Exactly one year ago, on July 3, 2023, the official AC Milan website published the following statement: “AC Milan announces that it has definitively sold the rights to the sports performances of the footballer Sandro Tonali to Newcastle United FC. The Club thanks the midfielder for the three splendid years spent together and wishes him the best personal and professional satisfaction”. It was a very special moment for all AC Milan fans, deeply touched by the farewell of the number 8 after the dismissal of Paolo Maldini the previous month and the departure of the historic president Silvio Berlusconi shortly before.
The concern
Everyone was lost, worried, scared, maybe even a little angry. Everyone was certainly worried. The Rossoneri management responded to these problems with facts. Tonali’s money was all reinvested and it was done well (Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Reijnders, Musah, Chukwueze and Okafor above all) and Milan rebuilt itself, despite experiencing another substantially negative year in terms of results. However, Milan started again. From the anger over Maldini’s farewell to the concern over Tonali’s sale to the enthusiasm for the resounding transfer market that followed, in line with the dreams and expectations of the fans.
This year’s market
The reality of the facts, as things stand now, is that Milan will not repeat last season’s strategy. Ibrahimovic, Moncada and Furlani, in fact, have no intention of selling the top players in the squad (Leao, Theo and Maignan above all), even if it is obvious and legitimate to suppose that, in the event of an unmissable offer (respectively 150, 100 and 80 million) they would sit down to talk about it. At the moment, therefore, we cannot imagine a market of fireworks like the one after the sale of Tonali, but – as Furlani and Ibrahimovic have declared – a market of details, that is, that fixes the squad in its missing points: a starting central striker and a reserve up to the task, a midfielder with defensive characteristics, a starting right back and a new central defender.