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Forum SupporterEveryone is doing their short review on our transfer market this summer. So I thought let me try and share mine and start up (good) debates.
First things first, lets start with the Finances of this summer and how our wages + transfer fees look like as of 1 Sep. Some of you might not agree with the fees+wages, but lets debate that later too.
After these comments on all our major transfers I want you to answer a few questions
In's
Guarin- Awesome signing, to be put simply. He is what we need and at the rate that he's playing these days, he will become an absolute monster in midfield. Something like what Yaya Toure is for Man City. And we got him on a discount too. Brilliant and major improvement to our midfield.
Palacio- I wasnt convinced by him and the fact that we spent 10m on him made me hate him even more. But he has slotted into the team like he has always been here. He brings tonnes of experience and the best part is can play in any of the 3 positions in attack. Again, a superb signing. His age is the only reason why this isnt a master stroke by Branca. If we can get 2-3 decent seasons out of him, it will prove to be a good bargain as hopefully one of Longo, Livaja might step up. Buffers our attack, giving us a good fall-back option.
Handanovic- I dont think he is inferior to JC of last season, if anything he is a little better technically at the moment. Theoretically we got him on a co-ownership but I think its just an accounting gimmick and we will pay up the balance amount next summer. We all love JC but this deal at half the wages makes complete financial sense. Again, probably among the top 2-3 keepers in Serie A and we got him. Lets hope he brings the calm that JC used to bring.
Silvestre- With Samuel looking weak in the start of the season, Chivu being Chivu and having an untested Juan and Rannochia, this CB signing is the most needed of the summer in all honesty. The financial deal to bring him here again is very good considering Bbilan were in for him too, but he has yet to show quality. He has been decent soo far whenever he played, but still not what we need in this position, but he's a good option to have as backup for Rannochia. Whether he can step it up to a starter level is yet to be found out. To me he is the least convincing signing we have made this summer, but with defenders, this is always the case till they play a few games.
Mundingayi- Enforcer and brute strength in midfield. Cheap signing and will be backup. He will not be first choice and has the ability to win balls and play it off to the wing backs or Guarin and help us build up play. Again not the best signing, but as a backup a steal at 1.5m that too if we want to keep him. We paid more for Zarate's loan didnt we? A good backup for Gargano.
Cassano- Despite his age, he is probably the best addition to our attack. He has the ability to hold up the ball, build plays, make the passes that matter in the final third and basically drive our team. More importantly, a reference point in attack other than Wesley and I'm sure their rapport will make both of them play better. There are signs of great movement in 2 official games already by his team-mates. We got him for free in real terms as there were not many teams that we could move Pazzo to(various reasons). Has a high wage than what most would like, but I'm confident that he will be good for the 2 years of his contract. Can turn out to be the deal of the summer and if we win something, he will have a major say. Lets not forget he wants to play for us for a long time.
Gargano- Work rate, speed, positioning. He will be the wall in midfield, so to speak. He will be first choice and we must thank Mazzari for messing up with him to let us have him for a steal. Can truly raise the level of our midfield and has played in a similar style of play at Napoli. Different formation but same style. He is probably our quickest midfielder and again has tremendous ball winning ability. Most under-rated. Superb signing and will compete with Fantonio to be the best signing of the summer for sure.
Pereira- I have never ever watched him play. From what little I have read he is very Roberto Carlos like and that would mean he isnt much of a defender. The LB curse cure, maybe or maybe not, this one, time will tell. But the signs are good considering how much we wanted him and the effort put in by our transfer team to get him. Hopefully adds a dimension to Inter that we have lacked for as far as I can remember. He is probably the priciest LB we have got in the last few years.
OUTS
Pandev- Good move and good profit. Both parties needed that move and our good relations with Napoli will help everyone in this deal. When you add up the numbers, he is our biggest sale this summer.
Lucio- Good defender, but had become more prone to mistakes. All in all, he made our wage bill lighter. When he left, I felt bad as we didnt really have a quality big-name defender anymore. But with his recent statements, and the fact that Froggy feels the faith and it shows in his performance, this deal doesnt make me sad anymore.
Forlan- Good riddance.
Kucka- We made a 1m reported loss on him, but we got Genoa to buy him back at 7m. That in itself is a good deal. Plus we got them to give us the other half of Longo too.
Faraoni- Good player at best from what we have seen, but he was a necessary sacrifice to get our new GK.
Castaignos- Didnt want to go on loan to gain experience and from what I've seen at Twente, we did well to sell him. He might turn out to be the new Henry, but it was nearly impossible for both parties to be satisfied as things stood.
Viviano- Got him by mistake and let him go as he was not in our plans. 3m is too less for half of him, but his injury would have made him worth less than that.
Pazzini- Like the Pandev deal, all 4 parties in this deal can benefit. Milan needed a striker, we needed Cassano and we got money, to me its easily the best deal of the summer all things considered. He is a player I very much liked, but Strama needs to be given the tools he wants.
Julio Cesar- Sad to see him go, but it was the need of the hour. He didnt want a wage cut and we didnt want his big contract. His situation could and should have been handled better, but atleast we havent burnt the bridges.
Maicon- Again, sad to see him go, but he isnt the player he once was and had lost the motivation. I dont think 4m is fair value but lets pray Man City pay us all the bonuses
. His wage was again a huge bonus saved financially.
Poli- I wanted to see him permanently, but I think we have better 'right-now' option in Gargano. We went for experience in about the same price and got a backup too. Might turn out to be our biggest miss, I think we tried hard enough but were not even close to an agreement with Sampdoria.
Zarate- Not worth the price. He was beggining to show some promise, but again Cassano, Palacio are waaaaay better.
Palombo- Money saved.
Now here is what I want to know, if this goes well, I have a 2nd batch of questions ready:
Who would you have not sold from the out list? Why?
Who would you have not bought from the incoming players? Why?
What are still our weak positions?
Are our options enough to have a plan B or plan C formation? a 4-3-1-2 or a 4-2-3-1?
First choice at Left sided central defender?
Gargano or Cuchu as DM?
Thanks!
First things first, lets start with the Finances of this summer and how our wages + transfer fees look like as of 1 Sep. Some of you might not agree with the fees+wages, but lets debate that later too.
After these comments on all our major transfers I want you to answer a few questions
In's
Guarin- Awesome signing, to be put simply. He is what we need and at the rate that he's playing these days, he will become an absolute monster in midfield. Something like what Yaya Toure is for Man City. And we got him on a discount too. Brilliant and major improvement to our midfield.
Palacio- I wasnt convinced by him and the fact that we spent 10m on him made me hate him even more. But he has slotted into the team like he has always been here. He brings tonnes of experience and the best part is can play in any of the 3 positions in attack. Again, a superb signing. His age is the only reason why this isnt a master stroke by Branca. If we can get 2-3 decent seasons out of him, it will prove to be a good bargain as hopefully one of Longo, Livaja might step up. Buffers our attack, giving us a good fall-back option.
Handanovic- I dont think he is inferior to JC of last season, if anything he is a little better technically at the moment. Theoretically we got him on a co-ownership but I think its just an accounting gimmick and we will pay up the balance amount next summer. We all love JC but this deal at half the wages makes complete financial sense. Again, probably among the top 2-3 keepers in Serie A and we got him. Lets hope he brings the calm that JC used to bring.
Silvestre- With Samuel looking weak in the start of the season, Chivu being Chivu and having an untested Juan and Rannochia, this CB signing is the most needed of the summer in all honesty. The financial deal to bring him here again is very good considering Bbilan were in for him too, but he has yet to show quality. He has been decent soo far whenever he played, but still not what we need in this position, but he's a good option to have as backup for Rannochia. Whether he can step it up to a starter level is yet to be found out. To me he is the least convincing signing we have made this summer, but with defenders, this is always the case till they play a few games.
Mundingayi- Enforcer and brute strength in midfield. Cheap signing and will be backup. He will not be first choice and has the ability to win balls and play it off to the wing backs or Guarin and help us build up play. Again not the best signing, but as a backup a steal at 1.5m that too if we want to keep him. We paid more for Zarate's loan didnt we? A good backup for Gargano.
Cassano- Despite his age, he is probably the best addition to our attack. He has the ability to hold up the ball, build plays, make the passes that matter in the final third and basically drive our team. More importantly, a reference point in attack other than Wesley and I'm sure their rapport will make both of them play better. There are signs of great movement in 2 official games already by his team-mates. We got him for free in real terms as there were not many teams that we could move Pazzo to(various reasons). Has a high wage than what most would like, but I'm confident that he will be good for the 2 years of his contract. Can turn out to be the deal of the summer and if we win something, he will have a major say. Lets not forget he wants to play for us for a long time.
Gargano- Work rate, speed, positioning. He will be the wall in midfield, so to speak. He will be first choice and we must thank Mazzari for messing up with him to let us have him for a steal. Can truly raise the level of our midfield and has played in a similar style of play at Napoli. Different formation but same style. He is probably our quickest midfielder and again has tremendous ball winning ability. Most under-rated. Superb signing and will compete with Fantonio to be the best signing of the summer for sure.
Pereira- I have never ever watched him play. From what little I have read he is very Roberto Carlos like and that would mean he isnt much of a defender. The LB curse cure, maybe or maybe not, this one, time will tell. But the signs are good considering how much we wanted him and the effort put in by our transfer team to get him. Hopefully adds a dimension to Inter that we have lacked for as far as I can remember. He is probably the priciest LB we have got in the last few years.
OUTS
Pandev- Good move and good profit. Both parties needed that move and our good relations with Napoli will help everyone in this deal. When you add up the numbers, he is our biggest sale this summer.
Lucio- Good defender, but had become more prone to mistakes. All in all, he made our wage bill lighter. When he left, I felt bad as we didnt really have a quality big-name defender anymore. But with his recent statements, and the fact that Froggy feels the faith and it shows in his performance, this deal doesnt make me sad anymore.
Forlan- Good riddance.
Kucka- We made a 1m reported loss on him, but we got Genoa to buy him back at 7m. That in itself is a good deal. Plus we got them to give us the other half of Longo too.
Faraoni- Good player at best from what we have seen, but he was a necessary sacrifice to get our new GK.
Castaignos- Didnt want to go on loan to gain experience and from what I've seen at Twente, we did well to sell him. He might turn out to be the new Henry, but it was nearly impossible for both parties to be satisfied as things stood.
Viviano- Got him by mistake and let him go as he was not in our plans. 3m is too less for half of him, but his injury would have made him worth less than that.
Pazzini- Like the Pandev deal, all 4 parties in this deal can benefit. Milan needed a striker, we needed Cassano and we got money, to me its easily the best deal of the summer all things considered. He is a player I very much liked, but Strama needs to be given the tools he wants.
Julio Cesar- Sad to see him go, but it was the need of the hour. He didnt want a wage cut and we didnt want his big contract. His situation could and should have been handled better, but atleast we havent burnt the bridges.
Maicon- Again, sad to see him go, but he isnt the player he once was and had lost the motivation. I dont think 4m is fair value but lets pray Man City pay us all the bonuses
. His wage was again a huge bonus saved financially.Poli- I wanted to see him permanently, but I think we have better 'right-now' option in Gargano. We went for experience in about the same price and got a backup too. Might turn out to be our biggest miss, I think we tried hard enough but were not even close to an agreement with Sampdoria.
Zarate- Not worth the price. He was beggining to show some promise, but again Cassano, Palacio are waaaaay better.
Palombo- Money saved.
Now here is what I want to know, if this goes well, I have a 2nd batch of questions ready:
Who would you have not sold from the out list? Why?
Who would you have not bought from the incoming players? Why?
What are still our weak positions?
Are our options enough to have a plan B or plan C formation? a 4-3-1-2 or a 4-2-3-1?
First choice at Left sided central defender?
Gargano or Cuchu as DM?
Thanks!
