There is no soap opera or media circus surrounding the negotiations for the possible immediate arrival of Jean-Philippe Mateta at Milan. Yesterday, the Rossoneri sent a member of their medical staff to assess the condition of the French striker’s knee. This is a procedure we already saw last summer in the cases of Marc Pubill and Victor Boniface. The reason behind what might appear to be excessive caution is actually much simpler: Milan wanted to be sure they are writing a €35 million cheque for a healthy player who poses no clinical risks.
On December 18, several English outlets reported that Crystal Palace were hoping their striker would not need knee surgery, a scenario that was later avoided. Recently, however, further medical feedback did arrive, and it was made clear that the AC Milan management decided against signing Mateta and definitively walked away from the deal. The transfer market is over, and the club may shift focus to a new target for the summer. The technical time frame for completing the transfer was there, especially since the two clubs have agreed on everything.
On Saturday, the long-awaited contract renewal of Mike Maignan finally arrived.
This is an event worth analysing in some of its finer details. A week ago, I told you about the behind-the-scenes reconciliation between Maignan and Giorgio Furlani, while today it is right to focus on two key aspects that helped change Mike’s mind: the team and his relationship with Claudio Filippi. Let’s start with his teammates. After the collapse of the summer negotiations with Chelsea, all the Milan players with significant weight in the dressing room, Gabbia, Leao, Pulisic, Modric, Tomori above all, quietly but firmly pushed Maignan to reopen talks over a renewal. Everyone at Milanello wanted him to stay, and from what emerges, this show of attachment from his teammates had a major impact on Maignan, in a context where physical availability, recovery routines, and even details such as creams for pain management increasingly form part of a player’s daily balance.
The second aspect is linked to Claudio Filippi:
The goalkeeping coach brought to Milanello by Massimiliano Allegri in the summer has been able to get inside Mike’s head with patience, firmness, determination, and credibility. In recent years, Maignan has struggled somewhat with the frequent seasonal changes of goalkeeping coaches, despite always holding Gigi Ragno in very high regard, with stints under Dida, Roma, and Tony Roberts (specifically requested by him), as well as those from the staffs of Fonseca and Conceição, who for different reasons were unable to provide continuity in their work. Filippi arrived at Milanello with a strong aura around him, and Maignan knew exactly who he was about to work with, because if you helped make Buffon what Buffon became in the history of football, then you are far from average, as pointed out by Milan News today.
Mike Maignan has been captivated by Filippi’s methods. A perfectionist, Filippi tells you during the exercise itself whether you are doing things correctly or whether you need to improve a single technical gesture. Mike found exactly what he was looking for, given that in the past he has always wanted to understand and discuss the why and how behind certain training situations, or why he needed to make specific micro-movements to make a save or a charge more effective. Filippi made him feel strong again and also acted as a kind of psychologist, leading him to a level of focus perhaps never seen before. All for the better.
