Finally we got ourselves a friendly. These first friendlies are never too exciting but nothing beats that first taste of a new season. Two years ago that first friendly made CDK look like a damn wizard…little did we know it would take a whole season for him to come good, albeit at a different club. Last summer it was the first real glimpse of Adli we got. Later it was Pulisic and RLC that roared out of the gate.
Thoughts on the 1st Friendly
This years opener was a little different. Instead of new faces, there aren’t really any yet, it’s old faces either coming back from loan or getting healthy. Saelemaekers came back and looks exactly like his old self. Ball of energy. Great touch. Covers lots of ground. Bennacer looks completely healthy for what feels like the first time in 2 years. I hate the leggings but at least he was running. That was nice to see. Little Maldini once again proved his worth. He doesn’t do anything great, but he manages to do everything well and ALWAYS seems to be involved in the goals. Last season at Monza he had 4 goals and an assist in just under 600 minutes. Saturday he had the assist on our only goal. There’s something special about the kid, even if the statheads can’t quite explain it.
The one other that stuck out to me was Chukwueze. Not so much because of his offensive play, which was fine. It was his positioning and fitting more into the group I liked. Last year when he was out there he made things happen…1v1s, speed, some nifty goals. He didn’t always fit in the system and I think that’s why he struggled for time. We went through this exact thing with Leão. It really took him about a year and a half to figure out what to do when he didn’t have the ball. Chukwueze looks to be on the verge of that. How that fits with Pulisic and the rest of the attack we will see. It’s certainly a good problem to have though.
Comings, Goings, and Rumors
Summer Arrivals
MORATA BABY!
I couldn’t be happier with this deal. He came for a transfer fee of €13M and he’s getting a 4 year deal at €4M per season. That is a steal for a veteran striker that can score and assist and always seems to be a hit with his teammates. Sound familiar? Also his wife is Italian and from Milan. Happy wife, happy life, right?
That’s basically 29 million for a proven striker. You can’t beat that. Much better and safer than 100 million for a lottery ticket like Zirkzee.
Also, we have Okafor. We saw him light things up when given a chance last year. 6 goals and 3 assists in just over 1000 minutes last year. Not bad.
ARRIVALS
- Álvaro Morata – Atletico (€13M, €4M wages per season)
- Alex Jimenez – Madrid (€5M)
- Jan Carlo Simic – Primavera (signed but then sold)
Summer Departures
Simic has been sold to Anderlecht. Tough to keep a kid who wants minutes and if starting-caliber CB like Pavlovic does arrive then those all but vanish. Luka Romero is back off to La Liga on loan, this time to Deportivo Alaves and with a option to buy. Just doesn’t seem to be a spot for you young guy.
Devis Vasquez has gone to Empoli on loan with an option to buy. As mentioned in the previous loanee post he had a nice season statistically lasty year for some really awful teams. He will be interesting to watch from afar.
DEPARTURES
- CDK – Atalanta (sold, €22M+€3M for initial loan+10% future resale)
- Rade Krunic – Fenerbache (sold, €3.5M)
- Olivier Giroud – LAFC (free)
- Devis Vasquez – Empoli (loan + option)
- Jan Carlo Simic – Anderlecht (sold, €2M+20% future resale)
- Luka Romero – Deportivo Alavés (loan + option to buy at around €6-7M)
Rumor Mill
Some names with a sentence or two on each, ordered by most likely to least likely at the time of writing.
PAVLOVIC The Austrian Bundesliga club Red Bull Salzburg CB is a young (24) and tall (6’4″/193m) promising player. He’s fast and physical and brings some bite. That’s some thing we desperately need with the batch of nice guys we have back there. I really believe getting that bite in the team is the first thing on Fonseca’s list. This guy is the perfect answer. Essentially it’s Ante Rebic in CB form. Cold death stare. Gives no shits. Probably doesn’t even like his mother.
FOFANA He’s been rumored all over the place all summer long. Not just to us. Now the rumor mill is telling us much larger offers are coming in. Sounds similar to the Botman saga. There’s rumors all summer but once the business really starts much larger offers come in. Would be a great fit but if ManU offers up say 40 million Monaco won’t be able to turn that down.
SAMARDZIC Hard to fall for this one as he’s been rumored all over Italy for the last 18 months. I like it. Before Tonali left it looked like he might eventually get into that AM role. That role needs a creator obviously but it’s also your first line of defense. This guy is Tonali Lite with a little more creativity. Little bigger with a nice shot. I’d say chances are low, partially because I just can’t stand Udinese, but it would be a great move for a very reasonable sum (about 20 million).
FÜLLKRUG When it was him and Morata getting dangled I was happy to just get one of them. Both would have been a dream…but also a little bonkers. Now we have Morata. This guy is gonna land somewhere and he’s going to score. He’s Miroslav Klose 2.0. It won’t be pretty but he’s gonna score no matter where he lands.
RABIOT Gillis says no. I say yes. I still think an EPL team comes through with stupid money for him though. No way his mommy is allowing him to take a pay cut to come here. He’s in his prime earning years and is due one more giant contract.
ROYAL NO NO NO!!!!
OUTGOING RUMOR
THIAW Rumors of him going to Newcastle are gaining steam. It might be a bit of 2+2=5 because Newcastle needs help and we have obviously done business before. It does however beg the question of whether selling him is a good idea or not. It’s obviously good business. Massive profit. His ceiling is massive as he’s a big, young CB. I also thought he had a very nice finish to the year. Then again he’s also a very similar profile to Gabbia and they are only 2 years apart in age. Do we need both of them? I would be somewhat bummed to see him go but I would see it as a great business move and certainly would not lose any sleep over it.
Wrap Up
One friendly under our belts. Now they start coming quick. We get City on Saturday with Real Madrid and Barcelona on the US tour after that. I’m not quite hyped yet but it’s coming any day now…
Forza Milan.
Lisi