AC Milan Spending Big This Summer

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The summer transfer window is always an exciting place, especially for fans of the top clubs in European football.

The newspapers and football websites go into overdrive as they report all the latest rumours and potential big money moves. Many of the potential transfers reported never actually happen but one club which has not been shy to splash the cash this summer is AC Milan.

The Rossoneri are one of the biggest names in world football but have recently fallen on hard times.  Having won the Serie A title five times in the 1990’s, they have won Serie A just twice between 1999 and 2017.

From 2013 to 2017, AC Milan have finished 8th, 10th, 7th and 6th, which is a poor record for a club of their stature.  The 2017/18 season will signal the fourth season in a row AC Milan have not been involved in the Champions League.

There seemed little the club could do to arrest the slide but recent investment from new parent owners, Rossoneri Sport Investment Lux, has caught much of Serie A and Europe by surprise.  In any other league around Europe, a club who have had the recent record of AC Milan would struggle to attract top players.

However, AC Milan have been the busiest club by far when it has come to singing players this summer.  While many other clubs have been busy trying to secure the players they want, AC Milan have been completing transfers left, right and centre. The biggest of which has been the signature of Leonardo Bonucci from Juventus.

To take away the best defender from Serie A’s most dominant club is a huge sign of intent from AC Milan.  The £35 million transfer was completed very quickly and caught many people on the back foot.  The Italian has vowed to shift the balance in AC Milan’s favour next season and he will have several other new recruits to help him achieve that goal.

Forward Andre Silva has joined from Porto for £32 million, right-back Andrea Conti has signed for £21 million from Atalanta, attacking midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu has arrived for £18 million from Bayer Leverkusen and defensive midfielder Lucas Biglia has left Lazio at a price of £14 million.

The transfer activity does not stop there, Mateo Musacchio (£15 million), Ricardo Rodriguez (£15 million), Franck Kessie (£7 million loan) and Fabio Borini (loan) have all arrived at the San Siro for next season.

There is a good chance AC Milan’s spending will not end there and they have also managed to keep hold of talented young goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma, which seemed unlikely at the start of the summer.  Both Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Renato Sanches continue to be linked to the club.

The question is, will these additions be good enough to challenge at the top of Serie A next season?

There is a chance the starting XI on the opening day of the season will contain just two players who were at the club last season.  It is tough to find another scenario elsewhere at the top of European football where this has happened and it will take time for the team to settle.  In addition, the pressure will be massive for AC Milan to achieve something this season and that will make things even more difficult for Vincenzo Montella.

Juventus remain the favourites to win the 2017/18 Serie A title, while Napoli will be looking to take advantage of their defensive loss to claim their first Scudetto since 1989-90.  With so much hype surrounding Juventus and AC Milan this coming season, Napoli could be the team who benefit most.

Expectation levels are going to be high at the San Siro, especially with the reported 1,000% increase in season-ticket sales for the new campaign.  The Serie A title may be out of reach but a return to Champions League football is a must.  Nothing else will do.