Massimiliano Allegri has assured President Silvio Berlusconi “promised Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic won’t leave Milan.”
Massimiliano Allegri has assured President Silvio Berlusconi “promised Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic won’t leave Milan.”
The Rossoneri narrowly missed out on a second consecutive Scudetto, but there are reports the likes of Barcelona and Manchester City want to tempt away their top stars.
“Anything can happen on the transfer market from here to August – except for them leaving,” the Coach told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“I talked it over with President Berlusconi and he promised Thiago Silva and Ibrahimovic won’t leave Milan.
“We need those two, but also Alexandre Pato. Next season has to be his year.”
Allegri drew a great deal of criticism for letting Andrea Pirlo quit on a free transfer last summer, especially as he became the crucial figure at title-winning Juventus” data-scaytid=”23″>Juventus.
“It was a decision also made by Andrea and the club. If Juve hadn’t won the Scudetto then you journalists wouldn’t have gone on and on about this story. Last year Pirlo didn’t play because he wasn’t in good shape, but we won the title and nobody complained then.
“It is also not true that I dislike quality in my teams. We field four attacking players usually, plus Antonio Nocerino who is more of an attacking midfielder than a defensive one.
“We lost the title this season because we had a dip after the Barcelona game and we also lost against Fiorentina. I’m sure I made mistakes too, but we missed too many important players.”
Allegri has also been accused of not communicating enough with his players, but insists they need to look at themselves first.
“Unfortunately, when you are a player then sometimes one word isn’t enough. Nor are two or a hundred. It’s difficult for a player to be self-critical, but I evaluate the game and the rest is of no interest to me.
“Milan don’t need a revolution. As for the veterans leaving us, talent is not infinite and you don’t go on to the field holding the trophies you’ve already won in the past. If time didn’t pass, we’d still be in the Colosseum with lions.”
The tactician got into a war of words with Juventus Coach Antonio Conte and director general Beppe Marotta this season, particularly over refereeing errors and the tone of the debate.
“I had no argument with anyone and don’t need to shake anyone’s hand,” insisted Allegri. “I was angry because I lost the Scudetto and I still am. The rest was just jokes. Marotta is very easily offended.”