AC Milan has had good times and bad times under Silvio Berlusconi. The Italian prime minister has brought trophies and success to the rossoneri, but he has also dragged Milan into times of little money and negative results. This current period can’t be described as a prosperous one for AC Milan, old players, a new coach, and little money to spend has hurt the red half of Milan results-wise, but now Berlusconi has announced his plans for the club.
The biggest announcement from Berlusconi was about Ronaldinho possibly leaving Milan to return to Brazil or go to LA Galaxy in the MLS, this is what the AC Milan president said about the Brazilian,
“Ronaldinho is the biggest player of all time, he is indisputably Milan’s and he will remain with us for life. We will renew his contract. He is absolutely the most decisive player I’ve ever seen, we need to find the best position where he can give his maximum.”
Berlusconi continues by saying patronizingly to Massimiliano Allegri and the cameras that AC Milan needs to use two forwards, and play attacking football. Berlusconi also says that so far AC Milan has done very well in the transfer market; Amelia has always been his favorite, Yepes is tough and good looking, and “Papa” or Papasthathopoulous cancelled out Messi in the World Cup.
Berlusconi also talked about how he has invested 1.1 billion Euros in his 25 years at the helm of the club, and then he went on to talk about Inter Milan and Massimo Moratti,
“I congratulate sincerely Moratti. After all the passion and money that he has put, he deserves the victories he conquered. He has invested 125% of the clubs profits to build a team. We (AC Milan) are choosing the route of youth, next year there are many players with expiring contracts and we’ll need to prepare well for the market.”
It’s these comments I find very interesting, AC Milan has some of the oldest players in the Serie A, and regarding the expiring contracts of older players, the rossoneri have just renewed Massimo Oddo’s contract until 2012… But regarding future incoming players, like maybe a Swede by the name of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Berlusconi has said that he doesn’t think that Ibra will fit well in AC Milan’s changing room, because of his character. So it is unlikely that Ibrahimovic will play for AC Milan while Berlusconi is the president.
But don’t worry, Silvio’s arrogance continues; he first says that Allegri is a maestro, but he (Berlusconi) is the professor, and then regarding last season he shared his thoughts on how he would’ve done as the coach,
“With me on the bench (as the coach) last season, AC Milan would’ve won the scudetto. I’ll confirm what I said in the past, anyway you already know: I consider myself number one in everything.”
That comment has to be considered the cherry on the top of the cake, a cake of miserly arrogance. While I doubt that this season will be a prosperous one for Berlusconi’s AC Milan, the Italian prime minister thinks otherwise. I’m not sure where this arrogance will take AC Milan, but I doubt it will bring any trophies.
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Honestly, I think Berlusconi is just posturing so that Milan receive higher bids for Ronaldinho. Interesting move, though, considering the LA Times reported that the Galaxy offered Milan $24 million (about 18.7 million Euros) for Ronaldinho’s services. Crazy for not accepting, in my opinion. Right there is Keisuke Honda and maybe Lazzarri, depending on Cagliari’s valuation of him (at the very least, part of his transfer fee).
Hi Padilla,
Ronaldinho had a good season and Berlusconi might prefer to keep him one more season to sell more tickets and avoid further criticism.
I am not sure if the LA Galaxy offered 24 million because the Rossoneri had good offers last year but did not sell the Brazilian. I recall Manchester City wanted to sign him.
Milan know if they lost Ronaldinho then they cannot afford to get another player with the same prestige and fame considering Ronaldinho has won many individual awards in addition to the titles won with Barcelona.
Only player Milan would deem as a great buy would be Ibrahimovic but they cannot afford to buy him and cannot afford his salary.
It might be a case of both Milan and Ronaldinho thinking their “marriage” is the best option since Ronaldinho is still better than Henry at this stage of his career and joining the MLS would be stepping down when compared with playing for the famous Rossoneri.
Rami,
You make a lot of good points, particularly about MLS being a step down from Serie A (obviously) and Ronaldinho being better than Henry at this point (also very true). However, I feel that with the World Cup behind us, Ronaldinho might be lacking motivation to play his best.
In America with the Galaxy, there wouldn’t be a great deal of pressure on him, since he wouldn’t be carrying the team there like he is at Milan (that is Donovan’s job). Also, stadiums would sell out simply because of his name, jersey sales would skyrocket (and thus his royalties would, too), and endorsement deals would be raining down on him.
I have no problem seeing him in a Rossoneri jersey this season; in fact, I embrace it. If it weren’t for Ronaldinho, we would’ve been hovering around the relegation zone last year, so he obviously is a difference-maker. Still, if we get offered a nice sum of money and have the chance to bring in another impact player like Honda or, unlikely as it may be, Dzeko, we would be in better shape financially, plus would inject much-needed youth into the team.
But, if Ronaldinho stays, I will still be happy, as it is a dream come true having him play for us.
Padilla,
I agree with you about Ronaldinho’s appeal in MLS and the certain increase in coverage and ticket sales.
Ronaldinho would ideally prefer to end up back home with Flamengo where he can party and live like he wants to but obviously the Brazilian club cannot afford him or are not able to sign him at this point.
Sometimes players use other clubs as a way to raise their value or perhaps get a stronger negotiating hand and Ronaldinho might be using his brother (also his agent) as a tool to get a decent contract extension.
I actually saw Ronaldinho play against DC United when Milan was in the US recently. He showed flashes of brilliance and the talent he has will not disappear but as you mention the main concern is how motivated he will be.
I think he might want to show what Brazil missed when he was left behind for the World Cup. Thus, the main issue will be whether he will be focused and fit enough to make a difference for Milan. If he spends considerable time partying and puts on weight then he will likely face a backlash.
Ideally, I think he will try to prove he was sorely missed by Brazil and I can see him having a good season provided he remains focused. Last season he was linked with Man. City more than once but he didn’t push for such a deal because he wanted to prove himself with Milan and because he genuinely felt the Rossoneri have better chances of winning silverware than City (that was last season, I am sure now things are different with the way City are spending on players).
I am hoping for the sake of Serie A that both Milan and Juventus can compete but I have my doubts. Inter remain the most complete team in Italy despite J. Mourinho’s departure.
Feel free to reach me on Twitter @RamiSoufi for further discussion.
Hi Padilla,
Going back to an important point which you mentioned: Ronaldinho’s appeal. That by itself is a strong tool which Berlusconi can use to try and keep the supporters (who are already frustrated) from becoming even more upset.
Against DC United, Ronaldinho was clearly the player the majority wanted to see and he received most of the attention from the fans in attendance.
I wrote this piece a while back but if you check the poll, you will see the majority wanted Ronaldinho in the World Cup. He got around 300 more votes than Brazilian Ronaldo and about 400 more than Del Piero:
http://www.worldcupbuzz.com/the-best-players-to-miss-on-south-africa-2010/