Paulo Fonseca declared after the game against Manchester City that he would like Alexis Saelemaekers to stay, and that could change AC Milan’s mercato plans.
As Calciomercato.com write, Saelemaekers was one of the best on the pitch in the match against Rapid Wien and he kept those positive signs going against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, getting an assist and creating plenty with his dribbles.
The efforts of the former Bologna loanee were not in vain and in his post-match interview Fonseca made his thoughts known: “Alexis is a player that I like a lot for his quality. He is one of those that all coaches want to have, because he can play in many positions. He has confidence, I would like him to stay.”
The stance of the management is that Saelemaekers can leave Milan, who believe that they can get €20m from his sale after a good season on loan at Bologna increased his valuation. His exit could unblock the incoming market too.
However, Fonseca’s words were clear and must be taken into consideration, even if at the moment Milan have Samuel Chukwueze and Christian Pulisic for the right flank plus Rafael Leao and Noah Okafor for the left.
In the past few days, several English clubs have been active in wanting to sign the Belgian. Milan have kept dialogues with Leicester and West Ham alive, but in the background there are also Nottingham Forest and Ipswich Town.
Fonseca has made himself heard and sent a strong signal to the management, but he will also be aware that by sacrificing Saelemaekers he could then welcome another strong technical player like Lazar Samardzic.
Saelemaekers is a good player. Past coaches were not able to make the most of him.
“Saelemaekers was one of the best on the pitch”
This has to be taken in context. Was he playing against world beaters, shining? No, he played against city youth and looked good. Yes.
Does that mean he would shine against City’s starters? Doubt It.
Truth is, there is no space for him at Milan. Both flanks are double stacked and he’s not good enough as a fullback.
Needs to be sold.
I’d agree with you with the caveat that if Fonseca can convert him to fullback, or if he uses Pulisic as a no.10 more than a winger, then there’s plenty of use for Alexis as a backup rotation option in these positions.
Now he might demand a more pronounced first team role, which we can’t guarantee, so in which case the capital gain would be useful. However given we’re linked with the likes of Emerson Royal I’d rather give Alexis a chance at Rb over him!
“However given we’re linked with the likes of Emerson Royal I’d rather give Alexis a chance at Rb over him!”
Exactly!
That’s like choosing between a rock and a hard place…
The coach wants him, so let’s keep him, otherwise what’s the point of a coach ?
What do you keep him for? He has no room. But his sale will push forward Fofana/Samardsic.
Chuk was worse than Salad, but pulisic definitely better. Tbf a lot of the players who outshine Salad as RW are actual RW’s instead of RM’s and we can’t afford them.
Keep him . Play Okafor as CF. No need to waste money and time. Focus on getting a DM
We sell him, we get cash. We keep him, for a year anyway, we get depth. It’s a win-win. I’d rather we get cash tho. He had his chances and didn’t impress
Who are we getting instead though? Chuk was worse last season and most better players are simply way too expensive. We are not the only club struggling on the wings which is why we have to keep leao.
Chuku was better last season than salad ever was mate. Look chuku has 3 goals and 3 assist in 1581 minutes played. A bad season for him, no doubt.
Salad has 4 goals and 2 assist in 1893 minutes played. One of his best if not his best season in Italy.
And we’re not struggling on the wings at all. Salad just isn’t ac Milan material. Not even as a sub. He does jack sh!t. It is what it is.
And last we don’t even need another winger, 4 wingers are plenty. Cashing out on Salad and using that mone for a cb or dm is the best call.
Good shout by Fonseca. I like a coach who’s direct and not afraid to say what’s on his mind. Whether Alexis will have many minutes or what position he plays is not the real matter in this case.
Our left flank is not stacked he could be a good sub for Leao, okafor is bad as a winger, he needs to be inside or around the box.
One should not judge the player on what has delivered during Pioli. One should consider how he combines with the other players to materialise goals in a new playing style. One should take into consideration Morata, Lao, Theo etc how these will combine together and produce goals.
Alexis Saelemaekers’ versatility is very helpful. Saelemaekers can play as a RB, all position behind 1 striker (Morata, Jovic, or Camarda). If we use Pulisic as a AMC, then Saelemaekers might be the Chukwueze’s backup.
– AMR : Chukwueze, Saelemaekers
– AMC : Pulisic, Liberali
– AML : Leao, Okafor
Support by 2 pivots :
– Starters : Reijnders & Loftus-Cheeks
– Backup : Bennacer & Pobega
– Florenzi & Adli for the depth, if Adli want to stay. And Florenzi always got little playing time due to his injuries.
And the defenders:
– RB : Calabria, Terraciano
– CBR : Gabbia, Thiaw
– CBL : Tomori, Kalulu
– LB : Theo, Alex Jimenez
– GK : Maignan, Sportiello, Torriani
We look ready for the new season. So only buy the new player if we sold the old one.
Pavlovic has signed, Fofana nearly there, Thiaw to Newcastle, transfer window still far from done, lots of changes still going to happen.
Salad can’t play rb, he can’t play rw and he’s barely able to play lw. We literally have 0 pivots, those are all b2b or mezzalas