Can Milan Remain Competitive In Europe?

Hot Topic: Can Milan remain competitive in Europe despite their recent transfer history of signing free transfers at the end of their current contracts, and also taking into account the possibility of Milan's two best remaining players, Ibrahimovic & Silva, leaving the club this summer to wealthy teams lining up for their services..

For this question, we will be joined by Pete Acquaviva, Milan writer for both Rossoneriblog.com & TheMilanGuy.com


Pete Acquaviva


The Milan Group, composing of Fininvest, president Silvio Berlusconi's holding company, as well as Milan's entertainment and Real Estate divisions  have lost around €65m per year per year over the last several years. Swiss Ramble puts the calculation (using Deloitte information) at €386m losses in the last four years. This is a very alarming number for a club trying to modernize and compete on multiple fronts. There have been a few years of little to no loss, notably 2009 (sales of Kaká and Gourcuff for €80m combined) and in 06 with the sale of Andriy Shevchenko. By and large, though, selling players is simply not enough to make up these losses that exist. The losses are actually not cumulative, however, as Silvio Berlusconi's holding company Finnavest has paid down the debt at the end of the year, leaving Milan with no debt, but no new models. This ends up costing Silvio about €50m - €70m euros per season. It wipes the debt slate clean every year, but this policy does not deal with the underlying issues that cause the deficit.

Talismanic striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has even come out and say there is no money (which a look at the books will confirm). There are many issues that need to be looked at within the club, starting from the player personnel (who need an overhaul to compete for the highest honors) medical staff, marketing policy, stadium construction, as well as youth development. The positive aspect of the stadium development as well as the youth growth is that spending in those sectors does not count against Financial Fair Play - which will have it's first monitoring period beginning in the 12-13 season. What Milan need to do to be competitive is build smart, not build extravagantly.

This brings us back to the original question - can Milan remain competitive. I believe they can. It's going to require a significant amount of luck as well as some guile from Galliani and Braida with their transfer plans. Signing four internationals at low to no cost over the past two years (Aquilani [at the time], Nocerino, Traoré, Montolivo) has shown that the shift has gone from spending large sums on individual players and gone to finding players with experience but without the price tag. This isn't a new phenomenon, as Milan used to go shopping in the low-priced Brazilian market years ago, before it became an emerging market with clubs that possess more wealth and pull than Milan does in their current financial climate. Milan continue to bring in Brazilians, but one has to figure the high profile transfers of players like Ganso, Neymar, Damaio, Lucas, Casemiro.. etc is going to be less of the rule and more the exception.

How will Milan go about building their new squad, with this absence of funds as well as the fact many other clubs are now shopping in their "bargain" shopping locations?  Galliani hates competition. He prefers to deal in the shadows, which is why you will see more false rumors than true rumors coming even from the inner-workings of Via Turati. His ideal target is one in which he is the only one negotiating. It keeps the price down. Now more than ever, expect him to deal in secrecy. But what sorts of players can or will he bring in? The answer to this depends on the sale of some larger players, with Thiago Silva, Robinho, Pato, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic immediately coming to mind (not coincidentally, the highest wage earners on the squad). If funds around €40m could come in then there might be a larger transformation. If no one is sold, there may only be small movements, with a focus on keeping the wage bill low. What is clear is that there are a lack of funds available, and unless Milan sell, they will spend frugally again, much like last summer.

Can they be competitive against a squad like Juventus who now have a new stadium (which provides a large portion of match day revenue -- a significant issue on the Milan budget) and have reinforced their squad with the likely additions of Paul Pogba, Kwadwo Asamoah, and Mauicio Isla? I believe they can be competitive on a domestic front, however there is something lacking from a European Cup bid. That being said, Champions League winners Chelsea were built similarly to last year's Milan squad, and they were able to overcome all challengers for the title, which allowed them massive monetary windfalls, to fund their transfers. Milan never made this sort of massive reinvestment in 2007, during their last CL success. Expecting  it this year seems unlikely. Frugality will be the policy going forward, but it most likely won't work in Europe. Then again, as mentioned by Galliani, the focus of the team is domestic, and it is likely that Allegri is only here to win the league. His strategy and tactics thus far also suggest this.

Final Verdict: Domestically not Continentally




Matteo Bonetti


Despite Milan being in debt because of financial woes (dear Berlu: build a private stadium = earn more! Simple economics), their business model in the transfer market has been based on a few noteworthy principles: Namely, finding quality players in the world's bargain bin, who for whatever reason (they are crazy) came with a 50% coupon wrapped around their heads from previous clubs. Rewind back to a few summers ago, when Galliani's coups included Kevin Prince Boateng, Robinho, and Ibrahimovic. Can we really complain so much about the higher-lings not throwing any bones to the fans? Granted, last years 'mercato' spawned a much less salivating name in the form of Alberto Aquilani that arrived to us free, a supposed playmaking maestro on the field, who in the end was about as offensive as a stale cabbage patch. 


However, the real issue on the mind of Milanisti is this summer. After throwing away the Scudetto in emphatic fashion, and totaling the year with the same number of cups that S.S. Poggibonsi put in their cabinet, Milan fans might have a reason to worry. Namely, their two major stars, Ibrahimovic & Silva, have been linked to <insert club owned by insanely rich Sheikh who has singlehandedly inflated the market> for the past month, with Ibrahimovic coming out in the media and saying:

Milan does not have the money to purchase more than a few players. I need to see the project they talked about being put back in action

We all knew signing Ibrahimovic came with a 2-3 expiration date, and the fact that he scored more than 4 times the amount of the NEXT striker on the hitlist is alarming. However, stay calm my friends.


Simply put: Berlusconi will never let the team succumb to the depths of anonymity. I don't know how he does it, and to be quite frank from the stories you hear from nuns who gave him lap dances, I really don't want to know many more details, but the fact of the matter is he finds a way. He has found a way to make Milan relevant for more than two decades. I am not an economist, and I could care less about his net worth/income. All I want is a competitive team, and judging from a plethora of interviews through the years, Silvio does as well. That, my friends, is what we share in common with a man who Ronaldinho described as, 'the ideal clubbing partner'.


Anyway, expect a surprising mercato. Montolivo and Bakaye Traore will not be the premier signings. If Silva is sold, Milan will purchase a formidable defender for 1/10th the price (Acerbi) who has room to grow and eventually be a fine Champions League player as well. Expect a Robinho swap to Santos, and in return receive a real trequartista, who is the most pivotal player in Allegri's highly predictable 4-3-1-2 formation. Expect Milan to keep the improving left back Didac Vila, who just finished a full season at Espanyol and has been drawing interest from the likes of Liverpool and Valencia. In the end, expect a team that will remain competitive in the Serie A, and quite honestly, if Chelsea was able to win the Champions League, Milan could as well. The major question mark will lie on the fragile muscles of Ale Pato, who just recently gave a remarkable performance for Brazil v. USA. If Alexandre Berlusconi is able to stay healthy, he could easily total 20-28 goals in the Serie A, and be the world class striker we all know he is capable of becoming.


Final Verdict: Competitive domestically, and with luck, in Europe as well

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