[van]

Crazy that we have not renewed Donnarumma yet. Fucking Raiola is a pain in the ass, but for my life I won't be convinced that there were no better ways to deal with this situation from the club's perspective. The more we fall from grace the harder it will get to renew him.

 

[Mushfiq]

Donna & Hakan renewals are a big lesson for the management too.

 

[Inas_]

It's like what I said - no matter how management may want to spin this tale, and no matter how it ends (positive or negative), they just have to admit they f**ked up big time! You can't just allow the contracts of two of your most important players to run down, especially when you are dealing with a devil like Raiola. Now they have you exactly where they want you. Let me echo can - you can't tell me there is no better way to handle this.

 

[Mushfiq]

I assume Hakan might have supassed Suso by now in terms of assist.

 

[humanTORCH]

It's like what I said - no matter how management may want to spin this tale, and no matter how it ends (positive or negative), they just have to admit they f**ked up big time! You can't just allow the contracts of two of your most important players to run down, especially when you are dealing with a devil like Raiola. Now they have you exactly where they want you. Let me echo can - you can't tell me there is no better way to handle this.

You can't let Donna earn 7+m (how old is he again?) and expect the rest not more than 4m.
Either you cash in on Donna OR forget about setting limit on the salaries of the rest.

How to run a business 101 😉
Remember how I mentioned about Suso case... 😎
Its a team sport, by the way...

 

[jani]

Exactly so pay everyone what they deserve, has to be the market rate. Tired of us getting relative unknowns on the cheap hoping to uncover a gem in the rough.

Renewing Donna is also cheaper than replacing him.

 

[Inas_]

You can't let Donna earn 7+m (how old is he again?) and expect the rest not more than 4m.
Either you cash in on Donna OR forget about setting limit on the salaries of the rest.

How to run a business 101
Remember how I mentioned about Suso case...
Its a team sport, by the way...

Exactly why you shouldn't have left the contract to run down. Renew or cash in. The world does not revolve around Donnarumma. Now they have you staring down the barrel - give them what they want or they leave for free. The best you can hope for is a compromise contract terms.

Nah, this is a fk up. Too naive of the management.

 

[van]

You can't let Donna earn 7+m (how old is he again?) and expect the rest not more than 4m.
Either you cash in on Donna OR forget about setting limit on the salaries of the rest.

How to run a business 101 😉
Remember how I mentioned about Suso case... 😎
Its a team sport, by the way...

If you really believe a club losing its star player for free when he is about to enter his prime is an example of "how to run a business," then I have a bridge to sell you.

What is most unbelievable is that we had the same discussion four years ago, and all the horrible things fans said would happen if we paid then 18-year-old Donnarumma "too much" did not happen at all. Despite fans treating him like shit, he has grown into a top goalkeeper, club vice-captain, starter for Italy, etc. The guy is considered one of the young players with the highest market value in the world and you still think renewing for a few extra million instead of letting him go for free will somehow ruin the club financially?

And what does Suso have to with anything?

The club should have renewed Donnarumma's contract ages ago. Every cent spent on squad players that don't have any meaningful impact that a primavera player could not have, like Krunic or Meité, makes less sense than spending a couple extra million per year retaining him.

If the club don't think it's worth paying a very high salary to top a young goalkeeper, that's another discussion, and they can always sell him, but losing him for free would be about the stupidest fuckup in a very long time.

 

[frankf31]

Guess what happens to Raiola's demands if we qualify for CL and he knows that we have a big pot of money for him to dip into. 🙂

 

[zoo]

Just give him 10m now and get over with it. Put that 50m clause as well. That way you can at least get 50m in the summer if you want, this way you get nothing (maybe few milions as a home grown...).

 

[aim]

1. Just tell me which team is going to pay 10M Euro net salary per year plus 50M Euro to take him off Milan's hand?

RM, Barca, Juve, Liverpool, Man City, etc. all big club have good goal keepers; Chelsea does not deal with Raiolo; PSG is the only one that has real need for goalkeeper, but I doubt that Leonardo would pay 10M Euro net salary per year plus 50M Euro transfer fee.

Besides, even Manuel Neuer who has been consistently better than Donnarumma for years does not have this kind ridiculous contract from Byern.

2. IF Donna could get 10M net salary, which Milan has to pay 20M Euro per year, shouldn't it be very reasonable for Theo to demand 6M net salary? Kessie for 6M net salary? 4M Calabria? 4M for Kjær? Then all the other players will demand their fair share of pay rises as well.

The latest info, Raiola just demand 6M net salary for Romagnoli. How do you like that?

3. For those who say that it's the management's problem for to not be able to tie down Donna earlier, do you guys think Raiolo, being who is, is this stupid to not know how to use the tatics to stretch until the end of his player's contract to extract the deal he wants?

Yes, if he would have given in to Raiolo's demand, Maldini could have already given Donna 10M net salary, the ridiculous 2/3-year short term contract plus an automatic leaving clause for 30M, and the negotiation would not need to continue like the usual Raiolo soap opera.

But, seriously, which management in its sane mind state would give in to such beastly demands from such a greedy and drama queen agent?

 

[Laudrup]

Yeah, I hear it all the time - “the management has failed and must learn from this situation with Hakan and Donna”.

Hakan, its only natural that we have been hesitant to renew with him since until a year ago he was consistently bad. And Donnarumma, he probably didn’t even want to sign another contract with us until this season, and that may still be the case. Unrealistic demands can also be a sign that he’s looking for another challenge, something by the way I wouldn’t blame him for after so many challenging seasons at Milan.

 

[aim]

FYI, Maldini has said it clearly all the time: Both parties need to be happy in the negotiation.

Btw, do you guys know that Inter's China owner Suning has just given up its ownership of a top-tier Chinese football club? The club just won the China's Super League title of 2019/20 season, and now players are dismissed, coached left. I think Suning is looking for ways to get rid of Inter now.

I wonder just how many of the football fans here have truly grasp the dire economic reality of the football clubs given the ongoing pandemic situation? No ticket sales, no audience associated sales, lower commercial income, etc.

Even Barca is facing the danger of bankruptcy with its mounting debts.

 

[jani]

1. Just tell me which team is going to pay 10M Euro net salary per year plus 50M Euro to take him off Milan's hand?

RM, Barca, Juve, Liverpool, Man City, etc. all big club have good goal keepers; Chelsea does not deal with Raiolo; PSG is the only one that has real need for goalkeeper, but I doubt that Leonardo would pay 10M Euro net salary per year plus 50M Euro transfer fee.

Besides, even Manuel Neuer who has been consistently better than Donnarumma for years does not have this kind ridiculous contract from Byern.

2. IF Donna could get 10M net salary, which Milan has to pay 20M Euro per year, shouldn't it be very reasonable for Theo to demand 6M net salary? Kessie for 6M net salary? 4M Calabria? 4M for Kjær? Then all the other players will demand their fair share of pay rises as well.

The latest info, Raiola just demand 6M net salary for Romagnoli. How do you like that?

3. For those who say that it's the management's problem for to not be able to tie down Donna earlier, do you guys think Raiolo, being who is, is this stupid to not know how to use the tatics to stretch until the end of his player's contract to extract the deal he wants?

Yes, if he would have given in to Raiolo's demand, Maldini could have already given Donna 10M net salary, the ridiculous 2/3-year short term contract plus an automatic leaving clause for 30M, and the negotiation would not need to continue like the usual Raiolo soap opera.

But, seriously, which management in its sane mind state would give in to such beastly demands from such a greedy and drama queen agent?

It drove me crazy you spelled it Raiolo

Anyway, Donna deserves a high wage because I truly feel he is definitely amongst the top 3 goalkeepers in the world, what more at his age! And should be appreciated as such.

Whether we can afford it or not is another matter.

That said, I don't think it will be wrong for the others such as Theo, Kessie etc to demand high salaries if, again, that is the market rate.

If we cannot pay them then they should leave. We should not expect them to earn less.

We will never return to being a big club if we cannot pay big wages. We will then perennially be anticipating "talents" like Leao or Saelemakers who came relatively cheap and did relatively well. It's not sustainable for an ambitious club.

You also mentioned COVID's effect on finances. Totally real. But the situation is the same for all clubs. So if another club can pay Donna what he can demand, technically we should be able to too.

 

[Laudrup]

Donna is NOT among the 3 or even 5 best keepers in the world. Not even sure he’s a top 10 keeper tbh. And not even the best paid keepers in the world earn 10m, do they?

 

[zoo]

1. Just tell me which team is going to pay 10M Euro net salary per year plus 50M Euro to take him off Milan's hand?

RM, Barca, Juve, Liverpool, Man City, etc. all big club have good goal keepers; Chelsea does not deal with Raiolo; PSG is the only one that has real need for goalkeeper, but I doubt that Leonardo would pay 10M Euro net salary per year plus 50M Euro transfer fee.

Besides, even Manuel Neuer who has been consistently better than Donnarumma for years does not have this kind ridiculous contract from Byern.

2. IF Donna could get 10M net salary, which Milan has to pay 20M Euro per year, shouldn't it be very reasonable for Theo to demand 6M net salary? Kessie for 6M net salary? 4M Calabria? 4M for Kjær? Then all the other players will demand their fair share of pay rises as well.

The latest info, Raiola just demand 6M net salary for Romagnoli. How do you like that?

3. For those who say that it's the management's problem for to not be able to tie down Donna earlier, do you guys think Raiolo, being who is, is this stupid to not know how to use the tatics to stretch until the end of his player's contract to extract the deal he wants?

Yes, if he would have given in to Raiolo's demand, Maldini could have already given Donna 10M net salary, the ridiculous 2/3-year short term contract plus an automatic leaving clause for 30M, and the negotiation would not need to continue like the usual Raiolo soap opera.

But, seriously, which management in its sane mind state would give in to such beastly demands from such a greedy and drama queen agent?

I would answer all your questions with Yes.

That is not the problem.

The problem is that now Donna and Raiola have all the cards now, and you can't play poker anymore.

So, in the end it would be giving him 10m or so, or some other club will do that and we lose him for free.

Yes, many clubs overspent for GK and even for unknown ones. We won't have a problem selling him for at least 50m in a year or two.

Hate to say this but Fasobelli were right with their tactics in 2017 when Donna signed his contract. They even bought a replacement While Paolo has more respect all around I think he should have made a stand last year with a take it or leave it proposal to Donna (let's say 7m).

The same goes for Hakan.

Either way we lose in thia situation: we pay them higher wages than what would have been possible in the summer or we lose them on a free transfer.

That means at least 50m lost or more income... In case we sold them in the summer. That is more than 25% of the total budget. Which manager could save his job of he lost that amount. Plus the money needed to sign a replacements...

I would have been fine with us selling them last summer or even in the winter.

Hope Paolo and co can learn from this quick, especially that they shouldn't trust anyone to do the right thing because this sport like any has become like politics... Personal interes and gain is always first.

 

[zoo]

Donna is NOT among the 3 or even 5 best keepers in the world. Not even sure he’s a top 10 keeper tbh. And not even the best paid keepers in the world earn 10m, do they?

I don't say you are wrong but can you please list the top 10 gk? Thanks

 

[Laudrup]

Could probably name more than 10 keepers I think are better but I also feel Donna is slightly overrated. He has improved, though, over the last one or two years, is young and undoubtedly has the potential to become a great keeper. Would of course really suck if he became great somewhere else, like at Juve. Still, 10M would make him one of the most overpaid players in Europe imo.

 

[zoo]

Yeah, but want is the solution? We don't know all the detail (or any for a fact) but lets suppose they want 10m,what do you do? Let him leave for free to PSG, Barca, Real, Chelsea or even Juve?

Even with all the hardball and 1year left in the contract he got 6m a year in 2017..while he was worth no more than 3m.

The best the management can do is to convince him to have performance based bonuses on top of his 7 or 8m salary.

I personally think Donnarumma is in the top 10 gk in the world and that soon enough can become top 3 or even the best.

 

[van]

The issue with Donnarumma is he's worth a shit ton of money, which in his case has special importance because of FFP. He is the single highest valued player in the squad and also a popular young player with an extremely high ceiling. He's also the team's most regular performer alongside Kessie and Theo, and he's 21. There's no way in hell losing that kind of asset for free makes sense. It is 100% a management (current and previous) failure if we end up getting nothing for him.

Hakan is indeed a different case, and it's true that there's room for doubt because he was mediocre for most of his career at Milan, but all that only makes sense until December 31. As that date approached, the club needed to be more decisive: either renew or cash in, but don't risk losing him for free or be forced to offer a humongous contract.