AC Milan Chief Defends Massive Spending Spree & Claims Window Went 'Beyond Expectations'

AC Milan have revealed their £210m summer spending spree in the summer transfer window was required to re-establish themselves as not only a major force in the

AC Milan have revealed their £210m summer spending spree in the summer transfer window was required to re-establish themselves as not only a major force in the Serie A, but also in European football. 

The Italian club - who changed ownership in April to a Chinese-led consortium for €740m - made in excess of 11 signings across the summer which included the likes of Leonardo Bonucci, Andre Silva, Andrea Conti, Hakan Calhanoglu, Ricardo Rodríguez and Lucas Biglia.

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Following a number of seasons of mid-table finishes, the club's new owners were seemingly not wasting any time in their quest to reinstate Milan as a European force, and even the club's chief executive Marco Fassone was surprised at the level of their summer business.

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"It's been a very important transfer window which has gone beyond all our expectations, if we are being honest," Fassone said in a club interview on social media, via the Daily Mail.

"Things changed as we went along. Initially, the idea was to spend less, but we have spent over 230 million euros which is a lot of money. We will put it all onto this year's balance sheet, we want to be clear about that.''

With all their spending you'd think the Milan board expects a strong challenge for the title and may not even accept second spot this season

— Babak Golriz (@BabakGolriz) August 23, 2017

Fassone revealed that the club managed their dealings with players by 'limiting' the commission paid to agents - which totalled to a fee in the region of €12m - whilst selling players also allowed the club to live within their budget.

He added: "We have respected our budget, in fact we have done better than that and we have tried to be transparent and open about all the numbers...so I'm very satisfied with how we have dealt with this."

Fassone also went on to reveal that their wage bill for their transfer window business was expected to be between €110m and €120m for the financial year.

There remains a long way to go but Milan have got off to a promising start as they remain undefeated in the new campaign after winning their first two Serie A matches.