Football Season Guide

Milan

In


Gianluca Lapadula (att)(Pescara); Leonel Vangioni (def)(River Plate); Gabriel Vasconcellos (gk)(Napoli, end of loan); Gabriel Paletta (def)(Atalanta, end of loan); Alessandro Matri (att)(Lazio, end of loan); Suso (mid)(Genoa, end of loan); Gustavo Gomez (def)(Lanus); Jherson Vergara (def)(Livorno, end of loan)

Out


Mario Balotelli (sp)(att)(Liverpool, end of loan); Philippe Mexes (sp)(def)(released); Kevin-Prince Boateng (sp)(mid)(released); Alex (r)(def)(released); Christian Abbiati (gk)(retired); Hachim Mastour (att)(PEC Zwolle); Michael Agazzi (gk)(Cesena); Jeremy Menez (sp)(att)(Girondins de Bordeaux)

The last few seasons have been far from rewarding for President Berlusconi as Milan have proven incapable of achieving the European spots for three times in a row. However, in occasion of the 30th anniversary of his presidency, the former Italian prime minister opted to quit the club in the hands of some Chinese entrepreneurs. It took a long time before the deals were eventually signed and, for such reason, so far, the Devils could hardly buy any new players. In fact, they first decided to sign Vincenzo Montella as the new man at the helm of the team. Coming off a disastrous experience with Sampdoria, the former Fiorentina coach needs to redeem himself and Milan could very well be the right place for doing it. The squad was trimmed thanks to the departure of a whole group of experienced, but worn-out, players. Balotelli, Mexes, Boateng, Menez and Alex, protagonists of the recent campaigns, have all left and they are still to be fully replaced. Lapadula, who scored plenty of goals for Pescara and in the lower tiers of the Italian football, was Milan’s main signing so far. More new faces also arrived in order to strengthen the defence, which was particularly fragile in the past campaign: Gomez and Vangioni should thus end up being given some playing time. Paletta and Suso, who return from loans to Atalanta and Genoa, could also become regulars in the new team. Milan are still a work in progress and new players should arrive both for the attack and the midfield. These new arrivals could be partly paid by Bacca’s departure. And that would be a huge loss, considering how fundamental the Colombian was just a few months back.

Target


Milan are always expected to fight for the Scudetto but, this time around, they seem unlikely to go further than a European spot. In fact, even that one would be an incredible result if no new players arrive before the end of the transfer campaign.