With Olivier Giroud departing the club this summer, AC Milan have been extensively linked with signing a new striker, and it appears that they have decided who will fire them into a new era.
Even if Giroud had stayed at the club for another season, investment into a new No.9 was needed, and the Frenchman, hypothetically, would have played a bit-part role on the pitch but a large part off it, ensuring that the mentality of the squad is what Milan demand.
However, that has not happened, with him set to depart to America. With Luka Jovic not proving he can be the starter, it means that the Rossoneri have to turn to the mercato for a new striker, and for a period, it has been between two. Joshua Zirkzee and Benjamin Sesko.
Gazzetta dello Sport (via Pianeta Milan) reported this morning that Sesko is now the preference for Milan for several reasons, and they will break their transfer record for his signature.
Similarities can be drawn between the profiles of Giroud, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Sesko, with their physical and technical abilities which are highly admired, and play a pivotal part in the decision.
However, there are other reasons why Sesko is seen as ‘the one’ as opposed to others. For Zirkzee, Sesko has more league goals. For Guirassy, Sesko is substantially younger than him. For Gyokeres, Sesko has Champions League experience, and the Swede does not.
I agree, we should try to get Sesko as he’s more of a natural number 9 than Zirkzee
I think it depends also on the system, a playing striker like Zirkzee will profit from a 4-3-3 or potentially a 2 striker system.
Sesko we can easily deploy as a more isolated striker and just feed him.
Last time I checked, Šeško plays in a two striker formation both in Leipzig and Slovenia NT. He’s a good player no doubt, but we don’t really know how he’ll cope being alone up there.
The best choice
Artem Dovbyk from Girona is better and cheaper. His transfer value is 31m which might rise since he is currently the leading goal scorer in Spain La Liga. Smh
With a decent coach and an advice or two from Ibra, Sesko can become a top striker.
A good prospect, but I said many times, kid plays in two striker formation both with Leipzig and Slovenia NT.
New league + new system? Maybe with a proper coach…
The system is not an issue, but I suspect he will want to stay at Leipzig to gain more experience before taking a bigger step and move to a bigger team.
Sesko is the best profile…hope they won’t wait the last minute and fail to secure him…like Dibala and others. Haaaa AC …
Are we so sure that Leipzig is looking to sell Sesko and if so, why? He’s only been there for one season. I’m sure they’ll sell him eventually but there’s no rush, he’s only 20 years old and if he’s really that good his value should only go up even higher after another 1-2 seasons there.
They are not willing to sell him, but there is a release clause in his contract. If another club pay it, Leipzig can do nothing.
Sesko is better than the others right now & probably for Milan as well
but Milan will not sign him
reason #1: Moneyball Moncada won’t see the profit in it
reason #2: Arsenal moved for Zirkzee, so Milan are playing hardball & making media about going for Arsenal’s target
but it’s all just noise. At the end of the season a big team (most likely Arsenal after selling Gabriel Jesus) will buy Sesko & we’ll end up with Zirkzee
We’re a selling team now (a moneyball Moncada special team), not real madrid. We’ll end up with the last choice, the reject of the pack and we’ll sign them and prop them up as the next “champion”.
Without Maldini, Milan can’t sign top players unless they massively overpay which they cannot
I find it hard to believe they would pay 50+mil for Sesko. But let’s wait and see.
i agree any of the idiot managers we are bringing in are not profiles to get the best outta zirkzee unless its thiago motta
The actual answer to this question is not contained in this article.
It is resale value. There are a number of risks chosing Sesko as the 9 for next season and even the season after. Ultimate ability is not the problem.
Age, experience, ability to play more than 3,000 minutes and the tactical side of the game are the potential problems. What’s his hold-up play going to look like in a league in which the opposition knows how to defend, particularly in big matches? We’ve seen Vlahovic get found out and take a long time to adjust. We know Zirkzee is elite in this aspect of the game which enables him to contribute to a game the whole time he is on the pitch. He helps Bologna retain the ball and move it forward.
I think Sesko will be a better player but Zirkzee is clearly a more advanced player at this point in time. If they’re going to sign Sesko, a reliable back up is needed because it should be expected that he’ll take up to 24 months to find his feet.
We have the recent experience of CDK and are seemingly not prepared to learn from it.