Prince to Schalke

In shocking news this morning, at least for me, Kevin Prince Boateng was sold in just a matter of a couple hours to Bundesliga club, Schalke 04. Prince was expected to be sold at some point in the summer and rumours were flying around of what might happen to him. Eventually, the rumors died down and talks of his sale disappeared and he went on to smash in 2 goals against PSV in the Champions League preliminaries to put Milan into the group stage. Two days later, he's not even on the team anymore. Kevin was always a good player for Milan, but he was world class two seasons ago when he had Ibrahimovic leading the attack. When he's used the right way, in the right formation, Boateng can be an absolute deadly threat to any defense. It was a great move for him to make, as Germany is his home and he's always expressed his desire to go back to what he calls "the best league in the world." This move now leaves Milan with some decisions to make. Kaka has said he wants out of Madrid immediately and would love to come back to Milan, while Honda has been set to join Milan for what seems like years now. For me, I would want Milan to get Kaka now and then get Honda for free in January. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like it'll work out that way. Kaka has extremely high wages, which Milan just simply can't afford and for the level of Kaka's play, he doesn't really deserve. Kaka is also not willing to lower his wages very much, not because of greed, but so he can still fund his charity in Brazil. It seems like a return is more likely not to happen, as Galliani has now started to really push to sign Honda right away. There's only a couple days left in the transfer window so it should all be clear very soon. In the end, it was nice Big Bang Boateng could leave on a good note.

Stephan Needs Mario

The first half of the 2012-13 season couldn't have gone any better for Stephan. He scored 15 goals before the break and was Milan's savior in multiple matches. He gained the nickname "il Faraone", the Pharaoh. It was looking like the break out year that everyone was expecting. However, the second half of the season was the exact opposite. With the purchase of Mario Balotelli in January, everyone thought the goal scoring would continue. It did, but only for one person, Mario Balotelli. Stephan went match after match of not scoring a goal. Many people believed it was Balotelli who was causing this massive fall from grace for Stephan. They couldn't have been more wrong. Despite not scoring, he played very well with Mario which many people did not realize. He created many scoring opportunities for Mario and other teammates. He was fantastic in both legs against Barcelona(without Mario), but still did not score. It was simply a coincidence that Stephan stopped scoring right when Balotelli joined the team.

It is reasonable to conclude though, that Stephan still had a drop in form. This continued into the national team at the Confederations Cup. Prandelli wouldn't start him and when Stephan did start, he was near nonexistent. Then came Prandelli's shocking comments about Stephan. He said Stephan "needs to show more character". This is the last thing someone would expect to come out of someone's mouth about El Shaarawy. He presents himself as pure class and everything Milan represents. It was becoming an extremely strange situation. Then it got even weirder, the rumours of an El Shaarawy sale were coming up. Teams like Manchester City, Real Madrid and PSG all apparently sent Milan formal transfer offers. After the Confederations Cup, Galliani spoke with Stephan to determine the future of the young star. El Shaarawy said that he wants to stay at Milan at all costs and could not see himself playing anywhere else. This was very comforting news for Milanisti. It was decided that Stephan would not be sold.

Recently, in the preason with Milan, Stephan played extremely well and you can tell he was mentally ready. Before, he was mentally exhausted and his confidence was completely diminished. Now, he's playing with a lot more energy and confidence and even scoring goals to prove it. Milan has yet to see him and Balotelli play together while both are in form. Mario Balotelli is the perfect striker partner for Stephan. Mario was bought to not only score goals, but also take pressure of off Stephan. Before, Stephan was in the spot light and had all the attention on him. Playing for Milan, with all that media attention at such a young age is extremely difficult. Balotelli loves the spotlight. He wants everybody to be watching him and he's used to it. This is exactly what Stephan needs. Balotelli almost never has a bad game and is as reliable of a forward as they come. This allows El Shaarawy to completely focus on his game and be productive. Mario is somebody Stephan can look to not only on the field, but off of it as well.

Mario may appear as arrogant or cocky on the field, but everyone says he's a very genuine and kind person and you can tell it in his interviews. He plays loud, but he's soft spoken and cares about his teammates and also extremely confident. He enjoys the media always looking to him and Stephan can feed off of that. He can take some of Mario's confidence and friendship and use it to his advantage on the field. Mario also has more experience than Stephan and can teach him how to handle things in certain situations. Since they are so close in age, they can also be extremely close friends and that can translate to their chemistry on the pitch.

We have yet to see both Mario Balotelli and Stephan El Shaarawy play together while both of them are in form. If both of them are scoring goals at their usual rate, it could be not only one of most potent offenses in Serie A, but also in Europe.

Predicted Serie A Table

At this point in the transfer window, I don't think any teams will be making any signings that would make a huge impact on where they finish in the table. That being said, this is only a rough prediction on where I think each Italian club will finish.

1. Juventus
2. Milan
3. Fiorentina
4. Napoli
5. Roma
6. Inter
7. Udinese
8. Lazio
9. Parma
10. Catania
11. Sampdoria
12. Chievo Verona
13. Atalanta
14. Bologna
15. Cagliari
16. Genoa
17. Torino
18. Hellas Verona
19. Livorno
20. Sassuolo

It's very difficult to predict the bottom end of the table, but I'm fairly confident in the upper half. Let's see how correct I am.