Grading AC Milan on Their 2015 Summer Transfer Window Dealings
The summer transfer window is finally over, and now it's time for teams like AC Milan to sit back and take stock of what it did.
The window started farcically for co-vice president and transfer chief Adriano Galliani. Days after it looked as though both Jackson Martinez and Geoffrey Kondogbia would be Milan players, the moves fell apart within hours of each other.
Galliani rallied, however, and made some moves that will make Milan better—and maybe a few that should have been reconsidered.
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Today we'll look at Milan's ingoing and outgoing transfers, as well as what might have been, and see just how well—or not—the Rossoneri made out before giving the team an overall grade for the window.
Incoming
After the Martinez/Kondogbia debacle, Adriano Galliani had to act quickly to save face. He identified an alternate target to the former—another Colombian hit man, Carlos Bacca.
Bacca had just finished in the top five on the scoring charts in Spain and led Sevilla to a second consecutive Europa League title by scoring seven goals in the tournament, including two in the final against Dnipro.
It's a bit surprising that the striker would give up the guarantee of Champions League competition to come to a team that isn't going to be playing in Europe at all. But Galliani succeeded in convincing him of his project and triggered his €30 million buyout clause.
Thus far he's played well up top. He scored the team's opener against Empoli last weekend with a perfectly executed one-on-one, and he's worked hard despite often being starved for service. So far the move has looked good, and it's likely to pay dividends when all is said and done.
The same can be said of Luiz Adriano, who was brought in from Shakhtar Donetsk for €8 million to be Bacca's partner. Adriano has scored twice in his three official appearances—once in the league and once in the Coppa Italia—and if he manages to dovetail with Bacca, they could become one of the best strike duos in the league.
His alternative to Kondogbia hasn't had so bright a start. The longtime Milan executive paid Genoa €20 million for the services of Andrea Bertolacci, who so far has looked worth nothing like that amount of money. His passing has been sloppy, he's given the ball away in dangerous areas and he's getting beaten defensively.
Bertolacci's price tag is likely explained by the fact that he is young and Italian, something that teams tend to pay a premium for in an era when homegrown Italian talent has a hard time fighting their way into starting lineups. The 24-year-old has time to justify the extravagant expenditure, but the current signs are not good.
Further back, Milan finally gave the center back position a long-needed overhaul. Former youth product Rodrigo Ely was snagged back on a free transfer. A protracted transfer saga finally wrested Italy U21 international Alessio Romagnoli from Roma for €25 million.
The two will combine to make a young and promising center pairing, even if it is a bit rough around the edges. The potential is there, and if they develop, they could form the bedrock of the defense.
The last major acquisition was a big surprise. Mario Balotelli arrived back in Milan on loan after failing to settle in at Liverpool last year. The move itself is one of little risk and high reward.
If he keeps his head together, his prodigious talent will make him a quality depth piece and a dangerous sub. If he continues to struggle, Milan won't be on the hook financially for anything, and at the end of the season, he'll be Liverpool's problem again.
With the big exception of Bertolacci, the initial return on these moves has been positive. That could be turned completely on its head by May, but so far the buys Milan made have been good.
Outgoing
Milan did well in cutting dead weight this summer. Michael Essien, Sulley Muntari and Daniele Bonera all left earlier this offseason, while Cristian Zaccardo left on deadline day, the club confirmed. Out-of-favor center backs Adil Rami and Gabriel Paletta, as well as winger Valter Birsa, are also gone.
Per Football Italia, Alessandro Matri has gone on yet another loan deal, this time to Lazio, while Giampaolo Pazzini's contract wasn't renewed and he moved on to Hellas Verona.
Of the loan deals that expired, only that of Marco van Ginkel will be lamented. He played well when given extended time last year, but negotiations with Chelsea to bring him back never really got off the ground.
Either Pazzini or Matri could have been used as depth, but all in all trimming them along with the rest of the fat was probably justified.
Stephan El Shaarawy's move to Monaco was less necessary but probably beneficial. New coach Sinisa Mihajlovic doesn't use wingers and had plans to move the youngster into the midfield in his 4-3-1-2. By moving to Monaco on loan with a conditional option, El Shaarawy will be able to play his game, and everyone will be spared the media attention that would accompany such a position switch.
One outgoing move that no doubt alarmed some fans concerned youth team wunderkind Hachim Mastour. Reports from Corriere dello Sport and Calciomercato (h/t Football Italia) linked the teenage phenom to both Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco earlier this summer, and it was confirmed on deadline day that he would be sent on loan for two years to Spanish side Malaga, per Football Italia.
The deal contains an option for Malaga to buy him—something that bit Milan in the rear recently in the case of Riccardo Saponara. Milan fans shouldn't fret, though—the Rossoneri have an ironclad buyback clause and, in a way, this move will likely help Mastour more than playing time at the San Siro would.
These are lean times for Milan, and the myth that Mastour has developed in the youth leagues has seen him elevated to the status of savior of the club. The expectations that he would have had to deal with—at age 17 no less—could have been crippling. We've seen players like Sebastian Giovinco and Mattia De Sciglio driven into the ground in recent times after coming in with similar expectations.
In Spain, Mastour will be able to start accumulating first-team playing time while playing in a league that for the most part isn't as physically demanding as Italy. Most importantly, he will do so without the weight of an entire fandom on his shoulders.
Should Milan see fit to exercise its right to buy him back after two years are up, Mastour will arrive as a more mature and more experienced player better equipped to deal with Italian defenders and the hopes of his own fans.
The Misses
The fiasco surrounding Kondogbia and Martinez has been well-documented and doesn't need more time here.
Apart from them, the biggest miss of the transfer window was Axel Witsel. The Belgian midfielder would have been a much-needed addition to a midfield that has struggled mightily the first two games of the season.
The Rossoneri negotiated for months, but Zenit St. Petersburg has a nasty habit of dramatically overvaluing their players, and despite Galliani telling reporters (h/t Football Italia) they "tried to the end" to get a deal done, the Russian club's obstinacy prevented any deal from getting done.
The Verdict
This was not a bad transfer window for Milan. For the first time in several years, it opened the checkbook and attacked the market. The early-window miss was humiliating, but the acquisitions of Bacca and Adriano were good bounce-backs.
Much of the final grade a year from now will depend on how Ely and Romagnoli evolve as a tandem in defense. Milan has needed upgrades there for years, and how well it fills that need will go a long way to determining the speed of its comeback.
The zit on the nose of this, though, is Bertolacci. He has plenty of time to turn things around, but the way he's playing, he has bust written all over him.
In this moment, his play—the worst in what has been a bad midfield—drags Milan's grade down from what could have been as high as a B+ down to a B. When you spend €20 million on a player who is turning into the main example of your team's problems, you've made a mistake.
Bertolacci aside, this window has been promising. The players purchased this summer may very well have laid the foundation for Milan's long-awaited comeback.
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