January 13, 2008

AC Milan's £100m facelift

There are reports Milan will use £100m from a sponsorship deal with Adidas to revamp the squad with Ronaldinho, Sebastien Frey, Gianluca Zambrotta and Amauri.The Rossoneri need to rejuvenate their side as several players are nearing retirement age, most notably Paolo Maldini and Marcos Cafu.The ‘Corriere dello Sport’ claims this weekend that there will be huge changes over the summer, ending a period of relatively careful spending by the holders of the European and World club titles.The funding will come from a contract with Adidas and whole new marketing strategy that would bring in up to £100m to be poured back into the transfer kitty.The first target is Ronaldinho, whose position at Barcelona is increasingly untenable after disagreements with the club, teammates and coaching staff.The Brazilian would cost around £40m and encourage more stars to join the San Siro giants, including his Barca colleague Zambrotta at £7m.World Cup winning full-back Zambrotta had already been heavily linked with the Rossoneri for the past two seasons.A new goalkeeper is needed to replace the under-fire Nelson Dida and the prime candidate is Fiorentina’s Frenchman Frey.Parma midfielder Andrea Dossena and French international Willy Sagnol could arrive for a combined £6m and a bid for Catania defender Vargas – who is thought to be closer to Roma – is on the cards.Midfielders are in short supply as Yoann Gourcuff and Emerson have so far failed to make an impact.Lyon’s Swede Kim Kallstrom is available for £7m and Dynamo Zagreb talent Modric is another alternative for the same price.In attack Milan are in the race with Juventus, Inter and Roma for Palermo starlet Amauri.

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