No lie, I woke up at 5am yesterday morning (not of my own
choosing,) and decided to look at the news, knowing Gomez was taking his
medicals today. But what I saw was the preliminary agreement for the sale of
the club had finally been signed, and it was a very pleasant surprise
(especially at that hour.) Like everything else, I tend to take these things
with a grain of salt. And reading through the agreement, I had a lot of
questions. But I also couldn’t help believe that it was finally going to
happen. And even if some of it is much later than many of us wanted, the whole
day yesterday was a day of cautious elation.
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| Past and future? |
Okay, let’s get straight into my concerns about the sale.
Firstly, this Sino-Europe Investment Management Changxing is a splinter group from the original group. Splinters are
usually not good. There could be backlash, legal backlash, even, particularly
given that the original mediator, etc. did not seem to be involved in this
deal. Then there are the numbers. The end numbers all look good: €740m for the
club, €220m for the debts, and €350m invested over the next three years. Now
I’m no expert on these things, but did you read the part about the deposit?
They are requiring a €100m deposit. That’s about 10% of the deal. Yet only €15m (or 1.5% of the purchase price)
was due at signing, with the other €85m due within 35 days. Not even 2% down?
Who gets to do that? That scares the hell out of me, because it sounds a lot
like they don’t have the money. Meaning all of this celebration could end up
being in vain. Hoping my Spidey senses are tingling about something else.
Second, who will be the CEO(s??) Will Berlusconi stay on?
Will Galliani stay on? If so, in what capacities? La Gazzetta dello Sport is
claiming that former Inter director Marco Fassone will be in charge after the
deal closes. But how many times did they claim that Robin Li was the head of
the consortium? Or others? This is all so new, I am not sure if anyone knows
anything yet, even the most reliable sources are trying to make up for getting
it wrong (Fosun Group) as recently as this morning, even causing Fininvest to
make an official statement denying those negotiations ahead of announcing the
sale. So those are some very big questions yet to be answered before the sale
closes by the end of this year.
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| Maybe the new Han will be able to purchase what our Chewie needs: a creative midfielder |
Then there is the mercato. People posting starting elevens
already with crazy names of players that may even be out of reach once we see
the investments. But the thing is, if you read the agreement, the first €100m
of investment money is not due until closing. They literally can’t even post
the €100m deposit up front. So it doesn’t seem like they’ll be chipping in at
all to this mercato. That means anything that happens in this transfer window is
on Fininvest, Berlusconi, and Galliani. The first two have said they will not
be investing (although we can hope they change their tune now that there is
actually an agreement.) The third is generally impotent in the transfer market
anymore, especially when it comes to getting rid of his horrible deals like
Matri, or even loaning those players out successfully. But at this point, we
desperately need to sell some players. Bacca and De Sciglio have been in demand
and would likely bring in decent sums if we were able to turn around and
re-invest in the midfield, for example. But having done the U.S. tour without
either of them and seeing the team without those two players, Montella has
suddenly become very fond of both of them. So basically, I’m saying our mercato
prospects are still quite slim, and we should be grateful to have signed
Vangioni, Lapadula, and Gomez (all of whom have yet to be seen for Milan.)
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| Guy just looks tough. Hoping he's the center back of our dreams. |
Speaking of Gustavo Gomez, I’m mildly excited about him. If he’s as
good as he looks on paper, he might just be the center back we’ve been needing
so desperately. The 23 year-old Paraguayan has been playing in the Argentine
league, so whether or not he will do well in Italy remains to be seen. At
Lanus, he was the defender with the most passes attempted in the league last
year (according to @OptaPaolo.) And certainly they had an amazing defensive
record with him on the pitch, too. Plus, reports say he will wear the number 15
to honor an ex-Lanus teammate who died in a car accident last year. How can you
not love that heart? As the first Paraguayan to wear the Milan shirt, he’ll
have something to prove. And if he’s as tough as he looks, combined with
Romagnoli, we will have a thug center back pairing that may give opposition
players more than just nightmares.
But the one thing we can all agree to be elated about is
Inter’s demise. They have not won a single friendly this summer under the
amazing Roberto Mancini. With all of their expensive and talented players, not
even one friendly against a lower division side. So it filled me with a particularly
joyful schadenfreude yesterday when they lost to Tottenham 6-1. Losing is
really the only thing they do spectacularly, and that was a spectacular loss.
Even with a new coach and a midfield featuring Montolivo and Poli, Milan beat
Bordeaux and then beat Bayern on penalties. So if all else fails, the deal
somehow goes south, and Gomez can’t handle Serie A, we always know that our
filthy, sleazy, rotten, depraved, cheating city rivals will give us something
to smile about.
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| My daughter's artwork perfectly captures the Milan schadenfreude |
For now, hope is strong with us. And not just because one of
the buyers is called Han, which is just a great name. No, we have hope because
Berlusconi apparently actually signed something after so much talk. We have
hope because that preliminary agreement is legally binding internationally. So
if there are any problems, they will at least be penalized for breaking any
part of the deal. And even if we may not get much more from this mercato, if we
can weather the first half of the season, then we can look forward to a lot of
cash to be splashed in January. I’m not going to make any rash predictions
because there is so much in the air, but I do feel like within a year or two it
may not be considered child abuse to show my kids the Milan games. That maybe
with some luck down the road, their kids won’t even know about this past four
years of hell Milan fans have endured. Maybe things will change for the better,
maybe even long term. Or maybe not. But at least I have a sense of cautious
elation. Oh, and Inter for entertainment.
This post inspired by the music of
Panic at the Disco’s “Victorious”
Our next match will be a friendly
Freiburg vs. Milan
Sunday, August 14th 16:30 CEST (10:30am EDT)
at Schwarzwald-Stadion, Freiburg, Germany