THE WORD OF THE COACH

Ahead of the TIM Trophy, coach Leonardo spoke: 'The arrival of Huntelaar and Roma certainly gave us a big charge. The results are always important, so tomorrow we'll try to give our best.'

At the end of the training today coach Leonardo spoke about the Tim Trophy which will be played tomorrow at Pescara between Milan, Juve and Inter:
MILAN - 'The arrival of Huntelaar and Roma has certainly charged us up, we have welcomed them with an applause. New arrivals always bring extra motivation. As for the past week, we have been working hard, but today we worked with a good intensity so I am satisfied.'
'Huntelaar and Roma have shown good personality, they have inserted themselves well and they're available for tomorrow. Huntelaar hasn't trained consistently lately, he needs to prepare, he'll come with us and then we'll see how we use him.'
'In all these pre-season friendlies the important thing was to understand what we have available, certainly the results are always important, so tomorrow we'll try to give our best.'
'It's always an important appointment, and winning always helps. My intention is to continue with enthusiasm. The team is great and only time can tell what this Milan team can achieve. We are confident because we are sure you can't take away what Milan have inside: the desire to win always. We will go on slowly, calmly, with confidence and I'm sure we'll do well.'
'I feel the team is mine, I feel it very close to me, there's already a precise group identity and a consolidated relationship between us: the important thing will be to transform these positive things into results on the pitch.'

Barcelona Ponder Move For Milan Defender Felipe Mattioni

The young Brazilian is reportedly on the radar of the Catalan club...

13 Aug 2009- Barcelona are understood to be in the market for a right-sided defender and have now added Felipe Mattioni to their shortlist, according to RAC1.The 20-year-old joined Milan from Gremio in January but he has found playing time very reduced at the Serie A outfit.Reports in Spain claim Barcelona will turn their attention to Mattioni should they fail in their quest to land Emmanuel Eboue, their main target, from Arsenal.It is believed Mattioni would cost Barcelona no more than €3 million and that his transfer to the Camp Nou would be helped by the fact that the young right-back is represented by Mino Raiola, who has already taken Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Maxwell to the Spanish giants this summer.When asked by Primer Toc about Barcelona's alleged interest, Mattioni noted "there is a possibility" he could move to the Champions League holders in what he described as a "dream" move.

Flavio Roma: Milan Is A Top Level Team

The veteran goalkeeper is looking forward to beginning his first season with the Rossoneri following his move from France yesterday...

13 Aug 2009 - New Milan goalkeeper Flavio Roma is ready to rise to the challenge and claim the first team place as the season gets underway.Roma is also confident that the negative results obtained by the Rossoneri throughout the pre-season do not reflect the true value of the team and that they will manage to bounce back when the official games begin."I followed Milan's pre-season and I would define it as eventful; a bit for the continuous movements the team had to do and a bit for the results obtained during the friendly games," declared the former Monaco player to Milan Channel."I spoke with the players and this is a top level team. The players are aiming high. The team is strong, we have nothing to worry about."I know that it will be a battle between me and [Marco] Storari, because [Christian] Abbiati is still injured and [Nelson] Dida has some problems, but then it will be the coach to decide."The 35-year-old spent the last eight years playing in France with Monaco, earning a total of 247 league appearances as well as three caps for the Italian national team.

Thiago Silva Excited About Milan's Prospects For The Season

The former Fluminense defender is upbeat about the Rossoneri's chances in the coming months after a disappointing pre-season...

13 Aug 2009- Thiago Silva joined Milan from Fluminense last January in a €10 million deal, but was unable to play for the first-team due to the limit on non-EU players. However, he is now ready and raring to go for Leonardo's side after a bright pre-season for him personally in which he scored twice."To arrive in a great club like Milan was my dream," Thiago Silva told Il Corriere dello Sport."I'm happy because I've found an excellent atmosphere here; I'm training with lots of champions and I have the chance to learn a lot."[Scoring goals from defence] happened there too, but I have had more opportunities here than I had in three years at Fluminense. I have the advantage that Leonardo always wants me in the opposition penalty area when we have a set-piece."The 24-year-old went on to praise Ronaldinho's commitment, as the former World Player of the Year attempts to rediscover his form of 2005/06."He is working hard. It has been some time since I saw him concentrate so hard. He is very attentive to what he does on the pitch, but also to what he does off it. Like me, he has a tendency to fatten a bit, so we must always be on a diet."While the Rossoneri consider moves for Gareth Bale and Royston Drenthe, Thiago Silva went on to make his own suggestion for Milan's search for a left-back."Junior Cesar. He's a friend of mine, we played together at Fluminense - now he has gone to Sao Paolo. He would do well in Europe," he concluded.

Milan Target Real Madrid's Royston Drenthe

The Rossoneri are weighing up a loan deal for the former Feyenoord man...

13 Aug 2009- Milan are considering a host of players to solve their left-sided problems, but believe that Real Madrid's Royston Drenthe is one of the best solutions.Though Gareth Bale remains their first choice target, if a deal cannot be pushed through, Milan will return to los Merengues for another of the Spanish club’s Dutchmen, having signed Klaas-Jan Huntelaar from the Madrid club last week.Although no official contact has yet been made between the clubs over Drenthe, who can fill in anywhere down the left flank, Il Corriere dello Sport suggests that Milan will sound Real Madrid president Florentino Perez out over a loan move in the coming hours.Milan vice president Adriano Galliani is thought to be prepared to pay €3-4 million to take the 22-year-old on loan for a season, with an option to make the move permanent for around €7-8m at the end of the season.The Rossoneri's final major transfer push will begin next week after the Trofeo Tim, and they are expected to move for Gareth Bale and Lorenzo De Silvestri. A move for the latter may be put on hold because the 21-year-old picked up an injury while playing for the Italian Under-21s and Milan will wait to see the extent of the damage.

Manchester United May Not Have Acquired Cristiano Ronaldo If Ronaldinho Had Signed

Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that the sensational Portuguese superstar might not have set foot in Old Trafford, had the deal for the Brazilian gone through successfully...

13 Aug 2009- Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo may never have had the pleasure of plying his trade with the Red Devils if the English club had succeeded in signing Ronaldinho."I thought we'd clinched the deal [for Ronaldinho], but when I flew to Paris to speak with him, the goalposts seemed to have moved somehow," the Scot is quoted by The Irish Independent as saying."His people complained to me that it didn't seem as though they were getting the same deal we'd previously agreed."The next thing I know, he was at Barcelona the following day."It was a big disappointment at the time," he reminisced."But we signed Cristiano Ronaldo that very same summer and perhaps we wouldn't have ended up with Ronaldo had we got Ronaldinho."However, the 67-year-old manager admitted that the club would have monitored the young Ronaldo, since the Red Devils had agreed to a pre-contract arrangement with Sporting."We probably would have kept tabs on Ronaldo, though, because we had a pre-contract agreement with Sporting," 'Fergie' mused."However, maybe we wouldn't have accelerated the Ronaldo deal in the way we did."Ronaldo, who joined the Manchester outfit in 2003, was handed the famous No. 7 jersey upon his arrival. After six years of terrorising defences in the Premier League, the player left for greener pastures when he signed for los Blancos in a deal worth about €93 million.Sir Alex spoke about the loss that the club faces."Obviously, Cristiano is a big loss in terms of the goals that he gave us, but we'll just have to find them from somewhere else and our tactics will adjust accordingly," he concluded.

OFFICIAL: Milan Release Kalac & Bring In Monaco’s Flavio Roma

13 Aug 2009- Reports earlier this week indicated that Zeljko Kalacs’s future at Milan was up in the air, following an inconsistent pre-season that has seen him slide down the goalkeeping ranks at the club.Consequently, the Rossoneri were strongly linked to Flavio Roma of Monaco as a direct replacement, and as of only a few hours ago, the move has officially been announced.The San Siro outfit released a statement on their official website, which read, "AC Milan announce that by consensus, it has decided to terminate the working relationship with the player Zeljko Kalac. We thank him for what he has done for the Rossoneri in the past, and we wish him all the very best for the future. "AC Milan also would like to announce that it has acquired the full rights to Flavio Roma from Monaco, who has signed a contract until June 30 2010."Roma managed to make 247 appearances for his now-former French club from 2001 to 2009. At 35 years of age, he isn’t aiding the Rossoneri’s cause of lowering the average age of their squad.