There are numerous clubs around Europe who have already had a great transfer window. Everton have had a great window, so have Bayern Munich and Manchester United.
However, there is one club that have surpassed them all: AC Milan. But why?
Keeping Donnarumma
Keeping Gianluigi Donnarumma is by far the best bit of business that AC Milan have done this window. The 18 year old recently signed a 5 year contract extension to stay at the Rossoneri after a lot of speculation about his future.
After Donnarumma’s agent Mino Raiola fired up talks of a rift between Donnarumma and the hierarchy at AC Milan, Europe’s biggest clubs were on red alert.
Real Madrid became favourites to sign the youngster very early on, along with other major clubs like Barcelona and Juventus.
Yet, Donnarumma defied the power hungry Raiola and signed a new contract with Milan, ending any doubts about his future, and is the base of a new look AC Milan.
The Bonucci factor
Without a shadow of a doubt, this will be the biggest shock of the transfer window.
We all expected Leonardo Bonucci to leave Juventus either this summer or the next, after it was becoming increasingly clear that there was a clear rift between him and Massimiliano Allegri.
But no one expected him to join Juventus’ biggest rivals.
Bonucci brings so many qualities to this Milan squad. It adds a strong leader to Milan’s squad, something that many journalists have said that Milan have been lacking over the past few seasons.
He also adds a lot of experience into the team, and with Milan competing in Europe again this year, Bonucci’s experience will be valuable.
We also must discuss the price of this transfer, £35 million. Comparing this with defenders moving within the Premier League, this is a steal!
Kyle Walker going to Manchester City for £50 million and Virgil Van Dijk’s fee believed to be around £65 million, it’s a brilliant piece of business by Milan, as Bonucci is far better than any defender in the Premier League.
Experience and youth
If you take a look at Milan’s squad so far, it seems to be a perfect balance between experience and youth. Let’s look at experience first.
We’ve mentioned Bonucci already, but Milan also have a lot more players that have a lot of experience in Serie A and in European competitions, such as Riccardo Montolivo, Ignazio Abate, Lucas Biglia and Giacomo Bonaventura.
Now let’s look at the youth in the Milan squad. Milan already had the youngest squad on average in Serie A last season, with the likes of Donnarumma, Alessio Romagnoli and Manuel Locatelli, but now Milan have bought in more youngsters like Franck Kessie, Andrea Conti and Andre Silva.
It’s clear to see that there is a clear balance between youth and experience in the Milan squad this season, and this will give them a no fear look and a can-do attitude to their play.
Ending Juve’s dominance?
All the transfers that Milan have made so far has made them into serious title contenders.
Taking Juventus’ best defender and also taking some of the best talents from around Serie A have weakened their opponents.
Though Juve have made some notable signings this window, such as Douglas Costa and the imminent arrival of Patrick Schick, this promises to be one of the most exciting and intriguing seasons in Serie A for a long time.
Written by Sion Misra
Follow Sion on Twitter @sionmisra
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