Are the good times finally returning to San Siro?
Ever since Rossonerri Sport Investment Lux led by Yonghong Li, bought a 99.9 percent share in AC Milan last April, they have been pumping money into the club in the hopes of returning them to Europe’s elite.
Last champions of Italy in 2011, the Rossonerri have had to stand by and watch as Juventus have won the last six league titles.
They bought the club for €740 million and have spent big in the current transfer market. Backed by Li, Milan have dominated this summer’s market spending over €200m, signing nine players. And although some of their signings have been severely questionable, they have managed to bring in some genuine quality.
Speaking of questionable... Whose bright idea was it to sign Fabio Borini, I do not know. A man who scored just seven goals in three seasons, and was recently part of the Sunderland team who were relegated from the Premier League is now playing for a club that has won the Champions League seven times. Madness.
He certainly will not inspire confidence in the Milan faithful despite recently claiming at a press conference that "not many will work as hard as me". You have to appreciate the man’s effort if nothing else.
However they have made some very strong signings this summer. Most notably, of course, is the acquisition of Leanardo Bonucci, from Juventus. The six-time Serie A winner is an immensely experienced defender who has developed into one of the best centre-halves in world football. Unusually he’s been made captain before playing a single game for the club but nonetheless his signing is a real statement of intent from the Red and Blacks.
Other signings of note include Andre Silva, the 21-year-old striker from Porto who scored 16 goals and got five assists in 32 games last year for Porto, Ricardo Rodriguez from Wolfsburg, (who is regarded by many as one of the best left backs in the game) and the experienced Lucas Biglia from Lazio who despite his age of 31, has established himself as one of the most reliable central midfielders in the league and is known for his excellent passing and reading of the game.
They have also managed to convince teenage goalkeeping sensation Gianluigi Donnaruma to extend his contract at the club despite big interest from several clubs in England, as well as Real Madrid.
It’s been a productive summer for Milan but are they now genuine title contenders? Is the current squad ready to challenge Juventus for Serie A?
Probably not. They will obviously be stronger than last year but it’s too early to think that they will be able to compete for the entireity of a season with Juve or Napoli. They will most likely finish in the Champions League spots in third, maybe fourth, but a title is at least three or four years away yet.
As many other teams backed by big foreign investment know, it takes more than a sack of money and a couple of big name signings to win a title. They will need plenty of other things like a winning mentality and team charisma, which develop over time.
Former Milan stalwart Demetrio Albertini said, ‘’if the amount of money invested were the only measure that counted, Paris Saint-Germain should have won at least a couple Champions League titles by now."
