Galliani insists there are no Leonardo problems

Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani insisted yesterday that new coach Leonardo has the backing of the club, despite the former Brazil player's outspoken comments about the lack of signings.

Leonardo has cut a frustrated figure during pre-season as Milan failed to win any of their matches in the United States, losing to Club America, Chelsea and city rivals Inter while drawing with Los Angeles Galaxy.

They finished embarrassingly bottom of the World Football Challenge after which Leonardo claimed they need reinforcements.

"To be competitive we need something on the flanks and in attack but we have to see what we can do," said Leonardo.

"We started off looking at Dzeko, a dangerous striker in the box who exploits crosses. In this sense Huntelaar could be an alternative but he costs a lot."

After his outburst, though, Galliani insisted there was nothing to worry about. "There's no problem with Leonardo. We'll meet with Leonardo shortly," he said. "He's our coach and for sure we'll talk to him about the team and the transfer market situation."

Milan's lack of transfer activity has been a cause for consternation for many of the club's fans.

Kaka was sold to Real for €67 million while Paolo Maldini retired, David Beckham has gone back to Los Angeles and Andriy Shevchenko's loan deal ended.

The only acquisitions have been centre-backs Thiago Silva and Oguchi Onyewu, neither of which has got the fans excited but Galliani claims there is no sense of impending doom around the club.

"Are the fans pessimistic? I'm also a fan, who isn't pessimistic," he said.