AC Milan CEO Adriano Galliani has revealed that his biggest mistake was to allow Andrea Pirlo to leave for Juventus.
In an interview with La Gazetta dello Sport, the Italian talks about transfers and his biggest mistake. Galliani is believed to be the architect behind Andrea Pirlo’s free-transfer to Juventus in 2011. The 71-year-old did accept it as his ‘biggest mistake’ but added that he was not solely responsible for the error.
Alessio Romagnoli? It depends on Roma, we have offered a 25m – Adriano Galliani
Pirlo was deemed surplus by then manager Massimiliano Allegri and moved to rivals Juventus on a free. The Italian play-maker guided the Old Lady to four successive Scudetto’s, before leaving for MLS out-fit New York City FC earlier this month.
Galliani said: a The biggest mistake that I made on the market was to let Pirlo leave, although it was an error shared with others. Dona t ask me who.
The 71-year-old also threw light on some of Rosonneri’s transfer targets, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alessio Romagnoli.
“Zlatan Ibrahimovic is under contract with PSG until June 30, 2016 and therea s nothing more to say on that.
a Alessio Romagnoli? It depends on Roma, we have offered a 25m. But if they dona t want to sell him, they wona t sell him. And if he doesna t come, wea ll stay as we are.
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a We gave Philippe Mexes and Nigel De Jong renewals because they can offer a lot. In the derby with Inter in China they showed that.”
Oggi in #primapagina l’intervista esclusiva all’a.d. del @acmilan, #Galliani, e il sorprendente bilancio di #Vettel pic.twitter.com/6UP9V4WhnI
a LaGazzettadelloSport (@Gazzetta_it) July 29, 2015
The AC Milan CEO also revealed that Jackson Martinez was close to moving to the San Siro, before opting to move to the Vicente Calderon. However, the Milan club are content with the capture of striker Carlos Bacca from Sevilla.
a Jackson Martinez? When he was a step away from joining us, he chose Atletico Madrid. But we are happy because we took Carlos Bacca – a great player, coached by a talented tactician at Sevilla.a
Rosonneri’s loss was Bianconeri’s gain
Andrea Pirlo’s departure from San Siro coincides with the Rosonneri’s fall from grace. While on one hand the Italian maestro strengthened the Old Lady immeasurably, he also weakened the Rosonneri considerably. Juventus have won four consecutive Serie A titles during Pirlo’s time with the club, and made it to the finals of the Champions League last term. On the other hand, Milan have struggled in all the four seasons, losing key players, before eventually finishing a dismal 10th last term.
Indeed, it was Galliani’s biggest mistake to let the legendary play-maker leave.