Allegri: Arsenal must buy big

Posted Tuesday, March 06, 2012 by ESPN

AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri insists that Arsenal will never win big trophies until they sign top players.

"For me it's impossible to win the title or Champions League without signing big players," Allegri said in an interview with the Sun.

"You will never do it without big players. That goes for Arsenal, Milan or any big club. You must buy big.

"I have a strong team but in that I have three big players, bringing experience, character, technical ability and leadership. You need leaders.

"For me in every team there are two leaders. One technical and tactical leader and one with character.

"In Milan our technical leader is Zlatan Ibrahimovic. In terms of character, until last year, it was Rino Gattuso. Now Mark Van Bommel or Thiago Silva."

The Rossoneri recently dismantled Arsenal 4-0 at the San Siro in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League first knockout round encounter with Ibrahimovic - one of the club's 'big players' - starring in the rout.

And Allegri believes it would be a mistake for Milan to let go of their star players - no matter the price - just as Arsenal did when they sold Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri to Barcelona and Manchester City in the summer.

"If in the summer Milan sells our big players the message the players and the fans will receive is that the club lack ambition." Allegri said.

"When you start to build the team, the big players must stay. Three, four or five years. You need three or four years to win the Champions League.

"My plan is to win the Champions League with Milan in the next two years.

"If we are lucky we can make the final this year but Real Madrid and Barcelona are a step above everyone.

"Though if we face them in one game, anything can happen."

Both Milan and Arsenal head into Tuesday's second leg in good form with the Serie A outfit beating Palermo 4-0 on Saturday while the Gunners beat Liverpool 2-1 over the weekend.