Rossoneri Round-up for 16 October: The absurdity of Yonghong Li’s ownership of Milan in one number

The ownership of Yonghong Li will go down in the history of Milan as an absurd time for the club. Dodgy owners with questionable finances are not new to football, but somehow this ownership group might go down as the craziest of all.

It wasn’t just the unknown element of Li, it wasn’t just the questions surrounding where he got the money to buy Milan at an insane price, and it wasn’t just the eventual and inevitable default on his loans that allowed Elliott Management to take over the club that will prove to be the most absurd.

What will go down as the most absurd thing about the ownership and the time at the club is that anyone ever took them seriously. Marco Fassone reportedly filed a business plan with UEFA that reported projected income from China to be around €90 million for the 2017-18 season. It’s actually come in at €606,000.

While UEFA was able to see through the smokescreen and smell the foul air emitting from the business plans submitted by Fassone, why didn’t anyone else in Italy? It all seems so strange now, but hey, all’s well that ends well, right?

With Elliott Management lending Li gobs of money at downright absurd rates and a rather quick payback time, perhaps Paul Singer & company also saw through the charade and saw an opportunity to pick up a legendary football club on the cheap.

On to the links.

AC Milan and Italian Football Links

Chelsea loanee Tiémoué Bakayoko might be on his way back to London. [AC Milan Offside]

The Fiorentina Women’s team wins the Supercoppa Italia. [Viola Nation]

Moise Kean is the future of both Italy and Juventus. [Black & White & Read All Over]

World Football Links

The Philadelphia Union’s “B” team, the Bethlehem Steel, are on their way to the playoffs after a 1-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rowdies. [Brotherly Game]

Minnesota United and Colorado Rapids players got into some fisticuffs over the weekend, and what happened isn’t exactly clear. [E Pluribus Loonum]

England beat Spain 3-2 in the first loss by Spain at home since 2003 in a competitive fixture. [BBC.com]

Spurs boss Daniel Levy said that Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium cost overruns hasn’t affected their transfer policy. [BBC.com]

Laurent Koscielny retired from the France national team and set any bridges back to the team on fire on his way out. [The Short Fuse]