Cassano's joining of Inter Milan became a hot topic for the Italian media and fans.
Most of the Italian fans were happy that Cassano had returned to the Italian arena. The bad boy that they loved and hated was back.
The Italian national team manager, Donadoni, was very welcoming. Cassano's time in Madrid had caused the Italian national team to temporarily close the door to Cassano. Now, Cassano had returned to Serie A with the strongest and most mature team in the current Serie A and was playing under the champion manager, Li Ang. This was very helpful for Cassano to regain his form.
Li Ang had also thought carefully about the signing of Cassano. Cassano would become an important addition to Inter Milan's forward line. His technical characteristics were very different from Adriano's, Agüero's, and Diego Milito's. He was considered the most talented star player in Italian football. His football wisdom in the front field would help enrich Inter Milan's offensive routines.
Three days later, Inter Milan went to Hamburg, Germany, to play a warm-up game with the Hamburg team. Diego Milito and Modric's goals helped Inter Milan win the away game by 2: 1. Cassano came on as a substitute at the last minute of the game and made his debut in the Inter Milan uniform.
After the game, Li Ang received a fax from assistant manager Banderas that surprised him.
It was a fax asking price and requesting purchase of Inter Milan's 25-year-old Italian native striker, Marco Borriello.
It was not surprising that Borriello was pursued by other teams. Since the summer of 2005, when Borriello was poached by Li Ang from AC Milan, he had improved a lot in the two seasons at Inter Milan. Borriello had occasionally performed well in limited appearances. Therefore, he had won the favor of some teams.
However, what surprised Li Ang was that the offer came from Inter Milan's nemesis, AC Milan. At the same time, AC Milan was also Borriello's former team.
Inter Milan's forward line currently had five players: Adriano, Diego Milito, Agüero, Borriello, and Cassano. It seemed a little redundant, but considering that Inter Milan needed to fight on three fronts, the allocation of five players was not impossible.
Moreover, Li Ang appreciated Borriello. The player's attitude during games had always been good and pragmatic. No manager would dislike such a player.
Therefore, Li Ang directly rejected AC Milan's request for Borriello.
*****
Although Inter Milan and AC Milan were nemeses in the same city, the hatred between the two teams off the field was much lighter than other nemeses in the same city. The "communication" between the two teams was more frequent.
However, looking at the player exchange between AC Milan and Inter Milan at the top and bottom of the window, there was no doubt that AC Milan had taken advantage of the deal. In 2001, the 22-year-old rookie Pirlo, who could not play as the main force in Inter Milan, defected to AC Milan for a cheap €10 million. As a result, he played an extremely important role in AC Milan's continuous winning of championships for many years to come. He was selected by UEFA as one of the "20 players who changed football history." Currently, he was the core of the Italian national team's midfield and won the "Bronze Ball" award at the 2006 World Cup. Brocchi, who joined AC Milan in the same year as him, did not have an immediate impact, but as time went by, the late bloomer Brocchi gradually played an important role in AC Milan. When Brocchi joined AC Milan, it was in exchange for the Argentinian Guli, a name that had long been forgotten for many years.
Similar things continued. In the summer of 2002, the two clubs did a few more business deals. AC Milan's Koke, who was loaned to Barcelona and played as the main force, joined Inter Milan in exchange for Seedorf, who was occasionally brilliant under Cooper but did not play as the main force. It seemed that Inter Milan made a profit, but in fact, Seedorf had been the main force of AC Milan in the following five years and helped the team win two Champions League titles and a league title. Koke's career was quickly scrapped.
At the same time, Daphne Dávara was exchanged for Daphne Dávara. The exchange between the two substitutes did not seem like much, but Daphne played an important role in AC Milan's UEFA Champions League victory in the 20022003 season and was still the main substitute until now. The Turk was quickly abandoned at Inter Milan without playing any games.
Previously, the two Milan giants were very open about player transactions. Inter Milan even bought Helvig and loaned the Dane to AC Milan for two years in a row. But after 2003, there were very few player exchanges between the two clubs. During this period, there was a possibility of Cuarón exchanging Serginho, but it was stopped by Moratti.
Until the summer of 2005, Li Ang's Inter Milan and AC Milan had another player exchange. Borriello, who had not been able to play in AC Milan, was sent to Inter Milan. Inter Milan's veteran Favalli was sent to AC Milan as a trade target. Favalli's performance in AC Milan could only be described as average. Of course, the presence of the Italian veteran allowed Jankulovski to focus more on the European arena.
However, in comparison, Borriello's performance in Inter Milan was better. The 25-year-old Italian striker had now been selected for Donadoni's Italy national team many times with his excellent performance in Inter Milan.
Therefore, overall, the exchange of Borriello for Favalli was a rare bargain between Inter Milan and AC Milan in recent years.
*****
Li Ang rejected AC Milan's offer for Borriello. He thought that was the end of the matter.
However, during the pre-match training in Hamburg, Borriello tactfully expressed to Li Ang that he hoped Li Ang would let him return to AC Milan.
Inter Milan had brought in two strikers, Diego Milito and Cassano. In this way, Adriano would occupy one of the main positions. In addition, Diego Milito and Cassano had priority in competing for the other starting position. Even taking into account Cassano's technical characteristics, Cassano's appearance could be ahead of Borriello's. Therefore, Borriello was still worried and confused about his future in Inter Milan.
Tomorrow was the UEFA European Championship. Borriello had to work hard for a place in the UEFA European Championship, so he looked forward to playing in the competition.
In addition, one thing that had to be mentioned was that Borriello came from AC Milan's youth training camp. Returning to AC Milan was also very attractive to him.
In addition, in AC Milan's current forward line, Inzaghi was repeatedly injured. The Brazilian striker, Oliveira, who was brought in last season, had long been labeled as a "second-rate player." Only Gilardino was a consistent striker. Borriello had received a certain degree of promise that he would get more opportunities to play in the competition if he returned to AC Milan.
Therefore, in the face of the call from AC Milan, the former AC Milan striker was indeed tempted. He took the initiative to find Li Ang and expressed his desire to transfer to AC Milan.
PS: Looking for a monthly ticket.
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
