What Next for AC Milan After Missing on Jackson Martinez and Geoffrey Kondogbia

In the wake of Bee Taechaubol's 48 percent purchase of AC Milan last month, the club's fans were cautiously optimistic that the team's fortunes might start to change. When Adriano Galliani immediately went all in on a pair of high-priced transfer targets.

That optimism looked justified when it looked like both moves were going to come through. Reports from Marca (h/t Football Italia) indicated that a deal for Porto's Jackson Martinez was done and that the Colombian striker was on his way to San Siro. Galliani personally met Monaco midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia to hash out personal terms that would see him arrive as well.

But a week later what was supposed to be Milan's grand summer was in tatters.

Martinez's agent told Calciomercato.com (h/t Football Italia) on Tuesday that the striker was going to Atletico Madrid. The Spanish club had swooped in to pip the Rossoneri after Milan persisted in waiting for the player to come back from the Copa America for a medical. Atleti had no such reservations about a physical examination and completed the deal without one.

As for Kondogbia, not only did they lose him to another Italian club, they lost him to Inter.

Michael Steele/Getty Images

The Nerazzurri announced the signing on their Twitter account (h/t Football Italia) on Monday after dueling with Milan and several foreign clubs for his signature. According to his agent in an interview with fcinter1908.it (h/t Football Italia) he even took less money to play at Inter.

It's a massive blow to the team's prestige. In years past, when Milan zeroed in on a player, more often than not they got him. Now two players that a week ago were expected to be key parts in bringing the team back to the upper reaches of the table will be plying their trade elsewhere—and in one case facing them down twice a year or more in the Derby della Madonnina.

These failures also further laid bare the inadequacies of Adriano Galliani. For the last three or four years he's been trying to work on a budget significantly lower than what he's used to. Unfortunately he's been unable to replicate the success of men like Giuseppe Marotta, who brought Juventus back to prominence by utilizing smart bargain buys like Andrea Barzagli and Carlos Tevez and free transfers like Paul Pogba and Andrea Pirlo (another piece of transfer business Milan fans are ruing).

One thing about the loss of these two transfers is particularly interesting. On Tuesday both players' agents spoke to the media, and each said something extraordinarily similar in regards to why they turned Milan down.

"The lad preferred to say yes to Atletico Madrid for the project they built around him," Martinez's agent, Luiz Henrique Pompeo, said in the aforementioned Calciomercato interview. Likewise, Paolo Schiavone, who represents Kondogbia, told fcinter1908 "The lad is fascinated by the project that Roberto Mancini proposed to him...Geoffrey wanted a project to we himself to and he found that in the Nerazzurri."

The word "project" is a common thread, and that's just it—all indications over the last few years are that Milan doesn't have one.

Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

In the short term the team's coaching change is also probably a detriment here. Sinisa Mihajlovic has only officially been Milan coach for a week—not enough time to really develop a concrete long-term plan. Roberto Mancini has been in place at Inter since November and Diego Simeone is about to start his fifth season at Atleti. They've had time to map out the future—and those plans are likely a massive advantage when it comes to wooing transfer targets.

But the comments of a pair of agents who have been intimately acquainted with the team for the last few weeks also provides an indictment of Milan's front office.

Milan has had their hands on a lot of young players lately that could have been key parts of a long-term strategy to stay competitive. Players like Riccardo Saponara and Bryan Cristante could already have been huge contributors, but neither of them played for the first team and now both have been sold. Older players like Michael Essien and Alex have been plugged in to try to fill holes, with varying degrees of success, simply because they were available and cheap.

That's not the behavior of a team that has a plan. It's the behavior of a team that's flailing, and that starts at the top.

Galliani and principal owner Silvio Berlusconi may be the embodiments of stagnation in the Italian game. Berlusconi's attempt to inject cash into the team is commendable, but it will mean nothing if that money is not spent properly. The entire power structure, from the ownership on down, is probably in need of permanent change, but at the very least Galliani needs to find greener pastures.

Until last month it was possible to dismiss his recent misadventures in the mercato as a failure to adapt to the budget constraints he was put under. But when he was suddenly able to flash the cash again, he couldn't seal the deal despite players and clubs both being amiable to the deals.

Milan's upper management needs radical change, but the man in direct charge of transfers needs to be held responsible for these new, embarrassing failures. It would be a baby step, but it's time for Adriano Galliani to cede his power to someone else.