Meager Mercato

While some Serie A teams have enjoyed a feast of a mercato, Milan are experiencing yet another famine. After the €90m gifts that seemed like a feast to Milan fans last year failed to rescue a team in perpetual trauma, Berlusconi’s announcement that he would be selling the club fueled dreams of a mercato to end all mercati. But even selling the club in a timely manner was too much to ask for, with the late announcement preventing much of anything happening, it feels like once again, Milan fans are left starving with their empty hands out.

A visual metaphor for Milan's transfer market this summer

It’s no secret that I hate the mercato and that I mock the ritual ditching of reality that inevitably happens for you people each transfer window. I am also heartless when the mercato closes and you are all left with tears and broken dreams, because you all bring that on yourselves. But this summer’s pain was a little different. Caution made it less painful, at least for those who waited for something to actually happen with the sale of the club before getting their hopes up. Especially because when that finally did happen, it was immediately clear that nothing was actually happening in this transfer window. But it was still definitely painful for everyone.

Does Gomez provide any hope for our hopeless defense?

We all wanted this deal to happen. After years of suffering with Berlusconi, we had all questioned whether or not he should sell the club, and especially to whom. But after the past four years of douchebaggery, including a 10% loss on the club’s value over the past ten years, most fans were willing to take any chance. But that chance didn’t come in time to save this transfer window. And so we’re left starving again with a meager mercato.

Lapadula was Serie B's capo cannoniere last year, but can he score for us this year?

It’s too early to know if any of these players Milan signed will amount to anything close to our dreams, but one thing is for certain: none of them are the type of player or level of champion Milan fans wanted. We can only hope that in our time of need, they become the players we needed, even if that scenario is unlikely due to the turmoil impacting the club off the pitch, as well as our recent coaching merry-go-round. But before we doom their careers or our season, let’s look at who has come in and who has left: (updates in red)

Out:

Abbiati (retired)

Balotelli (loan ended)

Boateng (contract expired)

Mexes (contract expired)

Torres (contract expired)

El Sharaawy to Roma

Mastour loaned to PEC Zwolle (1 year)

Menez to Bordeaux

Matri to Sassuolo

José Mauri loaned to Empoli (1 year)
Jherson Vergara loaned to Russian club Arsenala Tula (1 year)
Diego Lopez loaned to Espanyol (1 year)

Vangioni is like the left back we never knew we needed

In:

Leonel Vangioni (LB)

Gianluca Lapadula (FW)

Gustavo Gomez (DF)

José Sosa (MF)

Mario Pasilic (MF - 1 yr. loan from Chelsea)
Matias Fernandez (MF - loan w/option to buy)

Sosa was the assist leader in Turkey, can the 31 year-old midfielder break the stigma we have for 31 year-old midfielders?

Return from Loan:

Paletta

Suso

Gabriel

Promoted from Primavera squad:
Alessandro Plizarri

Extensions:

Zapata (2019)

Vergara (2019)

Like a New Signing:

The Condor

Pasilic, the 21 year-old Croatian Boban fan, has been on loan in all 5 of the major European leagues, and says his back problems are behind him.

There is a chance that something else could happen in the less than 48 hours from this writing that the transfer window is still open, but I wouldn’t hold your breath. It’s not like we’re going to steal a world class CDM from someone at this point. Like kids who are starving, we go to bed hungry yet again. Just another painful day being a Milan fan. But I heard there is a truckload of money coming our way before January, and with any luck, we’ll have new management who are capable of assessing our needs, scouting, and buying wisely. Or maybe I’m just delirious from all of the hunger. It's hard not to think about food when you're hungry. But with any luck, this will be our last meager mercato for a while.

This post inspired by the music of Garbage