The waiting game [Newsletter]

The mercato, although not officially open yet, is in full swing and AC Milan are working on several fronts to reinforce the squad. With the sacking of Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara, the fans were always going to have a lack of patience for the new management but the reality is that we have to wait.

Gerry Cardinale and his team knew about the decision before anyone else, which most likely also means they started planning for the mercato before it was announced. Even with this in mind, though, it was never going to take just two weeks for them to complete the first signing of the summer.

They will come relatively close with the imminent signing of Daichi Kamada, expected to be announced before the end of the month, and a positive response from Marcus Thuram would also brighten the situation. In times like these, we must remind ourselves that the summer is long and that it’s more important to get the signings right - rather than making them quickly.

At the very least Geoffrey Moncada, Stefano Pioli and Giorgio Furlani have had since the start of June to plan for the mercato. We can all remember the chaos that surrounded Milan last summer due to the renewal negotiations for Maldini and Massara, which absolutely was the fault of Cardinale.

The American clearly learned from his mistake in that sense, even if the sacking of Maldini - as stated for the umpteenth time - wasn’t handled properly. In any case, the fans should and need to scrutinise the work of the Rossoneri management, but must also realise that a well-executed summer mercato cannot be completed in just a few weeks.

We must also keep a close eye on the outgoing mercato. Many players are expected to leave Milan this summer, such as Junior Messias and Ante Rebic. They are the so-called outcasts, but let’s also keep an eye on the stars of the team and the hefty offers that could arrive this summer. No one is unsellable, but high offers will indeed be needed to even open a discussion with Milan.

In the meantime, it’s worth mentioning the fantastic performances of Malick Thiaw with the German national team. He made his debut against Poland on Friday evening and made several brilliant interceptions (see highlights here) and he followed that up with another great display against Colombia, especially one amazing recovery.

News bulletin

➤ A couple of weeks have gone by since the exit of Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara, with the anger and emotions that came with it beginning to settle. We wrote a feature reflecting on the work they did, their sacking and what the future holds.

➤ Newcastle United have made an offer of €50-60m to sign midfielder Sandro Tonali from AC Milan, as per reports from reliable sources such as The Athletic and MilanNews. The player is reflecting after being offered double his current wages. Our own Luca Maninetti reports that Tonali wants to stay at Milan, though, and Calciomercato.com add that Milan want at least €80m to sell him.

➤ Milan have a strong and serious interest in signing Arda Güler from Fenerbahce this summer for a number of reasons. He is Turkey's latest sensation, and he would fix a couple of big gaps in the squad.

➤ The management are happy with the work that Ignazio Abate is doing as the head coach of the Primavera and will reportedly offer him a renewal.

➤ Milan are doing all they can to convince Marcus Thuram to join on a free transfer and what filters at the moment is confidence, according to Di Marzio's latest update.

➤ With Milan and Toulouse both in European competitions next season, some changes were needed to avoid clashes and Gerry Cardinale has resigned from the board of the Ligue 1 side.

In case you missed it

Make sure to check out the latest podcast episode, and our latest bonus podcast will be up on Thursday! You can also read our latest bonus article, which discusses the PR war between Milan and Maldini.