Antonio Nocerino: The last minute swoop
The last few hours of the 'mercato' can be described as nothing but pure and utter mayhem for teams, players, journalists and fans. Whilst technical directors and managers have their phone permanently attached to their ears, the fans are sitting on the edge of their chairs anxiously waiting to see whether a big swoop will take place, or whether or not a beloved player of theirs leaves the club.
For Milan it was last day madness like no other. Before the final day Milan's transfer gurus Adriano Galliani and Ariedo Braida had declared 'il nostro mercato e' chuiso' (our market is closed)- sure we had heard these words before; it was just last year they said the same thing but landed up notching Robinho in the final hours.
As any Milanista knows, never, and I repeat, never believe a word Uncle Fester has to say when it comes to player signings. Not only can he lead the fans grasping at every word that comes out of his mouth but he can create such propaganda - which people still fall for- about potential player arrivals, that are just down right insatiable.
Despite Galliani often fooling us Milanisti into such a belief, resulting in many getting angry at him when no such prolific player arrives, many of us still tend to fall into the trap and get swopped into the idealistic world Galliani has so beautifully painted.
This year was no different.
Galliani opted to go for the title of Mr X; creating the illusion that a big name player would join the Serie A champions. He even went so far as to state his shoe size, nevertheless; to cut a long story short, no such player arrived leaving many fans upset.
As we came into the final few hours of the 'mercato' many Milanisti had lost hope and rather followed the last minute transfers out of pure footballing interest than in hope of Galliani bringing in a player. After all, the mercato was by no means bad for Milan; seeing Philippe Mexes, Taye Taiwo, Stefan El Shaawary and Alberto Aquilani all arrive.
No matter how hard it is to admit it, and despite the amount of times we all say never trust a word Galliani says, we all do. Yes, we actually believed that this time the well oiled, ancient door was truly closed with regards to the Rossoneri's mercato.
However, true to form Galliani and Braida netted up a swoop that no journalist, player or fan could have expected. In the final 45minutes, of what was undoubtedly a final day of utter mayhem in the transfer window Galliani surpirsed all by bringing back to the San Siro... Antonio Nocerino! A clever and solid buy, at the value of 1m, for five years plus the co-ownership of Ferreira between Milan and Palermo, could only but put a wide smile across the Milanisti faces.
A perfect replacement for the injured Mathieu Flamini, Nocerino provides depth and the stability to the midfield that was still lacking something which quite evident to see during preseason matches.
So Uncle Fester goes on to pull another cat out of the hat and one that he can be exceptionally proud about. Although, not the type of player that would fill the criteria of Mr X, Antonio Nocerino is a significant replacement that can only do well in Mister Allegri's side.
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