Why AC Milan Will Not Fall Victim to Rumors

In football, summer is the time when all the silly rumors that make no sense start to surface and sometimes grow out of proportion.

The main reason we accept these rumors is that we want to sit down and ask ourselves "what if?" For example, did you know that Cristiano Ronaldo was actually going to Arsenal in the first place, they even had a shirt with his name on it?

See, you couldn't help but imagine Ronaldo wearing that Arsenal shirt, asking yourself "what if he ended up at Arsenal instead of Man United?"

As fans, we want to imagine the best players joining our team, even if these were only rumors that we all know will never become a reality. But for the press to do that, they're going to end up pissing off the fans of the other teams, simply because they want to sell a story no matter how ridiculous it is.

The latest team to be under fire is AC Milan. Ever since the departure of Kaka and Ancelotti, the press has been persistently linking all the big names in Milan with a switch to other teams, names like Pirlo and Pato.

Even though Pirlo has spent almost a decade in the Rossoneri shirt, the press made it look like he was planning to leave the club without a moment's thought. Some say that he stated that he would rather play for Atletico Madrid than for Chelsea.

What I want to know is this, why would Pirlo leave Milan for either Chelsea or Atletico Madrid?

With all due respect to both teams, Milan is bigger than both. It is the most consistent club in the Champions League in recent memory, reaching three CL finals in five years, yet the press still keeps treating it like a team that plays in Serie B.

However, that doesn't mean that any big name will end up leaving the club.

I am an optimistic person, but I am in no way delusional. There is a chance Milan might not win the league, but there is also a good chance that they will.

There is always the CL where Milan is usually one of the most feared teams in the competition, if not the most.

The only problem that Milan has is inconsistency. Through out Ancelotti's era, AC Milan were at sometimes brilliant and at others frustrating.

Between 2004 and 2007 Milan did not win a single title, and from 2007 until now Milan didn't win anything simply because they weren't consistent enough.

In football, there has to be a cycle every once in a while. Not every team can spend eternity with the same manager.

Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson are the only ones who have spent over 10 years with the same team out of the top European clubs, and they're not having it perfect either.

Arsenal hasn't won a trophy in four years and Man United has been giving weak performances at certain parts of the season.

People have the right to call Leonardo an amateur—he's younger than Maldini—but a fresh approach is what Milan needs at the moment.

No more buying world class players after their prime: no more Rivaldo, no more Emerson and no more Ronaldo.

No more gambles on older players, especially when Milan has a few of the most experienced players in Europe.

It's time for Milan to bring some new blood to the team—a team that would start the next cycle—and not simply stick the team in a phase for three years and find themselves a few years older and stuck with the same problem all over again.

Leonardo might be inexperienced, but after watching Guardiola take Barcelona through the perfect season, I learned to not judge a manager before the season starts.

He's already getting Ronaldinho on a diet, and is persuading the star players to stay at Milan.

Let's all give Leonardo the benefit of the doubt, at least until next season starts.