ADRIANO GALLIANI says he’d rather resign Thiago than Ibra and claims a defender will arrive in the summer.

Milan have to win tomorrow night against Juventus to keep their hopes for second place alive as a defeat would end the Rossoneri’s dreams and could also put the third place at risk given the rather comfortable fixtures of Napoli and Fiorentina.

Milan 2013 are still without a defeat in Serie A and although Juventus are leading the Italian league with a 15-point lead over Milan, Milan chief Adriano Galliani, who starts thinking about next year’s race, believes the teams are currently level.

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“I do not want to create any tension before the match,” Vice President Galliani told Gazzetta.it. “They will try and beat us, and we will try and beat them. In the last 24 matches we have won as many points as Juve. We do not have an inferiority complex. I believe that if we start with the same squads next year, we wouldn’t have a 15-point lead but they wouldn’t either.

“For the past 24 rounds we’ve been equal Remember that in the last five seasons we have won more points than any other team. If there was a table like the one for the UEFA tournaments, we would be first. Antonio Conte said that it will be several years before Juve can win the Champions League? I agree with him. It is very hard to compete with Bayern and Barcelona.

“The market? Milan should develop top players, not buy them. Then, perhaps, we could even sell the odd player, like we did in July 2012 when we completely revolutionised the team because we decided on a policy based on developing our younger players. If we buy anyone, it will be a defender. Ibra joining Juve? He is a professional. We did not want to let him go, but his wages were way beyond our limit. Would we re-sign him or Thiago? You win the league by letting in fewer goals.

Balotelli was bought for solely footballing reasons. He has shown that with his goals and his performances. He is a truly important asset of both Milan and the national team. It is never an advantage to lose a great player. I think Mario’s two-match ban for insulting a match official was a bit excessive,” he added.” Nedved said he hopes Balotelli can play against Juventus? I’m sure he’s thinking about the time he missed the Champions League final in 2003 after being booked in the semi-final.” The federal court decided on Friday to reduce Balotelli’s ban to one match so he’ll still miss Juventus.

“There is no El Shaarawy issue. On Sunday the coach decided that Robinho would play. He accepted being on the bench against Napoli, just as Van Basten did. El Shaarawy has played more than any other Milan player this season. It’s very normal for a 20-year old to have ups and downs. I think he will start against Juventus but that’s up to the coach to decide.

“Robinho? He wanted to go back to Santos. He turned down all the other offers. He is a great player. We will wait to hear what he has to say.” Robinho told La Gazzetta dello Sport that he wants to stay at Milan and won’t leave this summer.

“We always wait till the end of the season to decide on renewing a player’s contract, because we need to know whether we will be playing in the UCL. Our finances are in good shape. We have balanced our books. I speak to Allegri every day. I haven’t spoken to any other coach. He is staying. Of course if he loses the last six games… I don’t think that could happen…

“We consider the San Siro to be our stadium. It’s a beautiful stadium and holds a lot of people (the average attendance declined 10% during the 2011-12 season). It’s not new, but it is a famous stadium. If Inter leave, we will try and modernise it. We have tried to buy San Siro several times, but the Milano municipality wants way too much money for it. Milan owned San Siro from 1926 to around 1936 when it was sold to the Milano municipality. Inter started playing at San Siro in 1946 and since then it has been a ménage à trois between Milan, Inter and the municipality. There must be a reason why none of us has managed to build our own stadium other than Juve. We are probably partly to blame, but so are our politicians.”

There are already rumors about the center back Milan will get. Milan close to signing the 18-year-old Colombian defender Jherson Vergara Amú but Sky expects Milan to sign another CB – Benatia and Ogbonna are mentioned as options.