Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani deserves the highest praise for his dealings in the summer and winter transfer windows.
Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani has not had the easiest job for the past few seasons. He has had to be the mediator between the demands of Milan fans on the one hand and the financial and political caprice of owner Silvio Berlusconi on the other.
The Italian prime-minister's spending on Milan has always had more than a hint of demagogy. This is a man, after all, who landed in a helicopter at the San Siro in 1986 to rescue Milan from bankruptcy. The ostentatiousness was almost comical, but Berlusconi's intentions were serious from the outset. And it was his right-hand man Galliani who communicated them to coach Arrigo Sacchi later.
"We want to be the best team in the world," Galliani told Sacchi succinctly. "We are very ambitious."
Berlusconi doggedly supported Sacchi even during a series of poor results. Sacchi was his appointment, and he made it clear to the players that if they did not support the coach, they were free to leave.
Berlusconi’s support, absent for so many coaches and lavished on others, was vindicated as Sacchi led the team to a Scudetto and two European Cups. It should be added, that he had the celebrated Dutch trio of Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten, and Frank Rijkaard and a defence supervised by Franco Baresi and the burgeoning Paolo Maldini with whom to work. In particular, Berlusconi’s investment in the Dutch trio was proof that he was willing to invest in his aspirations.
Of course, the political value of Milan can scarcely be understated. Remember, Berlusconi opted for a slight modification of the Forza Azzurri! chant used for the national team by choosing Forza Italia as the name of his party. He knew that football was a unifying force for many Italians, and even if there were many in Italy who despised Milan, they could at least see Berlusconi’s sagacity in running a successful football club.
As recently as the early 2000s, Berlusconi continued to invest generously, bringing players like Alessandro Nesta, Rui Costa, and Filippo Inzaghi to Milan. However, investment in recent years has been rarer than Berlusconi’s relief from scandal.
In 2009 when Milan sold Kaka’ to Real Madrid, Berlusconi moaned that Milan had to balance their books. The political motive was implicit: to stand in solidarity with the Italian public suffering from a recession. It was so thinly concealed (and such an absurd token gesture) that one suspected Galliani’s smile during his refrain of 'we have to balance our books' was at how ludicrous the newly-found devotion to finanical responsibility sounded.
Yet, one always got the feeling that if Galliani had his way, he would bring in players that the fans really wanted, players who addressed the weaknesses of the team--which were conspicuous and numerous. For all of Galliani’s fawning over Berlusconi, he was probably as exasperated as the fans when Milan were suffering the indignity of watching Inter walk away with the treble. The same Inter who were long the butt of fans' jokes all over Italy (including of their own fans) were suddenly European and Italian champions.
Last summer, Berlusconi appeared to have had found his largesse again. However, the real credit should go to Galliani who bought Zlatan Ibrahimovic on loan from Barcelona with an option to buy and Robinho from Manchester City by relying on precedented diplomacy that he has practiced so well for so long.
“I had to use all my experience to bring Ibrahimovic here,” said Galliani after onerous negotiations with Barcelona, negotiations that that have proved vital to Milan's season.
Galliani's negotiation skills are regarded so highly that Milan fans often claim that when Galliani flies somewhere, he rarely comes back empty-handed.
This winter transfer market, Galliani has moved just as well as he did in the summer. Antonio Cassano was claimed from his exile, Mark van Bommel and Urby Emanuelson were brought in to compensate for a depleted midfield, and left-back Didac Vilà seems to have solved the last problem in defence.
Galliani should be praised for these deals and many more over the years. He has been working for two intransigent forces in Berlusconi and the Milan fans, but he has surmounted that challenge time and time again.
The Italian prime-minister's spending on Milan has always had more than a hint of demagogy. This is a man, after all, who landed in a helicopter at the San Siro in 1986 to rescue Milan from bankruptcy. The ostentatiousness was almost comical, but Berlusconi's intentions were serious from the outset. And it was his right-hand man Galliani who communicated them to coach Arrigo Sacchi later.
"We want to be the best team in the world," Galliani told Sacchi succinctly. "We are very ambitious."
Berlusconi doggedly supported Sacchi even during a series of poor results. Sacchi was his appointment, and he made it clear to the players that if they did not support the coach, they were free to leave.
Berlusconi’s support, absent for so many coaches and lavished on others, was vindicated as Sacchi led the team to a Scudetto and two European Cups. It should be added, that he had the celebrated Dutch trio of Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten, and Frank Rijkaard and a defence supervised by Franco Baresi and the burgeoning Paolo Maldini with whom to work. In particular, Berlusconi’s investment in the Dutch trio was proof that he was willing to invest in his aspirations.
Of course, the political value of Milan can scarcely be understated. Remember, Berlusconi opted for a slight modification of the Forza Azzurri! chant used for the national team by choosing Forza Italia as the name of his party. He knew that football was a unifying force for many Italians, and even if there were many in Italy who despised Milan, they could at least see Berlusconi’s sagacity in running a successful football club.
As recently as the early 2000s, Berlusconi continued to invest generously, bringing players like Alessandro Nesta, Rui Costa, and Filippo Inzaghi to Milan. However, investment in recent years has been rarer than Berlusconi’s relief from scandal.
In 2009 when Milan sold Kaka’ to Real Madrid, Berlusconi moaned that Milan had to balance their books. The political motive was implicit: to stand in solidarity with the Italian public suffering from a recession. It was so thinly concealed (and such an absurd token gesture) that one suspected Galliani’s smile during his refrain of 'we have to balance our books' was at how ludicrous the newly-found devotion to finanical responsibility sounded.
Yet, one always got the feeling that if Galliani had his way, he would bring in players that the fans really wanted, players who addressed the weaknesses of the team--which were conspicuous and numerous. For all of Galliani’s fawning over Berlusconi, he was probably as exasperated as the fans when Milan were suffering the indignity of watching Inter walk away with the treble. The same Inter who were long the butt of fans' jokes all over Italy (including of their own fans) were suddenly European and Italian champions.
Last summer, Berlusconi appeared to have had found his largesse again. However, the real credit should go to Galliani who bought Zlatan Ibrahimovic on loan from Barcelona with an option to buy and Robinho from Manchester City by relying on precedented diplomacy that he has practiced so well for so long.
“I had to use all my experience to bring Ibrahimovic here,” said Galliani after onerous negotiations with Barcelona, negotiations that that have proved vital to Milan's season.
Galliani's negotiation skills are regarded so highly that Milan fans often claim that when Galliani flies somewhere, he rarely comes back empty-handed.
This winter transfer market, Galliani has moved just as well as he did in the summer. Antonio Cassano was claimed from his exile, Mark van Bommel and Urby Emanuelson were brought in to compensate for a depleted midfield, and left-back Didac Vilà seems to have solved the last problem in defence.
Galliani should be praised for these deals and many more over the years. He has been working for two intransigent forces in Berlusconi and the Milan fans, but he has surmounted that challenge time and time again.
