AC Milan – a returning force?

As AC Milan close in on a deal for Jackson Martinez for €35m, the Sports Lowdown assess whether AC Milan are a returning force in the game after countless years of disappointment and despair.

The sleeping giants have been in the shadows for a few seasons now and have struggled to rival Juventus and Roma for the Serie A title whilst also missing out on finishing in the Champions League places.

2014-15 was a glum season for Milan as they found themselves in 10th place, marginally worse off than they were the season before when they finished in 8th place. The six-time European champions haven’t posed a real threat at all in Europe or Serie A for years now and many have questioned the serious decline of the club.

Sales of key players and the loss of club icons through retirement have been major factors, only ten years ago were AC Milan lining-up in a Champions League final against Liverpool with players like Jaap Stam, Clarence Seedorf, Cafu, Andrea Pirlo, Paolo Maldini, Kaka, Gennaro Gattuso and more – although, they lost on the night there is no denying that the squad is one of the best in recent times.

The summer of 2012 things got even worse for AC Milan as they agreed to sell Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva – two of their key players – to Paris St-Germain, a rising figure in football, for a combined fee of €62m. On the bright side, Milan did manage to secure two deals that season for Nigel de Jong and Mario Balotelli however neither of these were really close to what they used to have.

Mario Balotelli proved an instant success scoring 12 goals in 13 appearances and the following season he managed to find the net 14 times in 30 appearances however he was considered “lazy” and Milan thought he had a bad attitude and was sold to Liverpool for £16m. Fernando Torres was signed on a two-year loan only a few days after Balotelli was sold but he failed to make an impact and AC Milan’s league form suffered badly.

AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi recently agreed to sell a 48% stake in the club to wealthy Thai businessman, Bee Taechaubol, also known as “Mr. Bee”. The deal was estimated to be worth €500m and had been partly funded by player consortium business Doyen Sports.

The business is very likely to partner with AC Milan very soon which could see them become very powerful in the transfer market and allow them a bigger budget to sign players associated with the business. The company also has many ties in Spain with teams like Atletico Madrid, Sporting Gijon etc. and this could see AC Milan return as a super-force yet again.

In the current summer window, which opened only three days ago, AC Milan have already made significant strides for big players. The first acquisition is likely to be Jackson Martinez as earlier this evening FC Porto’s owner had confirmed that Jackson Martinez had chosen to sign for AC Milan for a fee of around €35m. AC Milan.

Milan clearly are not done there and want to delve even further into their summer budget as they line up moves for Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Geoffrey Kondogbia & Joao Miranda. The ambition being shown despite having no Champions League football is exceptional but as AC Milan are traditionally a big club with a worldwide fanbase, there are no doubts over them not being able to get “big” players.

It remains to be seen what is going to happen but with now a very wealthy business owner in Mr. Bee who seems very keen to splash the cash on top players AC Milan have a very good chance of returning to its’ former self again as previously a lack of ambition in the transfer market had seen Milan in transition for years as they were constantly satisfying themselves with Bosman deals but already a huge bid for Jackson Martinez has secured them one of the most sought-after strikers in Europe right now.