10 dumbest signings of the summer

AC Milan’s risky summer

Taken at face value, AC Milan might have had the best summer transfer window of any club in Europe. They completely re-vamped their back-line, signing Leonardo Bonucci from Juventus, Andrea Conti from Atalanta, Mateo Musacchio from Villarreal and Ricardo Rodriguez from Wolfsburg. Basically, they purchased a Champions League-level back four in one window. They weren’t done, either.

Milan also purchased coveted young forward Andre Silva from Porto, set-piece specialist Hakan Calhanoglu from Bayern Leverkusen and veteran defensive midfielder Lucas Biglia from Lazio. When all was said and done, their total spent in the window neared €170 million. Talk about an overhaul.

Milan could end up back on top of Serie A for the first time since 2010-11. They may take awhile to gel, but still end up good enough to take them back to the Champions League for the first time in four seasons. It’s possible, but unlikely, that they will flounder with too many new players. What’s more likely, and the reason AC Milan make this list, is that they are hit with Financial Fair Play (FFP) repercussions.

You can read all about the FFP here. Essentially, in AC Milan’s case, their spending habits in this window will likely pass over the maximum loss limit in a given spending period, especially considering they only sold recouped €20 million in player sales.

Taking this risk could end up with large-scale financial hits to the club. Roma’s president sure thinks so. Milan, even with their new owners who splashed all this new money, could not afford to have a transfer ban or big fines. They are hoping getting back into the Champions League will void the money issue, but things could go even worse for them if they fail.