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FOCUS: when Jackson Martinez was about to join Milan
Last summer, AC Milan were about to sign the French midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia for about €35 million plus bonuses: finally, the 22-year-old joined the city rivals Inter, and this made the rossoneri fans mad; the Lombard club’s executives were heavily criticized, but probably they had set their best strike on the transfer market; the Frenchman’s performances have in fact been not so convincing; but, as we said earlier, we must try to be honest and realistic; probably, Kondogbia will need another season to get used to the new ambiance; for sure, he has avoided some more anger to Milan’s fans, who didn’t appreciate the €20 million spent by their club for Andrea Bertolacci. Last night, the 29-year-old forward Jackson Martinez has left Atletico Madrid to join Guangzhou Evergrande for €42 million; at the Colchoneros, the Colombia international has spent most of his time on the bench. Martinez too seemed about to join the Lombard club. And also in this case, Milan can be happy for missing another target.
The question is: how can a club like AC Milan rejoice for what it has missed, instead of being glad for a signing? As we said, we must remain honest and realistic, but for sure, as it takes a long time to build a club’s history, it takes very short to destroy it.
M.G. - adapted from an article by Alessandro Di Gioia
