Former Fiorentina manager becomes the new boss at the AC Milan

AC Milan manager Vincenzo Montella claimed that he feels extremely happy with the progress made by the team since his appointment.

The former Fiorentina manager becomes the new boss at the club. He takes over at a very difficult time since the club are going through a tough time on all fronts. Owner Silvio Berlusconi facing a lot of issues has translated into the club’s decline on and off the field. Even though there are rumours about an imminent takeover, Milan can think about a recovery only after a long time. For the time being, Montella has been brought in to steady the ship.

Despite only one victory in a friendly match so far in the pre-season, Montella says that he is happy with the progress made by the team on the field. Milan have a real lack of top personnel capable of delivering against the best teams in the world. Despite this, they took part in the International Champions Cup in the United States where they have come up against teams like Bayern Munich, Chelsea, and Liverpool. So far, the only victory in a friendly game against Bordeaux before the start of theInternational Champions Cup. The recent game finished as a 3-1 loss against Chelsea, but Milan did create a lot of opportunities.

“It’s been decidedly positive. I needed this time to get to know the surroundings and to be with my players, even if I would have preferred to have been in the qualifying rounds of the Europa League rather than on tour.Milan cannot be out of Europe, but anyway I feel we are further than I had expected us to be after a month. I’m serene and so too are the lads. We’re on the right path and I’m optimistic. The team are putting into practice what I am asking of them and things are moving along quickly,” said Montella.

AQUILANI KEEN ON PESCARA

Former AS Roma, Liverpool and AC Milan player Alberto Aquilani has approved of the move to Serie A club Pescara. The player was linked with the club, but according to Gazzetta World, the long standing deal the Italian had with Sporting CP was a hindrance.

The report claimed the president of Pescara said that Mario Balotelli and Pablo Osvaldo are great players but just not suited to play for the club. It was also added that the club was open to a possible move of Aquilani if he would return to Italy.

La Gazzetta dello report now that the former Fiorentina player has now given the go ahead for the deal despite spending just the 2015/16 season with the Portuguese side. Coach Massimo Oddo is open to Aquilani joining the Pescara team for the upcoming season. The club and player are still hoping to finalize the deal but it seems the player could book a one-way ticket back to his native soonest.

The 32-year old player still has to round off talks with Sporting as he is still contracted to them after joining on a free transfer last term. Since joining the Portuguese outfit, the central midfielder played 32 games across all competitions, scoring five goals and helping others with two assists.

His form for Sporting almost won him a call up to the Italian side at Euro 2016, as well as the Azzurri side at the Rio Olympics but it was not to be. Without him in the side the Olympic games best odds of Italy winning the gold medal are at around 10/1.

Returning to Italy would not come as a surprise to many considering the number of transfers the player has made in his career. He started with Roma, played away on loan and returned before his big money transfer to England. He didn’t quite impress so he loaned back to Italy to play for Juventus. He spent a year at AC Milan before the Reds decided to terminate his deal. Liverpool sold him to Fiorentina for less than £2 million in 2012 until his eventual free transfer to Sporting.

Sampdoria president regrets missing Aquilani

Sampdoria president Massimo Ferrero has stated that he regret for not having signed a player such as Alberto Aquilani. He said that it was a player that he has always admired and that he would have definitely improved Sampdoria.

Massimo Ferrero stated that he did his best in order to sign the player when he was playing at Sporting Lisbon, but he regrets that the deal could not go through. He said that the Alberto Aquilani wanted to come to Sampdoria and had even agreed terms with the club but the Sporting Lisbon president just changed his mind at the last minute.

He said that the player had been frustrated by the turn of events, but it was not entirely his fault. He said that he wanted the player to come to Italy as he thought that he would massively improve the team.

It is believed that Alberto Aquilani will be leaving Sporting Lisbon in the summer. The manager has reportedly told the Italian midfielder that he does not form part of his plans for next season and that he will be better off finding another team. It is believed that the player might be moving to China but so far there is nothing concrete.

Alberto Aquilani has only managed to make 19 appearances for Sporting Lisbon last season where a majority of those were as a substitute. Sampdoria president has not revealed whether he will attempt to sign the player again this season as they are still looking for a midfielder to improve the team.

Although Aquilani has performed quite poorly during recent times, he is by no means a bad player and can play really well if he is given the right attention on the pitch. We will have to wait and see how things unfold in the future.