AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi says he's appalled by the "sacrilegious" sums being spent by Real Madrid in off-season transfers in a time of economic crisis.
The Italian Prime Minister says in this time of crisis Real Madrid and other teams are putting sums on the table which can only be qualified as mad and that's a euphemism.
The Spanish giants have splashed out a total of 550 million dollars on eight players, including 200 million for Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United and 145 million for AC Milan's Brazilian star Kaka.
There has been disquiet among Milan fans that in return they have not seen any star names arrive at the San Siro.
