Milan Sign Mark Van Bommel From Bayern Munich: Is Serie A Theirs to Lose?

AC Milan have looked more like one of the shopaholics from Spain or England this season, with some incredible buys in the transfer markets of the summer and winter.

The summer started slow for the Rossoneri, coming off a dismal third place finish in Serie A, 12 points behind rivals and five-time defending champions Inter.

While small role players such as Guiseppe Favalli, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and others departed, Milan brought in other not so well known players, such as Marco Amelia, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Mario Yepes; even with the strange buy and loan of Kevin-Prince Boateng from Portsmouth to Genoa to Milan was not enough to get fans thinking title.

That happened the last weekend of the summer window, when AC Milan moved for Zlatan Ibrahimovic on loan with a summer option to buy and then purchased Robinho the next day.

Ibrahimovic has become one of the top scorers in Serie A and Robinho's efforts have been vital to the club.

Milan have been the best team in Italy this season, currently leading the top flight with 44 points, four points clear of nearest rivals Napoli. With 17 games to play and the typical injuries starting to appear, Milan needed to make moves for the home stretch.

Since the window opened on January 1st, Milan have welcomed in three big names to their outfit.

The first and most anticipated arrival was Antonio Cassano. The easily angered Italian left Sampdoria after falling out of favor due to a row with the club president in October. So far, he has three assists with the club and is only getting better as a player and closer with his teammates. The 29-year old is back and on the rise.

Twenty-four year old Dutch international Urby Emanuelson joined the club from Ajax on Sunday. The defender who can also be deployed at midfielder was in Milan to see the club win 2-0 against Cesena and could not contain his excitement about joining a club of legends, of whom he mentioned Gattuso, Pato, and of course Dutch legend Clarence Seedorf.

Emanuelson provides youth and increased talent at both the midfield and defensive positions, much needed qualities for Milan.

Today brought Milan's newest big name: Mark Van Bommel. The 33-year old Dutchman left Bayern Munich after four and a half seasons to play for Milan. The holding midfield position has been a concern for Milan all year. With Van Bommel, who is signed on until the end of the season, Milan can allow midfielders such as Boateng and Andrea Pirlo to push farther up the field in support of the attack.

Though only potentially a short fix, Van Bommel's entrance is most welcomed.

So is Milan now in position to win the title for the first time since 2004? Well, they are in first place of course, but just because you are in first on January 25th does not mean you will be there in May.

However, Milan are new and improved. This summer, they filled their attacking needs. Their goalie has returned healthy this season as Christian Abbiati is having a Golden Glove-caliber season.

Now, Milan have filled the voids in midfield and defense, as well as finally finding a true trequartista in Cassano.

With true rivals like Inter failing to make necessary moves to compete, Milan are absolutely the favorites to claim top spot. These three moves enhance their chances.

I have no worries saying that if I had to predict right now, AC Milan will be on the podium in May as Italian Scudetto winners.