While a lot of the attention surrounding AC Milan’s summer window will be about the players that arrive to strengthen the squad, some assessments will need to be made on the current players.
La Gazzetta dello Sport confirms that there will be at least four signings made this summer: a central defender, a right back, a defensive midfielder and a centre-forward. However, in order to free up lockers at Milanello some will need to be emptied.
A lot depends on who will arrive as the new head coach and that means the situations connected to several players remains quite fluid, as is normal for mid-May, but there are already some certainties. The paper has broken things down by department.
Goalkeepers
Mike Maignan’s situation is delicate. At the moment there are no real ‘alerts’ about his farewell, but two important reflections emerge.
The first is that the Frenchman has great ambitions for growth and above all a hunger for victories, in the sense of winning trophies. The second is that the negotiation table for the renewal is in a stalemate because there is a big gap between the offer and the demands.
Maignan’s performance levels this year have dropped, a factor to which is added a certain physical frailty. If someone comes knocking with a reasonable offer – Milan want €100m, an objectively exaggerated figure – Maignan would say goodbye. A replacement would then be signed.
Marco Sportiello will still remain as the back-up goalkeeper, Antonio Mirante (on an expiring contract) will leave, and it is possible that the third choice could be Lapo Nava.
Defence
The defensive department this season has been the Rossoneri’s Achilles’ heel. Compared to the Scudetto season, they have all dropped, some even drastic.
The reasoning made for Maignan therefore applies: in the event of offers that are up to par it will be a case of thank you and goodbye. The first name to combine with this reasoning is Pierre Kalulu, the second is Malick Thiaw.
Fikayo Tomori, on the other hand, is considered one of those to build around as well as Matteo Gabbia who has enjoyed a very positive second part of the season with the Rossoneri. Simon Kjaer and Mattia Caldara will leave when their deals expire.
Pay attention to Theo Hernandez. Of the three big names in the squad – the other two being Maignan and Leao – he seems to be the most likely to say goodbye in the event of a huge bid. Davide Calabria and Alessandro Florenzi will stay.
Midfield
There are two pillars to start from: Tijjani Reijnders and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. They won’t budge, and the same will most likely happen for Ismael Bennacer and Yunus Musah, who has plenty of room for improvement.
The situation of Tommaso Pobega and above all of Yacine Adli must be evaluated. The latter has been used more but has not totally convinced.
Attack
Olivier Giroud will leave a gap that will be filled by a new centre-forward. The chances of Luka Jovic’s stay, which have been fluctuating throughout the season, now seem to be leaning more towards positive.
Christian Pulisic is part of the small group of untouchables, but Samuel Chukwueze and Noah Okafor will also continue to work at Milanello.
Rafael Leao currently appears to be the most likely to stay out of the ‘big three’ mentioned earlier. Partly because his growth is far from being completed, but also partly because his €175m clause doesn’t correspond to the season he has had.
Let’s hope the management doesn’t make the stupid decision to sell one of our most imporant players and do actually grant them renewals.
Better to sell than let them leave for free. And the players can force a move if they want to leave. It takes two (or three) to tango.
we have the healthiest financial structure of the big teams.
can someone explain why we have a big player sale candidate…. are we still allowed to call our selves a big team?
It’s really quite simple. If somebody comes in with an offer that is enough to fund a replacement and then some you take it. Newcastle was willing to overpay for Tonali, so you take it. Look at all Milan was able to do with that. Add to that if a player wants to leave (see Tonali) you let them as they become a cancer in the squad otherwise. Maignan, Tomori, and Leao are all underperforming and should be sold if a suitable offer is received.
One more thing; EVERY team sells if the price is right. Do you want to see repeats of Dollaruma or Kessie and let players leave for free? Do you not think PSG are kicking themselves right now for not selling Mbappe last year?
You make very good points but not in regards to Leão underperforming. This is a FEELING by fans but it is not supported by facts.
Have you noticed that after the Cagliari game, he has just surpassed Giroud for the most goal contributions (goals + assists) of the season (all competitions)? He is at 26 now, and Giroud is at 25. Pulisic is at 24. The main 3 front guys have very similar numbers, with Rafa now on top. So I fail to see why Pulisic is considered untouchable while Rafa is not. (Don’t read me wrong, I love Pulisic; he is the name on the back of my Milan 2023-24 jersey and I think he was the team’s best signing; but just saying, how fans are generally positive about Puli but negative about Rafa; for me it’s hard to understand).
Rafa is also only 2 goals behind what he achieved last season goals-wise (while having way more assists than last season; he’s been playing more for the team, assisting his companions), with still two games to go – not forgetting that he has more assists, he could still equal the number of goals he achieved last season.
Like ALL players ALL over the world, Rafa has had quiet games and bad performances. NO player, not even Messi, is outstanding every game. That’s impossible. But when Rafa has a quiet or bad game, fans are all over him, even booing him. I find it disgraceful. It would be like booing Messi every time he isn’t spectacular. (I’m not saying that Leão is as good as Messi, arguably the GOAT; I’m just saying that EVEN Messi has plenty of bad games).
Yes, Leão has had bad games, but has ALSO had several outstanding performances. Yes, he is irregular and needs more consistency. Yes, he still has a need for growth. But, he IS INDEED our most talented player.
Why is the fan base so negative about our biggest talent? It’s mind-boggling. Oh, because we expect more from him? Yes, we do and should expect a lot from him, but he HAS delivered a lot to us, and this is not always recognized.
Phew, saved me a write up. I also don’t get why Leao is having a not so good season but the opposite winger is having a great season 🤷♂️ even though Leao not only leads in goals/assists stats but pretty much most attacking stats. Mind boggling
Yep, and guess what? I just saw an article saying that Leão is second regarding goal contributions, of ALL players in ALL five big European leagues. Here are the numbers:
Anthony Gordon, 29 – Newcastle
Rafael Leao, 26 – Milan
Cole Palmer, 25 – Chelsea
Florian Wirtz, 24 – Bayer Leverkusen
Ollie Watkins, 24 – Aston Villa
Nico Williams, 23 – Athletic Bilbao
Rodri, 23 – Manchester City
Kai Havertz, 22 – Arsenal
Savio, 22 – Girona
Alex Baena, 21 – Villarreal
Xavi Simmons, 21 – RB Lipsia
Alex Grimaldo, 21 – Bayer Leverkusen
Bukayo Saka, 21 – Arsenal
Martin Odegaard, 21 – Arsenal
Jonas Hofmann, 21 – Bayer Leverkusen
Weird that this list doesn’t include Giroud’s 25 and Pulisic’s 24 goal contributions, but it is still interesting to see how Rafa outperformed all those other players in all those big clubs.
Okaaaaayyyyy…. so how on Earth the SECOND MOST PROLIFIC player in all big five European leagues is underperforming???
It’s mind-boggling indeed.
I will tell you what: I’m not accusing the poster I responded to, who seems to be a reasonable person and made very good points. Not him.
But some fans, I think they dislike Leão or disregard his accomplishments out of racism. Sorry, but it does seem to be true. A very common claim is that Rafa is “lazy” which seems to be a stand-in for racial stereotypes regarding black people. I mean, even when Rafa does help the defense, does track back, does produce an assist or a goal or both, we see online people still calling him “lazy.” Whoa!
@Luigi:
can you link this article ? How did they come up with those numbers ?
I doesn’t seem to include only wingers or left wingers, so how do they not have Vinicius Junior (32 goal contribution), Foden (36 goal contribution), Haaland (42 goal contribution), Kane (56 goal contribution), Rodrygo (26 goal contribution),….
Really simple, he is lazy and disinterested. That plus what his supposed value is. Not saying to sell cheaply, but if an offer comes in for enough to address many needs, take it. Nobody is irreplaceable.
Messi might have had poor games in your opinion, but he at least was always trying, Leao often gives up. And he is nowhere near as good of a player as most Milan fans think he is. One more total goal + assist than Giroud? Do they mean the Giroud that most on here rail about being old and useless, who is in fact fourth in Serie A in goals and fourth in assists?
Milan sold Kaka and Shevchenko, both far better than Leao, and as luck would have it were proven right to do so when they did. Never hold onto an asset hoping that you will get value from it if you can sell now for more than it’s worth. My home is worth about 500,000, if someone offered me a million I’d hand them the keys in a second.
“But some fans, I think they dislike Leão or disregard his accomplishments out of racism.”
You are definitely mistaken lazy for racism. Grow up, would you?
I think the criticism for Rafa is rampant because of the price tag he is often associated with. As you said, the contributions are on par with Giroud and Pulisic, but both of these players dont strut around with a 150 to 175M tag. With that kind of tag, you’re expected to do much, much more to justify that. Afterall, how many goals he scored in CL this year? I know it’s group of death, but still, a person like Leao, should ve the one firing us up and making the difference.
I’m a fan of Leao, and I am sure we all are. This is WHY we criticize him, because we all saw things in him and just dont want him to turn into another Balotelli who wasted it all away. He should be more ambitious, train the shootings and get that responsibility of taking penalty next season. Statpad your way up, be couragous to take up more responsibilities instead of shying away from it. Show more hunger and grinta. A better body language would inspire his teammates and us watching at home, really.
Not the price tag associated but the salary they collect. Rafa wanted to be the best paid player so he’d better act and perform like one too.
Pulisic can have a bad offensive game, but still hustles on defense and does work. Should Leão have a bad offensive game, it’s generally a bad game all around. Appearance is everything.
I agree that Leao can be the subject of some harsh criticism, but for the most part, I do not believe most fans to be wrong. How long has the club given him time to reach his potential? How many other players haven’t been given the light of day to do the same? CDK barely got enough game time for him to get off the mark and now we seem to have let go of a gem of a player that Atalanta are more than happy to dish out up to 26 mil for. If other talents barely get a season to show what they’ve got, how is it Leao cannot give the level of consistency that everyone is waiting for him to show so that his name can finally be considered amongst the “World Class” conversation. Also, I’m not sure what more Adli has to do to show what he’s about. He’s easily been in our top 3 midfielders this season showing range in his passing ability and lots of grit when off the ball. Why the negative remarks still? There has been a marked improvement from him which is more than I can say for most of our continuing players
Just look at the post I just posted above. Leão this season is the second most prolific player in goal contributions, in all five big leagues (EPL, Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga and League 1). How is that NOT world class???
And let’s not say that Serie A is easier. Actually, this is some self-deprecation that is also mind-boggling. Serie A is defensively very capable, maybe the most capable league in terms of good defense. Serie A has now just surpassed La Liga as the second best overall league according to UEFA rankings, just behind the EPL. Serie A has reached the European finals 5 out 6 in the last two seasons. Do notice how the EPL horribly flopped this season in Europe, with all its prestigious teams being eliminated, while Serie A still has two teams that made the finals.
Anyway, back to Rafa: How can we call the second most prolific European player, someone who underperforms???
CDK = better suited for Atalanta’s system. Sure, he thrives there. But also, he seemed to struggle in an environment that has more pressure, Milan. Maybe it’s a mental thing. Sure, he has done well at Atalanta this season, but I’m not sure he would have achieved the same numbers at Milan, had he stayed. Remember, he was featured 41 times at Milan, and got 1 assist, period. People say that Rafa’s first season also wasn’t good. True, but it was still WAY BETTER than CDK’s first (and only) season.
Also, do realize that CDK asked to leave and join Atalanta. Keeping an unhappy player who wants to leave is bad for the locker room. Rafa, instead, has always said that he is happy at Milan and wants to stay.
Adli = He is just as irregular as Rafa. He has had great games (well, not as often as Rafa, but still), but has also had awful games, when he was consistently rated by all newspapers as the worst player on the field, with a number of defensive blunders. Then, if you are willing to forgive Adli for those, then you need to also forgive Leão for his bad games. And sure, Adli has had great games, but there is no possible doubt that Leão has contributed WAY MORE to the team than Adli has, even considering that Adli is a midfielder and Leão a forward, and it is easier for forwards to show contributions (and even considering that Rafa had way more playing time). But still, even discounting those factors, I think if someone argues that Adli has contributed equal to, or more than Leão, I would have to question the person’s sanity. I’m not saying that you are making this claim, but still, your post overall, in terms of a global feeling, is negative about Rafa and positive about Adli (or at least, I perceived your post this way). Look: Adli is NOT our most talented player. Leão is. So why are you not as positive about Leão as you are about Adli???
“So why are you not as positive about Leão as you are about Adli???”
Adli tries his best on and off the pitch. You honestly cannot say the same about your idol here. Also. It was Adli’s real first season here. Was Leao a superstar on his debut season? Nope. Far from it.
“Also, I’m not sure what more Adli has to do to show what he’s about. He’s easily been in our top 3 midfielders this season showing range in his passing ability and lots of grit when off the ball.”
Because people want him to be better at defending than Kessie. And even then they would complain.
Leao is nowhere near second in Europe, that list is an incomplete joke. And to claim it is racist to call him out for not trying is absolutely ridiculous. It is raciest of you to assume that people see black players as lazy, you are clearly the one with that thought. I for one don’t give a damn about a player’s race, religion, or nationality as long as they contribute. The fact is he often gives up and NEVER gets back on D. I was at the Stadio Olimpico for the Roma game a couple of weeks ago with my son-in-law, a Chelsea fan. Halfway through the game he turned to me and said “Leao is so lazy, he just walks back every time he loses the ball” It is clear as day to those who aren’t looking at the game through Rossoneri-colored glasses.
This!!! Racism my *ss. People seem to mistake laziness for different skin color these days.
Nah. I’m right about it. Maybe YOU are not racist. But many are.
https://www.milannews.it/news/leao-secondo-nei-top-5-campionati-per-numero-di-azioni-che-hanno-portato-a-un-gol-535253
@Giga94 for some reason I can’t reply to your post but this is the article
@WCSG it does seem like the people who put this list together used some sort of different criteria than just the raw numbers. But yes, now I see that this list doesn’t make a lot of sense. Still, Rafa’s season has been impressive, and he does have the best Milan numbers and one of the best European numbers.
And to someone else, I don’t remember who: I do like Rafa a lot, but he is not “my idol.” Pulisic qualifies more as “my idol.” My 2023-24 Milan Jersey has Pulisic on the back and the number 11. My son, though, has Leão and the number 10.
It seems like sempremilan doesn’t allow us to post links. Anyway, the article was on milannews dot italy and after the site’s address you find /news/leao-secondo-nei-top-5-campionati-per-numero-di-azioni-che-hanno-portato-a-un-gol-535253
@Giga94 for some reason I can’t reply to your post but this is the article
@WCSG it does seem like the people who put this list together used some sort of different criteria than just the raw numbers. But yes, now I see that this list doesn’t make a lot of sense. Still, Rafa’s season has been impressive, and he does have the best Milan numbers and one of the best European numbers.
And to someone else, I don’t remember who: I do like Rafa a lot, but he is not “my idol.” Pulisic qualifies more as “my idol.” My 2023-24 Milan Jersey has Pulisic on the back and the number 11. My son, though, has Leão and the number 10.
By the way, it is absurd to say that Leão doesn’t track back. Not always, but indeed he does track back and does try to help the defense many times.
When I say it seems to be racist with the stereotypical “lazy” it is also because of this: even in games when Leão does track back and does try hard, I still see the same accusations of laziness.
Why does our CLEARLY most talented player draws such harsh criticism? Because we expect a lot from him due to his high salary? Yeah, we do, but hey, he DOES deliver a lot to us. You all don’t think that 26 goal contributions this season, the highest among all Milan players, is not contributing a lot???
So, he is the highest paid player, true. But then, he also is the one with the most goal contributions. All good, no?
——–
If someone tried to locate the article I pointed to, do know that dot italy doesn’t have the full letters of italy but rather it
You can find the article if you enter the usual https wording and the bars and then the site’s address and then the string I copied above.
There are other players who rarely track back. Do you want an example? Calabria. He often goes way up to help the defense but leaves huge spaces behind him and fails to track back, which has leaded to goals conceded. However, I have NEVER heard anybody call Calabria “lazy.” Why is that?
Yes, Calabria tries hard. But in many games Leão also tries hard. Yes, both at times fail to track back. But why do you suppose that only Leão collects the stereotypical “lazy” accusation? Think about it.
“Yes, Calabria tries hard. But in many games Leão also tries hard. Yes, both at times fail to track back. But why do you suppose that only Leão collects the stereotypical “lazy” accusation? Think about it.”
Look at the body language. Leao looks like he’s already given up in half of the matches where Milan are trailing at half time. Calabria won’t do that.
Maybe you’re just blinded by your admiration but it’s painfully obvious to anyone (unbiased or biased) that Leao isn’t the hardest-working Milan player in the squad. He’s not even in the top 20. Either accept the fact or be a “flat-earther”.
Flat earther, LOL. No, this isn’t as obviously wrong as thinking the Earth is flat. Now you’re using hyperbole and being unfair the way you characterize my position.
Ah, OK, so Leão looks uninterested? Well, guess what, I’ve seen plenty of games when Leão did look uninterest, did display a defeated body language… then suddenly got a burst of speed, passed through the opponent’s defense like a hot knife in butter, and scored or assisted a companion who scored.
For me, if Leão gets flat all game but then suddenly scores, he has contributed immensely.
I remember games when his score was the winning one, and yes, he didn’t do anything else for 89 minuts, but then that 1 minute of bursting speed and accuracy producing a Golazo was the winning goal, and the play that won 3 points for us. I’ve seen this happening, and he was still harshly criticized by fans here and elsewhere, as “lazy.” Haha, sure. He just won a game for us but he is “lazy.” Yeah, OK. So, Leão is not the hardest working player? Sure, he isn’t. But he IS the one who contributes most with goals + assists. OK, look at Musah. He is a HUGE hardworking player, however, most games he fails to contribute effectively (likely not actually his fault but Pioli’s, for switching him around so often, that he kid can’t learn one set of skills for one position and looks confused; but still, it is undeniable that Musah works hard but contributes little, whoever fault it is). Being hardworker is nice but isn’t the only parameter one should gauge a player by.
What YOU need to accept as undeniable FACT is that Leão now has the most goal contributions of the team, for the season (26 vs 25 for Olivier and 24 for Puli – and look, I love Olivier but many of his goals were out of PKs; none of Leão’s were from PK, which makes his advantage over Olivier even more impressive). If YOU deny that (the demonstrable fact that Rafa is our most prolific player) you might be the one needing a comparison with flat earthers.
I fail to see how our CLEARLY most talented player and the UNDENIABLY most prolific of our players in goal contributions, draws so much criticism.
You are berating me for my suspicion of racism, right? Well, duh. Pulisic is white. He has 24 goal contributions. People go crazy about him, love him, praise him. Leão is black. He has 26 goal contributions, two more than Puli (whom I love, don’t read me wrong). Still, people judge Leão harshly, and can’t stop praising Puli (who is actually my real idol and like I said, the one whose name and number are on the back of my 2023-24 Milan jersey). So, yes, I love Puli, but I also love Leão and I find the criticism towards the latter to be excessive.
I mean, sorry, but it *is* suspicious. Again, maybe not you, but yes, many harsh critics of Rafael Leão maybe do it out of racism.
Have you noticed the racist yellow cards Leão has collected? It is a demonstrable FACT that black players in Serie A proportionally collect about twice as many yellow cards as white players; this stat can be verified; I’ve seen it (sorry, I don’t have the link now, but look it up, it’s a fact). I’ve seen games when Leão had some mild dissent, complained a little, and was shown a yellow, while THE SAME GAME WITH THE SAME REF white players complained loudly and strongly and in outrageous manners, and were NOT shown a yellow card. Also, little foul committed by Leão, yellow. HUGE dangerous foul committed by a white player, no yellow.
Do you actually ignore that there is a lot of racism in Serie A, maybe not as much as in La Liga where Vinicius Jr is a constant victim of it and the Spanish Federation does nothing about it and plays it down, but still, a lot of it in Serie A too?
Just recently I saw a discussion in Reddit where people were mentioning the Italian black players, some born and raised here, from parents who were naturalized Italians, that is, the kid was clearly Italian by law, then grew up to be a prominent black Italian player with call-ups to the Squadra Azzurra… and a fan said “black people are not Italian.” Yeah, right, there is no racism in Italy at large and Serie A in particular, right? Sure, there isn’t, and the Earth is flat.
You tell me to grow up (a baseless personal attack). I will tell you, wake up.
“Just recently I saw a discussion in Reddit where people were mentioning the Italian black players, some born and raised here, from parents who were naturalized Italians, that is, the kid was clearly Italian by law, then grew up to be a prominent black Italian player with call-ups to the Squadra Azzurra… and a fan said “black people are not Italian.” Yeah, right, there is no racism in Italy at large and Serie A in particular, right? Sure, there isn’t, and the Earth is flat.
You tell me to grow up (a baseless personal attack). I will tell you, wake up.”
So… You have been basically accusing US (me included) of being racist. And that is a BS claim. Now you draw up a Reddit discussion which is 100% racism and base you accusations on that? LOL. I’m absolutely sure that no one here is denying those Reddit-texts aren’t racist and no one is denying that there isn’t racism amongst football (fans). But I’m still adamant on my claim that ~95% of the Leao criticism HERE isn’t based on his skin color but his attitude on the pitch. There could be one or two who actually hate Leao for being darker than they are, but generalizing all/most of us is a cowardly act.
When did I generalize all/most? Please don’t put words in my mouth. I said “many” are racist; not “most” or “all”. And I specifically said maybe “YOU are not racist, but many are.” So don’t say I’m accusing “US (me included.” Gee! Talk about distorting something someone else said. This is not an honest way of discussing; you already used hyperbole too to mischaracterize my opinion. You know what? I lost any desire to keep talking with you about it, given that you don’t debate honestly. Have a nice day.
Now, while I’ve been praising Leão here (obviously; he is our most talented player; why shouldn’t I praise him? Still, upon praising him, I was accused of bias and of being a fanboy; this in itself demonstrates the bad blood some people have towards Rafa), I will say this: I do acknowledge that he has room for improvement. At times his finalization is atrocious; he sends the ball so high that one would think he is trying to down a Chinese spy balloon.
But then, Rafa knows it and is promising to try to improve. Here is what he just said in an interview, when asked about what kind of improvement he needs: “”Penso la finalizzazione. Posso segnare altri gol. Per essere al top deve segnare ed essere più deciso davanti alla porta.”
I’d say to him: “Forza, Leão. Don’t get down because of the unfair criticism. Keep working, and thank you for all the goals and assists! You are great.”
I mean, he gets booed at San Siro by our own fans! Our most prolific goals+assists contributor gets booed by our fans! I find it utterly disgraceful. Maybe part of Rafa’s body language is that he gets discouraged by the way he is treated by some fans.
Beware of what you all want. If we sell Leão, our offense will be a lot flatter, because even when he doesn’t score or assist, he opens up space for his companions, given how teams need to double or sometimes even triple mark him, otherwise he will score or assist.
It is a fact that Milan’s offense does a lot better when Leão is playing, even when he isn’t prolific in that particular game.