkeepers, for the new season.”

That might seem risky, given the difficulty Allegri sometimes had assembling 11 fit players from a much larger squad this term, but the club have resolved to get to the bottom of their injury problems this summer, which will in any case surely be less intense simply by virtue of having a much younger squad.

It would be wrong to praise Galliani and Co for taking the tough decision to cut the cord between Milan and their beloved old timers though. New deals were on the table for Nesta – perhaps understandably – Van Bommel and Gattuso – less understandably. It was the players themselves, and not the administration, who collectively came to the realisation that it was time to vacate the stage, and allow the next generation of the Milan family to come of age.

[taz]

AC Milan have announced on their official website that they have secured the services of promising goalkeeper Gabriel from Cruzeiro for an undisclosed fee.

The Rossoneri were in the market for a new shot-stopper due to the departure of third-choice glovesman Flavio Roma, and they have now found their man to become the understudy to Christian Abbiati and Marco Amelia.

"Gabriel will be registered in the Lega Serie A in the next few weeks and will join the team in pre-season training on July 9," a statement on the Milan site reads.

The 19-year-old goalkeeper is a product of the Cruzeiro youth academy, and has been capped at Under-20 level for Brazil.

Gabriel will be the third addition to the Milan squad for next season following the captures of Riccardo Montolivo from Fiorentina and Bakaye Traore from Nancy.

[San Paolo]

A Brazilian goalkeeper, hmmm is that what we really need?

[p_maldini_3]

we got a good young keeper, donnarumma, coming up through the ranks, he did really well in Serie B last season for some team, i forgot which.

but this brazilian keepr is a u20 world champion, so it must count for something.

we've been linked with strootman (seems like either a van bommel dm or a box-to-box midfielder, i've never seen him play) who has a bunch of clubs after him. galliani was also talking to sahin's agent, hopefully we can get a loan with an option to buy.

we should also go for ogbonna on torino, he's the next defensive talent from italy, and we should splash whatever cash it takes to get him.

strootman, sahin, ogbonna. sell robinho for 20m to malaga and if we got spare change bring back aly cisshoko. we need a LB.

[San Paolo]

if we need a LB do we really want Cissokho, the only man to ever be rated 0 by L'Equipe?