Old friends meet again

It has been a topsy-turvy week for Milan ahead of Sunday’s clash with our dislikeable cousins Inter. The headlines have been dominated by the transfer fiasco involving Carlos Tevez and Alexandre Pato which has left doubts regarding the harmony, or lack of, at the Via Turati.

Milan’s obsessive chase for Tevez the football mercenary escalated to such heights that the club even attempted forcing Pato out in order to secure the funds needed to meet the demands of Manchester City. Paris Saint-Germain put in a decent offer of €35 million and the deal would have gone through but for Pato’s love for Barbara Berlusconi and, of course, Milan.

Trading in such a talented youngster – Pato is still only 22-years-old – for such a troublesome character like Tevez who is five years his elder seems, on the surface, absurd. Dig a little deeper and it is even more inexplicable how Adriano Galliani tried to push him from the club.

Fair enough Pato has had his fair share of injury concerns. They have been to such an extent that Galliani even admitted to becoming frustrated by them not so long ago. While with Pato this remains a problem, Tevez’s unruly and disloyal nature would surely create even bigger problems and could well tip the fine balance that Allegri has worked so hard to instil amongst his players.

Pato did not do himself any favours, however, when publicly criticising Allegri for his methods early in the week. This only helped to augur in a heavy stream of transfer speculation and could have been taken, understandably, as a sign to the Milan decision-makers that he indeed was looking to move on himself.

Nevertheless, the club will be to blame if Pato does eventually leave, whether it be this January or in the summer. By pursuing Tevez in the first place they initiated the signals between the club and player that their time together was coming to an end. The loss of Antonio Cassano was no doubt a big one, but, with three world class strikers to fill two spots in the team how they went after Tevez in the first place could likely have been interpreted by Pato that he was his own replacement and not Cassano’s. Add to this fact that Pato has been on the outer at Milan this season and you get the picture.

The whole affair seems to be over, for now at least. Galliani admitted this week defeat in his efforts to convince City to allow Tevez to come to the San Siro.

Now, it is Inter’s cue to try their luck to sign the Argentine. They will not make any formal approach until next week, which is smart considering the damage Milan’s chase for him has caused the club just days prior to the biggest derby on the Italian football calendar.

As I have said before, this transfer saga has evolved into an outright mess and the timing of it could not be any worse. In what transpired into a Milan derby for Tevez’s signature it is Inter who now have the upper hand and they could carry this into Sunday’s match while Milan look the losers.

Allegri signs on

In better news that will help elevate spirits at the Milanello Allegri has signed a new contract with the club that will see him remain in charge until 2014. A Scudetto winner in his first season Allegri has done extremely well in building a championship winning team made up some temperamental  geniuses, seasoned veterans, up-and-comers and a few who are approaching their peak years.

Yay for Cassano

But, in even better news for Cassano-lovers, myself being one, is that he is set to resume training next week triggering hopes that we may just see him again on the field sooner rather than later. And that is how it would all unfold, is it not?

The club gets itself into a quagmire of sorts to sign a replacement for Cassano and after failing to do so the player returns to action. Uh! An irony that only will make club look slightly foolish, but, these unfortunate things happen sometimes.

Allegri’s 100 per cent record against Inter

Allegri’s record against Inter is an impressive one. Three matches played and three wins. If we had played them a month or so ago, I would have been sure that he would have made it four from four. However, the Nerazzurri are on a five match winning-streak and are scoring goals aplenty. Add that Ranieri’s Roma defeated Milan at the San Siro last season and there are a few signs that this will be a difficult encounter.