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Great expectations Rivaldo signing brings pleasure, pressure to AC MilanPosted: Sunday July 28, 2002 10:44 PMMILAN, Italy (Reuters) -- AC Milan's signing of Brazilian World Cup winner Rivaldo has gone some way to restoring the club's status in European football but it will increase the pressure on coach Carlo Ancelotti to deliver trophies. Rivaldo, who was available on a free transfer after canceling his contract with Spanish club Barcelona last week, signed a three-year deal with Milan on Saturday. He will join up with his new teammates Thursday. Milan president Silvio Berlusconi, also Italy's prime minister, has never been shy of bringing out the checkbook when he believes his club need a top signing but they have not won a major honor since the Italian title won in 1999. Those three seasons have seen Milan lose the image, built under Berlusconi's reign, as a team of world class performers playing entertaining and attacking football. Berlusconi spent heavily to help create Arrigo Sacchi's squad which won the European Cup in 1989 and '90 and the media mogul invested again to assist Fabio Capello build the side which lifted the continent's premier trophy again in 1994. Top foreign players such as Marco Van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Dejan Savicevic and Zvonimir Boban ensured the stylish football Berlusconi has always insisted upon. But the recent decline has coincided with the president's decision to focus more on his political career than his interest in his club. It was, however, Berlusconi, whose Fininvest company owns Milan, who gave the go-ahead for the Rivaldo deal and Milan vice president Adriano Galliani says the signing has reactivated the premier's passion for the team. "It is a long time since I have heard from Berlusconi two or three times a day on Milan issues," said Galliani, who effectively runs the club on a day-to-day basis. "The approach for Rivaldo really got him going and he was involved right from the start."
Return on investmentBut having committed to a three-year contract for Rivaldo, reported to be worth an annual 4.5 million euros ($4.45 million) to the Brazilian, Berlusconi will expect a return on his investment. Captain Paolo Maldini, the only member of the Sacchi side still at the club, is convinced that Rivaldo can help put Milan back among the frontrunners in Serie A and in Europe. "This signing really boosts the whole atmosphere. It is a real coup for us particularly when you consider that a year ago he would have cost $50 million and now we have him on a free transfer. I think that is what you call a real deal. "We are ready to welcome him as the great champion that he is, one of the greatest ever to pull on our red and black shirts, and with him we are more than ever favorites," said Maldini. Coach Ancelotti now has an impressive range of strikers with Filippo Inzaghi, Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko, Denmark's Jon Dahl Tomasson and Rivaldo to choose from, as well as Portugal's attacking midfielder Rui Costa. But while it is likely that Ancelotti will opt for a more attacking formation than last season, probably with three strikers, there is bound to be fierce competition for places. "The signing of Rivaldo expands the level of quality we have and will also increase the internal competition in the side," Ancelotti said. "Rivaldo can play either behind two strikers or he can be up-front as one of the forwards himself. "It depends on the system we play but we know that he likes to attack teams from deep positions." Ancelotti also knows, from personal experience, that having the best in your squad adds to the levels of expectation. He was sacked as Juventus coach after his team, including former World Player of the Year Zinedine Zidane, twice finished runners-up in Serie A. Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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