Some rather alarming news has arrived, with multiple reports claiming that Arsenal are interested in Davide Bartesaghi.
A big opportunity is just around the corner for Bartesaghi, because Pervis Estupinan’s suspension means he is in line for his first league start of the season. It isn’t just any game either: Sunday’s contest is against rivals Juventus, in Turin.
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Arsenal watching closely
In a video on his YouTube channel (via MilanNews), the well-known journalist Carlo Pellegatti spoke about Bartesaghi and he confirmed that he has ended up in Arsenal’s sights, despite the abundance of left-sided defenders they have.
“Arsenal are interested in Bartesaghi. There have been no offers. Bartesaghi is a player who has received high praise from former Milan players. For example, I know Allegri, who isn’t a Milan player but is the coach, really likes him. He would swear by him,” he began.
“For now, he’s picking Estupinan. Above all, they say he’s better than a fifth-choice role, a third-choice left centre-back, where Pavlovic plays for example. But he’s very good there too.
“Bartesaghi is being followed by Arsenal. They haven’t made any offers yet; he has a contract until 2030. There haven’t been any offers yet, but there will be some Arsenal scouts at the Allianz Stadium on Sunday evening to follow Bartesaghi.
“Let’s not forget that Arsenal watched and signed Calafiori from the Italian league. They’re following Bartesaghi. This is the rumour, which doesn’t mean he’ll go to Arsenal, but it does mean there are interested teams, especially one, for this boy whose qualities we haven’t yet discovered. But keep an eye on the Gunners.”
La Gazzetta dello Sport meanwhile remark this morning that Bartesaghi is ‘growing rapidly, attracting interest from foreign clubs (Arsenal)’ and should be given the nod at the Allianz Stadium, although Allegri also has alternative solutions.
However, Max appreciates him and shouldn’t hesitate to use him from the start against Juve, in the wing-back role where he did well during his last performance, getting an assist for Santiago Gimenez’s opener against Lecce.
ACM, as a developmental org, seem to require external validation of its youngsters before they see potential and value.
My working theory through the Elliot and Redbird ownership is that folks angrily talking about “pure cap gain” are precisely right but not seeing the larger picture.
We came out of financial oversight this summer and suddenly we spending nearly double the so-called €20m ceiling and both players are squad players right now.
We also invested in older players who we clearly will not profit from (Modric, Rabiot) except in the sporting sense.
Now we don’t need the cap gains to meet strict oversight (end up like Lazio for example – tho that was a diff compliance regime) out youngsters go from a source of balancing the books to a source of sporting potential.
This compounds with Allegri who has a history of launching players with faith.
I sincerely hope Bartesaghi continues to grow and earn trust. I hope Camarda returns and fulfills his immense potential. Torriani looked ready in all but physical size last year (note it is exceptionally hard for a young man that age under that workload to add the right sort of size).
We had a number of interesting run-outs in the preseason with Sia, etc al.
I’m chuffed to see us top of the table today and more so about what our future holds for the club and Italian youth development.
Potential and value ?
How many good players came out from Milan youth sector in the last 20 years ?
Depending on what your definition of “good” is, but since 2005:
Astori
Aubameyang
Locatelli
Donnarumma
Cristante
Darmian
Bellanova
D. Maldini
Pobega
Gabbia
Calabria
Verdi
De Sciglio
Paloschi
Antonelli
Abate
Matri
Brescianini
Cutrone
All but Paloschi and Aubameyang capped by Italy (Aubameyang capped by Gabon).
Apparently Italian defenders go to the PL to die…
They can’t have him.😀
If recent years have taught Milan anything, it’s that our back line is highly susceptible to injury and suspension. They need all the talent back there that they can muster. There are others that can leave before Bartesaghi!