AC Milan’s versatile defender Gianluca Zambrotta has extended his contract with the Rossoneri until June 2012. Despite his age, this is one deal that i am very pleased with. Zambrotta is still a very good player and i believe, the next two years will produce the best in him.
Gifted with a natural attacking ability, Zambrotta was one of the few Azzurri players who stood out in the World Cup. The former Barcelona and Juventus player joined Milan in May 2008 signing a 3 year contract earning him annual wages of 4 million Euros.
It is not known whether his contract extension has been improved however, i bet it is rather obvious that Milan are not ready to spend anything more than 4 million Euros on any player including their stars like Ronaldinho and Seerdorf.
A statement on the club’s official website confirmed this:
“A.C Milan communicates to have extended the contract of Gianluca Zambrotta until June 30, 2012.”
With right back Massimo Oddo also renewing his contract and the signing of Sokratis Papapthastopoulos, Milan’s defense should be water tight next season. A key worry however for many of its fans is whether the club will sign an additional attacker who can partner well with Pato and Ronaldinho upfront.
Sevilla’s Fabiano and Wolfsburg’s Dzeko have been consistently linked with a move to the San Siro but Milan has backed out of any negotiations due to the hefty buy-out prices that these clubs are asking for.
Moreover, the club needs a young player who has a lengthy career ahead of him. Milan problems can be closely compared with those that Arsenal are experiencing. Arsene Wenger believes that the future of Arsenal lies with the youth and he has gone onto to buy many young players who were largely unheard of and nurtured them into world class players.
Wenger also has a strict policy where the club does not offer more than a one year contract extension to players who are over the age of 30. Now, this policy is very good if you are running a youth team however, if you are competing in major competitions against very strong teams and expect a youthfully side to carry the day at the expense of experience, you must be dreaming.
Similarly, if a team majorly consists of old players and is regularly competing against young and agile opponents, there is no way they can be successful. A perfect solution would be to blend both the young and old to produce a killer winning combination.
If both Milan and Arsenal can do this, i do not see any reason why they cannot dominate their respective leagues. Ironically, both these teams meet in a pre-season friendly on July 31st in Arsenal’s Emirates stadium for the Emirates Cup.
Photo credit: from milan-fans.tk