Chapter 52 Salary Reduction
Returning to the league, Fiorentina vented all their grievances on their next opponent, Reggina. In the away game, Fiorentina finally swept the weak Reggina with a score of 7:0. The debt incurred by Barcelona and the referee is now to be repaid by them.
During the game, Degan staged a hat-trick, Cavinaghi, Paccini, Hamsik and Modric also made contributions respectively. When the game ended, not only Regina's players all left the field in an instant, but even The Regina fans in the stands did a flash mob.
After the game, Degan said in an interview in the mixed area: "We have no intention of attacking and insulting our opponents, but after the last game, my teammates and I began to wonder whether the rules of football games have changed. , because we play the way we used to, but we can't win at all, so we need a game to prove what is right, but the football game is still the same as before, but it confuses me even more , why, we played the same football and were not allowed to get the deserved victory at Camp Nou!"
Regarding Digan's complaints, UEFA expressed silence. After all, his methods were indeed very low-key, and Regina, who was stabbed seven times innocently, was very wronged.
You have to do experiments to prove it, why did you find us!
Whoever provoked whom!
Fiorentina won a hearty victory, but his brother Kaka had to accept the fate of double defeat. After being eliminated from the UEFA Cup by Werder Bremen, in the league, they lost to Samp at home doria.
After the game, Berlusconi and Galliani left San Siro with a dark face, maybe there is another big plan brewing in their hearts.
After the game ended, there was news soon that the team's vice-captain Ambrosini had a problem with the contract renewal negotiations with AC Milan, but the problem was not only with him alone, but also with many veteran players Being put on hold indefinitely is a good thing for AC Milan's rejuvenation. Of course, the "one size fits all" approach, regardless of indiscriminateness, also has advantages and disadvantages.
Due to the opposition of the fans, Seedorf's contract renewal, which was mentioned on the agenda, was put on hold. The Dutchman renewed his contract with AC Milan until the summer of 2011 in 2007. In 2011, Seedorf will also reach the age of 35. According to In the past, AC Milan will renew the contracts of these veterans year by year, but this season is different from every season. So far, except for Gattuso who renewed his contract in the summer, it is goalkeeper Abbiati and veterans. Inzaghi, the reason is that their contracts will expire in the summer of 2010 and the summer of 2009 respectively, and they only got 2-year and 1-year contracts respectively, which is very different from AC Milan's past practice of.
In the past, AC Milan's practice was always to renew the contract first, even if it finally agreed to terminate the contract with the players. For example, Pan Carlo, Stam and others back then all left the team for free before the contract expired.
Seedorf is a very troublesome man, although he is still starting every game, still scoring goals, the fans are growing against him, it is certain that if Ancelotti gets out of class at the end of the season, then Seedorf The position will be greatly shaken. Under such circumstances, the club does not want to renew the contract with Seedorf under the pressure of the fans.
Another person whose contract extension has been put on hold is Kaladze, which is somewhat controversial, because the 31-year-old Kaladze is still a relatively good player on the old defense line of AC Milan. He has not performed well this season and is also suffering from injuries. However, the AC Milan club also has their considerations. The success of Karadze in the business world has prevented him from being stimulated by the annual salary of more than 3 million as a player. Compared with previous years, Karadze lacks motivation.
Relatively speaking, it is Ambrosini who is unfair. Unlike Seedorf and Karadze, the contract of Ambrosini who will take over the captain's armband next season will expire in 2010, but so far So far, the contract renewal negotiations are still in a state of stalemate. Ambrosini's loyalty and contribution to the team are obvious to all. It is not what the fans want to see if all the veterans are beaten to death because of their youth.
It's just that they were eliminated in the UEFA Cup and lost to the youthful Sampdoria in the league. They are currently only ranked fourth in the Serie A rankings. If they are not careful, they may even be squeezed out of the top four. Even the Champions League There are no qualifying seats either.
Galliani, who had expressed support for Ancelotti before, also stretched his face: "The prerequisite for Ancelotti to stay next season is to enter the top three in the league."
In other words, even if he finishes fourth and participates in the Champions League qualifiers, Ancelotti will not be able to secure his position.
Ancelotti also realizes that the future is bleak, but in this way, he is also relaxed. One person obviously cannot deal with the cancer emanating from Berlusconi's foundation: "I know very well that if Milan can't achieve their goals, it means they can't achieve their goals." When I finish third, many things will change, including me, but this is good, at least let me know what my fate will be, this is much better than before, with a knife hanging above my head all the time!"
Ancelotti's coaching position is not guaranteed, but on the one hand, AC Milan's poor record in the last two seasons has also reminded the management of the AC Milan club that the team's rejuvenation can no longer be delayed.
The main reason for the attack on the players in the team is that once the team fails to enter the Champions League next season, the club will not be able to maintain huge expenses. This means that AC Milan's cleaning is not for the replacement of the old and the new, but just Get out of the ranks of the wealthy and reduce your expenses.
At the same time, the red and black fans also noticed: Berlusconi never expressed his position this time that he would pay for blood.
The team's meritorious player Costacurta had previously said in an interview with reporters: "It doesn't change at this time, when will it be more?"
At present, AC Milan's investment direction in the transfer market has always been "world-renowned stars on the decline in their careers". The most representative ones are of course Ronaldinho and Shevchenko. Selection can create a temporary viewing effect, but soon they can only become extravagant extra members, rarely providing real value for the team.
Costacurta believes that the two-line failure of the UEFA Cup and Serie A is a good opportunity: "A great opportunity to face up to reality and seriously reorganize."
What Costacurta means is that AC Milan should have had a big change, but in the past two years, they won the Champions League in the 2006/2007 season and the Club World Cup in 2007/2008. AC Milan can only sink deeper and deeper into the bottom of the valley.
But the current situation is indeed that Berlusconi has no energy to continue managing AC Milan's affairs due to internal pressure in the family and political dissatisfaction.
Now there are media reports that Berlusconi is likely to be preparing to sell AC Milan in preparation for defeating his opponent in the general election and becoming Prime Minister of Italy. The media believes that Berlusconi must give up the care of AC Milan and concentrate on politics, so that he can hold his current position in the life-and-death contest with his opponent.
In addition, the current financial crisis is serious, and the Berlusconi family also hopes to get rid of some unprofitable companies. AC Milan is a good image project, but Berlusconi's children are all red and black fans. But not too obsessed.
Of course, Berlusconi is still an out-and-out football fan. As long as he feels that he still has a long life, AC Milan will not sell it to others immediately.
However, Berlusconi is very interested in the 500 million euro acquisition plan proposed by the owner of Manchester City and the UAE chief to acquire 40% of AC Milan. In this way, Berlusconi still holds 59.9% of the shares as the major shareholder. Can be used to plug the deficit and invest in team restructuring.
It's just that the Arabs' oil has not yet flowed to San Siro, and Berlusconi can only choose to increase revenue and reduce expenditure. His solution is to cut wages one by one!
According to statistics, among the 20 clubs in Serie A, the total salary expenditure of Inter Milan Club and AC Milan Club is 120 million euros, ranking first among the 20 teams. Juventus Club spends 115 million euros. Euro commission expenses rank third, while the Reggina team, which has the least commission expenses, only pays 11.4 million euros for the whole year, which is less than a fraction of these clubs.
However, Silvio Berlusconi, owner of the AC Milan club, has spoken recently, asking the club to cut wages and reduce the current expenditure to 80 million to 85 million euros, a reduction of more than 30%.
Berlusconi's notice can be seen as one of the results of the financial crisis that AC Milan has suffered, because the club owner has clearly stopped Galliani and told him: "Be careful, it's too expensive now. too much."
Of course, no one in the AC Milan club will admit this. In the current precarious stage, the club's general manager Galliani is focusing on stabilizing the internal environment to ensure that the team can successfully qualify for the UEFA Champions League.
However, the news about cutting expenses next season has been verbally passed on within Milanello. The club players and their managers have been notified, and there have been quite a few fluctuations.
This is the era of Berlusconi, AC Milan club is facing economic problems for the first time. And they will inevitably face the choice of fate.
As mentioned before, the current commission expenditure of AC Milan Club is the same as that of Inter Milan, and they are tied for the top spot. After the third place Juventus, it is Roma and Fiorentina with an annual commission expenditure of 65 million euros. This means that if AC Milan Club According to the instructions of Chairman Berlusconi, the expenditure will be reduced to 80 million to 85 million euros, and the commission expenditure of the AC Milan club will drop to the third place, becoming the lowest expenditure among the three traditional giants, and relegated to the second place on the stage. In the future, it is almost foreseeable that the retrogression of the AC Milan club in expenditure will cause a series of chain reactions in various aspects, and it is still difficult to predict the results of these changes.
First of all, among the current Serie A champions, Kaka of the AC Milan club has the highest annual salary. The annual salary of 9 million euros is the proof that the AC Milan club has high hopes for Kaka, and it is also the price to prevent him from being pried away by other teams.
It is no secret that the Real Madrid club is willing to spend a lot of money to acquire Kaka as soon as possible. Just in January this year, the Brazilian just reached an important agreement with the club: the annual salary agreement between the two parties will no longer have any increase.
This proves that the AC Milan club really wants to keep Kaka, at least if the club does not receive any hard-to-refuse acquisition requests.
But now the AC Milan club has to worry about other things. There are currently 29 players in the first team of AC Milan. Now the club has to cut at least three people from this list, or use cheaper young players replace.
Naturally, in order not to be pushed to the forefront, many heavyweight players have to make some sacrifices and give up some salary.
The most notable example is Dida, whose current contract with the club will last until 2010, with an annual salary of 4 million euros after tax, which means the club will pay him 8 million euros per year including tax.
Dida should be the most expensive substitute goalkeeper in the world. Milan was about to sell Dida last year, but the Brazilian goalkeeper refused to terminate the contract and stayed. AC Milan's attitude is very clear. If they want to complete the contract and stay until 2010, they must Take a pay cut. The whole team is cutting wages, and Dida can't refuse, otherwise, he will find a new club that is willing to pay a high salary to reduce the burden on Milan.
The same applies to Emerson, another Brazilian who has been benched with a high salary. However, the issue of salary reduction is the same for Ambrosini and Favalli who want to renew their contracts. Other players will inevitably have to face this situation. The work will also start with the salary adjustment of the players in the team.
Berlusconi has clearly told Galliani: "The team spends too much, reduce expenses!"
This means that as long as AC Milan is still in the hands of Berlusconi, the team will still have the virtues of the past two years, not to mention spending money on signings and reforms, and even the current scale will be reduced.
The direct way to reduce player expenses is to kick out a few high-paid players. Kaka is the highest-paid player in the team. It is not new to hear transfer rumors when AC Milan moved. "has been established. Since Berlusconi took over AC Milan, this is the first time that he has experienced financial constraints. How can he convince people that his goal is to build a world dynasty?
It might be better to sell people, and quickly implant new thinking, the most fearful thing is the current vacillation.
It is said that it is no problem to get third. Last year, I also said the same thing when I was in the top four. I also created the illusion of a few consecutive victories. As a result, I lost intermittently to Sampdoria, Atlanta, Juventus, and finally lost to Fiorentina. Officially bankrupt, the same this year, who would have thought they would lose at the feet of Sampdoria?
At the end of the season, Ancelotti will be dismissed if he does not finish in the top three in Serie A. At the most difficult moment in the league, AC Milan issued a military order. In addition to the possible adjustment of the coach, the club also knows that if they want to regain victory next season, Team building also has to be innovative.
In recent years, the most important reason why AC Milan has been unable to carry out a large-scale exchange of blood is money. Simply put, all the money that can be spent has been paid, and it has fallen into the pockets of the stars, and the funds invested in the transfer market are limited. pole.
For example, last summer I bought a Ronaldinho for 21 million euros, and I had to ask the boss Berlusconi to pay for it himself. The club's self-financing plan that was going to be implemented a few years ago has become a utopia.
Over the years, AC Milan and Inter Milan have been guarding the first place, that is, the highest wages in Serie A.
Since the results of the league and the European competition cannot be guaranteed, AC Milan's income in all aspects cannot be guaranteed. They play friendly matches everywhere like rushing to the field during the winter break, just to earn more euros.
Compared with other strong teams, AC Milan has lost at least 30 million euros this season due to the lack of dividends from the Champions League. Next season, even if it returns to the Champions League, AC Milan must find ways to improve its competitiveness in the transfer market .
But in today's economic crisis, AC Milan must tighten its money. If it wants to save money to exchange blood, it must attack the stars. The AC Milan club has made it clear that it will start to cut wages next season.
Gattuso put it bluntly: "This is the most difficult moment during my time playing for Milan."
In fact, this is also the first time that AC Milan under Berlusconi has really cut wages on a large scale. Poor grades and the economic crisis are all reasons, and in the name of salary cuts, it is also necessary to clean up some high-paid and useless players.
The salary cut of the defense is logical, Maldini and Favalli will leave the team, and the club also requires new players to be those with zero worth as much as possible, so that the salary can be somewhat guaranteed.
AC Milan really wants to invest in a central defender. Nesta is likely to retire and terminate his contract, so the transfer fee and high salary must be reserved for a central defender who is in urgent need.
The acquisition of Danish central defender Agger has been stopped, because Liverpool still offered a transfer fee of 8 million euros despite his delay in renewing his contract, which made Milan very dissatisfied. However, if Agger of 8 million is too expensive, it will really take a lot of brains for Milan to find a suitable central defender.
In the midfield, Ambrosini's contract extension has not yet been negotiated, but the salary increase he requested may be out of the question. Even Gattuso and Pirlo may be asked to rewrite the contract. Brazilian midfielder Emmo Sen's salary is also about 3 million. If he does not accept the salary cut, he will be sold.
It should be Shevchenko who has changed in the frontcourt. The Ukrainian will return to Chelsea after his loan period expires. If Borriello recovers from injury, AC Milan will probably not buy any forwards. The salary space left is mainly used to satisfy Kaka.
The team's salary cut is a trend, but Kaka's maximum salary of 9 million will not be reduced. If Real Madrid launches an offensive this summer, it may even increase.
Regarding Berlusconi's salary reduction theory, Kaka seemed not in a hurry at all. He didn't speak. It was Bosque who spoke for him. The old man's attitude was very clear. There is no way to reduce my son's salary!
In terms of money, Berlusconi obviously can't afford it. In fact, last season, Berlusconi only invested 10 million euros in transfer fees for AC Milan, and another 50 million in wages.
Gilardino left, Borriello came, the annual salary of the two is the same. Gourcuff, Brocchi, Cafu, and Serginho who left were all "low-salary people". Among those who came, Flamini had an annual salary of 4.5 million, Shevchenko 6 million, and a small Luo 6 million, Senderos 2.5 million, Zambrotta 4 million, Antonini 1.5 million, Abate 2 million, including taxes, these people's salaries have to be multiplied by two, but what really works is that the annual salary is only 2 million Although Pato, Antonini and Abate did not have the bravery of the Florence period, they are still usable.
This time the salary reduction will control the total salary of AC Milan at 85 million to 80 million euros. For AC Milan, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Through salary cuts, about 35 million euros can be freed up. If they enter the Champions League, their income will increase by 33 million. Adding the old Bei's 10 million, there is also 78 million. This is a lot in today's football, which is why transfers became more active as soon as the news of salary cuts came out.
As the old general Costacurta said: "AC Milan should build a young team around Kaka."
As soon as Berlusconi's method of increasing income and reducing expenditure appeared, it immediately set off a huge wave in Italian football. Of course, everyone in AC Milan is in danger. Not every Milan player has such a high awareness and sacrifices his own Benefits, share weal and woe with the club.
After all, what the players eat is youth food. Not only do they have to fill their stomachs today, but they also have to prepare dry food for tomorrow. Otherwise, the evening scene will be very bleak.
The players of AC Milan are in danger, and the players of other teams also feel threatened. Once the team they play for also throws out the same method, what should they do? Resolutely boycott it?
Or choose to bow your head and accept?
For example, Fiorentina, although the salary expenditure in the team is not as terrible as the Milan duo, but it is also tied for third place in Italian football. In addition, Della Valle is not richer than Berlusconi, and AC Milan will cut their salary , if Florence does not decrease, it seems a bit unreasonable.
For this reason, Pakinwa also specifically found Della Valle. After a detailed discussion, the two finally clarified a plan. AC Milan will reduce the salary, and we will also reduce it.
But how to achieve the goal?
There is no doubt that Degan, as the highest paid player in the team, must bear the brunt of it.