AC Milan held the title of the most successful club in the history of club football until very recently when Al-Ahly and Real Madrid surpassed the Rossoneri. While Milan have long been the bastion for Italian footballers and is a club that prides itself on formulating Azzurri greats, they have reached the top echelons of club football based on some amazing moves in the transfer market.
Much like the rest of Italian football, Milan haven’t been big players in the transfer market in the recent past. Yet, whittling down the list of the best signings AC Milan have made to a Top 5 was no easy task, with many a Rossoneri legend missing out – note that this is a list of signings, not youth products, which explains the absence of Paolo Maldini
Here are the best signings AC Milan have ever made:
5 Gunnar Nordahl
A 27-year-old Swedish striker arriving from Sweden mid-season on the 22nd of January 1949 would not have appeared a game-changing signing to many Milan fans, especially with Italian football not looking too keenly upon foreigners at that time. However, Nordahl’s transfer completely changed the transfer policy of Milan, and also re-wrote their record books.
With 16 goals from his first 15 games in his first six months, the Milan faithful were given a sneak preview of what was to come, with Nordholm plundering a club record 210 goals for AC Milan in 257 games, winning a record Capocannonieri award five times, the most of any player in Italian footballing history.
Along his goal-scoring exploits, Nordholm was the inspiration for Milan ending their 44 year wait for a Scudetto, with the Milan striker ending his spell in Italy finishing with two league titles, 4 Coppa Italia trophies and 2 Latin Cups.
Nordholm’s success in his first season had the Milan board displaying their approval of foreign imports by signing fellow Swedes Grunnar Gren and Niels Liedholm to form the famous Gre-No-Li trio, which meant that the Dutch and Brazilian imports to AC Milan in the following decades were welcomed.
4 Gianni Rivera
Juventus have broken the Serie A transfer record by signing Gonzalo Higuain for 90 million euros, although when AC Milan spent 90 million in 1960, it was in lire, to sign Gianni Rivera from Alessandria in what was then a record transfer fee, worth about $200,000. To make things even more stunning, Rivera was 16-years-old and was handed the #10 jersey, and he went on to prove his ‘Golden Boy’ moniker was extremely apt.
In his 19 year stay at Milan, Rivera went on to captain the club for 12 of those seasons, appearing 501 times and scoring 160 goals in total. His passing and driblling ability was second to none, and Rivera managed to earn a Ballon d’Or win in 1969, after a couple of heart-breaking near misses.
Rivera’s silverware cabinet bulged with multiple medals at the end of his career, with the Italian winning 3 league titles, 4 Coppa Italia trophies and 2 European Cups for AC Milan. Little wonder then, that many who saw him in the flesh for Milan still argue that he was the greatest Italian footballer to play the game.
Rivera’s association with AC Milan carried on after his retirement, as he rose to the position of Vice-President, before leaving when Silvio Berlusconi bought the club.
3 Kaka
€8,500,000 is a fairly significant amount, even in the madness of football’s financial bubble. However, when that is the amount that gets you Kaka in his prime, Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi was absolutely correct to describe his transfer fee as ‘peanuts’.
The Brazilian was highly sought after when he was displaying his unique brand of footballing magic for Sao Paolo in Brazil. Yet, Adriano Galliani worked his magic and Kaka appeared in a Rossoneri jersey in 2003. What followed will go down in history – Kaka became synonymous with pivotal moments in Milan’s successful spell, both domestically and in Europe.
The assist for Shevchenko that won a Serie A title, the ‘Pass of the Century’ for Crespo’s third in the heartbreaking loss to Liverpool in the 2005 Champions League final – these were just glimpses into how magically Kaka was able to control and win games for Milan.
His first spell with Milan ended when Real Madrid came calling for a giant fee, but as he wanted, Kaka returned and ‘grew old’ with Milan in 2013. While the fairytale dimmed, there will be plenty of die-hard Rossoneri faithful who can describe every single one of his 61 assists and 105 goals for Milan.
2 Marco van Basten
The €600,000 that Adriano Galliani parted with for Marco van Basten in 1987 represents the best bit of business of the famed Milanese transfer wizard. AC Milan managed to sign three of Dutch football’s best players in successive years, with Frank Rijkaard and Ruud Gullit joining their compatriot on Italian shores in 1988.
However, what van Basten went on to achieve will go down in history – famed for his improvised volleys and moments of pure genius, goal-scoring numbers became a mere background to his artistry on the pitch, with the Dutchman picking up the Ballon d’Or in 1988, 1989 and 1992 – while also being named the 6th best player in FIFA’s ‘Player of the Century’ poll.
Van Basten scored 90 goals in his 147 games for Milan, winning multiple Capocannonieri awards as he inspired the Rossoneri to 4 Serie A titles and 2 European Cups. Yet, to Milanese faithful, the Dutchman remains a tragic tale – his ankle injury in 1993 proved so troublesome that he retired in 1995, with his last game for the Rossoneri the loss to Marseille in the final of the UEFA Champions League.
Despite his short-lived spell, many Milan fans consider him the greatest striker to have ever played for the famed Italian club, which says it all.
1 Cesare Maldini
One of the greatest dynasties in football would never have existed if not for AC Milan luring a young centre-back from a small club called Triestina. Cesare Maldini was a callow 22 year old when he transferred to Milan in 1954, and even if Nostradamus was a Rossoneri fan, he could scarcely have predicted the impact that single signature had on the fortunes of the club.
Cesare Maldini went on to become one of Milan’s stalwarts, winning 4 Serie A league titles, including one in his debut season. His greatest moment, however, was lifting the European Cup in 1962/63, when Milan defeated Benfica to win their first ever European Cup, with Maldini becoming the first Italian to ever hold that trophy aloft. The elder statesman went on to manage Milan after his playing career, but a more significant contribution to Milanese history came from the fruit of his loins.
Paolo Maldini, son of Cesare Maldini, is one of the Italian clubs favourite sons, notwithstanding his bittersweet farewell to the club thanks to some ungrateful ultras. Considered one of the greatest defenders to have ever played the game, the Maldini dynasty is synonymous with Milan, with the club in mourning when Cesare died in April earlier this year. To think 50+ years of history would have never occured if not for a single signing is a truly sobering thought.
