Sacchi worried about Milan’s lack of transfer activity: “Something I don’t understand” | OneFootball

Arrigo Sacchi has criticised the AC Milan management for not having done any business so far, while he extended his best wishes to the new head coach Paulo Fonseca.

The first day of preseason begins today and Fonseca will not be able to work with any new signings given that Geoffrey Moncada and his team are yet to complete any incoming business thus far.

Perhaps the most worrying thing is that Milan are still without a centre-forward, and this is the real news that is taking centre stage on the day of the raduno. Giroud has moved to the United States, reinforcements have not arrived and for the moment Noah Okafor and Luka Jovic are the options.

It is not exactly ideal for a club that will participate in the Champions League and that in Italy aims to take the title from Inter. However, we are only in early July and thus there is time ahead to fix the various holes.

Sacchi spoke during an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport and he was asked a number of questions about the current state of affairs, not holding back regarding his thoughts on the summer window so far.

Is it possible that the centre-forward of the future has not yet been identified?

“Very possible, given that he wasn’t bought. First I read that they wanted Zirkzee, a striker I like for what he showed with Bologna. Then the Zirkzee option faded away, probably for financial reasons, and it seemed like they were aiming for Lukaku, who I’m not crazy about. That’s when a light bulb went on in my head…”

In what sense?

“I said to myself: Zirkzee and Lukaku are the opposite of each other. If a coach is happy with Zirkzee first, it’s not possible that he’ll then be happy with Lukaku. There’s something I don’t understand in the club’s strategy.

“Zirkzee is a striker who loves to link with his teammates, plays with the team, one-twos, triangles. Lukaku is someone who plays with force, makes the team move up the field, relies above all on athletic qualities. In short, two opposite universes. It’s not possible that a coach, in the absence of one, will be happy with the other.”

So what did he think?

“I’m waiting for the first official movements, knowing full well that we’re late now. If you want to make some moves you need to have connections, you need to know where to go to buy and you need to do it in the spring. Here we are two or three months late. It’s logical that now the prices have risen.”

Do we need to know what Fonseca’s requests are?

“This is fundamental. The coach has to make the team, I have no doubt about that. The managers are very good with financial and marketing issues, but the coach has to choose the players because he will be the one to train them and field them. I don’t know what Fonseca’s requests are, nor his ideas. I had my own method and I always used it, from when I was coaching amateurs until I arrived at Milan.”

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What was the method?

“Very simple. I took a piece of paper and for each role that I considered vacant I wrote down five names. Then I gave the piece of paper to the manager who had to operate on the market. I must say that I was lucky because often the managers brought me the first choices. It seems that nowadays it is not used anymore, to me it seemed so effective…”

You also need to understand your available budget…

“That’s the first thing. It’s not that when I was coaching Baracca Lugo, I asked for Roberto Bettega. I knew how much the club could spend and I drew up my list based on that. Fonseca should do the same thing, assuming he hasn’t already done so.

“At least I hope he has and that he is working in harmony with the management. Otherwise we’ll start off on the wrong foot and face a difficult period.”

Which players would you choose?

“I wouldn’t go looking for players at the top of their game. I would try with young players who want to surprise and make sacrifices. You have to build a team, a collective. You have to follow the coach’s instructions based on his playing ideas.”

The fans are in an uproar. Is it understandable?

“They want to see a team that plays well and entertains. Especially those from Milan who, over the years, have been accustomed to it quite well. However, I don’t like pitch invasions, the fans should be fans and not also try to buy players. If things aren’t to their liking, they have the opportunity to protest, always in a civil and polite way.”