This January transfer window could be the start of a new AC Milan change. Starting with bringing in a former player and their top scorer, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who returned after 8 years.This unique transfer move produced positive results for Milan. In the 2 games that Ibra has played, Milan won 1 win and 1 draw.
In his debut match against Sampdoria, Ibra entered in the second round but unfortunately the goal awaited from him has not yet appeared. Only in his second match of the season when away to Cagliari, Ibra successfully contributed one goal in Milan’s 2-0 victory.
The success of Ibra’s transfer seems to inspire Milan’s management. After experiencing a financial crisis with Berlusconi, Milan like trying to invest in young players. This is actually quite inversely proportional to the Galliani transfer style that is looking for experienced players with the lowest possible cost.
Could be, the way Galliani in the past that is trying to emulate the current management of Milan under the control of Boban and Maldini. Because as far as the January transfer window opened, Milan have brought 3 players and all three are old. Even though they are already old, all three are surely full of experience.
Ibrahimovic, Simon Kjaer, and Asmir Begovic officially pressed the contract with AC Milan in the transfer market this January, and the three got a minimal fee. Milan get Ibra services free of charge after his contract runs out with LA Galaxy, while Kjaer and Begovic contracted Milan through loan lines from Sevilla and Bournemouth.
Simon Kjaer was actually a target of Milan in the past, but at that time the selling price was still high and when he was 30 years old Milan successfully brought it for free. In his contract, Kjaer loaned Milan until the end of the season with an option to buy only 2.5 million euros. Kjaer who plays this defender will replace Mattia Caldara who loaned Milan to his old club, Atalanta.
In this transfer market, Milan also loaned Pepe Reina to Aston Villa. That’s what made Milan borrow Begovic from Bournemouth. One thing that can be remembered from the 32-year-old goalkeeper was his goal against Southampton from a distance of 97.5 yards when he was in the Stoke City uniform.
So far, what Milan has done in the transfer market has yielded positive results. Of the 3 matches that have been played in 2020, Milan successfully won 2 wins and 1 draw without conceding a goal. From these 3 matches, Milan also successfully scored a total of 5 goals. The latest results in the Coppa Italia match, Milan managed to win convincingly from SPAL in the last 16 with a landslide score of 3-0. In the home match, Milan’s goals were scored by Piatek, Castillejo and Theo Hernandez. Especially for Piatek, in that match he managed to record 1 goal and 1 assist.
The SPAL match was also a debut match for Milan’s new recruit, Simon Kjaer. The 30-year-old defender played 82 minutes and the result is the Milan defense performed neatly by finishing the game without conceding. The addition of experienced ammunition in the Milan squad clearly had a positive impact on Internazionale’s rivals.
AC Milan was previously better known as a team that relies on old players in its squad. In the 2010-2011 season, Milan brought Van Bommel and Mario Yepes who both have more than 30 years old. In addition, Robinho who is full of experience in Europe and Milan also brought with Ibra.
Starting eleven Milan also contains many mature players such as Zambrotta, Abbiati, Nesta, to Seedorf. The result, Milan won the scudetto at the end of the season. The last UCL title in 2007 was also thanks to the experienced players in the Milan squad at the time. Milan still rely on Paolo Maldini, Cafu, until Dida in defense.
In the transfer market, Milan also still bring in other aging players such as Favalli (34 years) and Oddo (30 years). The result of course, Milan successfully avenged a painful defeat in the 2005 UCL final over Liverpool. Looks like the old Galliani typical way that Milan management wants to emulate today. The most visible, Milan management tried to sell players who brought in expensive in the period of ownership of Milan under Yonghong Li.
At that time, Milan, owned by an unknown businessman from China, was recruiting a total of 11 new players whose transfer fees reached nearly 200 million euros. The result? Milan actually without a title and back into the financial crisis the second volume. Until January 16, 2020, 5 players from Yonghong Li’s recruitment had been sold by other clubs to management. Bonucci, Kalinic and Borini were sold to other clubs and Andre Silva and Ricardo Rodriguez were loaned out to other clubs. Meanwhile, the other six players are included in the sell list. Changes made by Milan are not only about the transfer steps, but also the formation and strategy of the game. Pioli who previously relied on a 4-3-3 formation changed it to 4-4-2.
Milan returned to their old formations by relying on 2 strikers. So far, this formation has been quite successful with positive results. Duo Ibra-Leao successfully frustrate Cagliari and duo Piatek-Rebic successfully defeated SPAL. The next four Milan matches are fairly easy against Udinese, Brescia and Hellas Verona in Seria A and Torino in the Coppa before facing Internazionale at the Derby Della Madonnina. Pioli’s men must maximize those matches to gain as many points as possible before facing Inter.
It is worth waiting for the latest step of Milan’s coach and management in 2020. According to rumors, ownership of Milan will also change hands again. One of the richest people in the world, Bernard Arnault is rumored to be buying Milan ownership from Elliot Management. What will Milan be like this year? Is Milan still going to try the Galliani way in the transfer market? Whatever the rise of Milan is worth waiting for world football lovers.
