January promises to be a month that will keep Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara busy on three fronts; that is signings, sales and renewals.
Calciomercato.it have provided a round up of the current situation in all three of those areas, beginning by confirming that the priority targets for the defence and midfield are Mohamed Simakan (even though he is injured) and Soualiho Meite respectively.
Strasbourg want €20million for the former, while the Rossoneri management would like to sign him at a lower amount, and the interested of Borussia Monchengladbach and Leipzig could have an impact even if the defender’s preference would be the Rossoneri.
However, there are alternative targets such as Loic Bade of RC Lens, while the other trail leads to Lyon’s Diomande. The first real alternative, however, remains Ozan Kabak of Schalke 04 who is valued at around €20m and is also attracting interest from Liverpool.
One last alternative is Fikayo Tomori of Chelsea, while Nicolas N’Koulou of Torino cannot be excluded as a last-minute cheap option.
Moving on to the midfield, Soualiho Meite did not even take the field on Saturday against Milan which is a sign that the axis is hot. However, a possible back-up target to Meite is Svanberg of Bologna, valued at €15million, but it would be more an operation for June.
Lokonga of Anderlecht and Ismaila Coulibaly – owned by Sheffield United – remain in the background as potential options.
From England there is talk of a loan bid for West Ham winger Felipe Anderson, while yesterday the club met with the agent of Cagliari striker Leonardo Pavoletti, which is a sign of the erratic nature of the market.
Meanwhile, the management is studying outgoings: Musacchio remains out and could say goodbye six months before his contract expires, while Leo Duarte is now in Turkey and Andrea Conti seems to be Fiorentina-bound.
Moving on to renewals, the situation surrounding Gianluigi Donnarumma and Hakan Calhanoglu are a priority for the management and both players seem increasingly close to staying with the Rossoneri. There is the basis for an agreement between the parties for the renewal of the goalkeeper, while the agent of the Turkey international will meet the club this week.
Confirmations have also arrived that Milan want to try and keep Brahim Diaz beyond the end of the season and Paolo Maldini is ready to negotiate with Real Madrid.
READ MORE: Milan intensify talks with Chelsea over centre-back
1. Secure the renewals of Donnarumma and Calhanoglu.
2. Only take a CB on loan for the remainder of the season unless you can manipulate a low cost option (think under 8-10M). Romagnoli, Kjaer, Kalulu, and Gabbia can support the rotation and unless you are going to sign Milenkovic, there shouldn’t be an investment unless it’s a stop-gap until the summer.
3. Small fee for Thauvin to move into the ranks immediately. Gives you coverage for Salesmaekers and Castilejo (who should be sold now or in the summer).
4. Sign a strong deputy to Zlatan to help finish the season and set us up for moving forward if Zlatan doesn’t re-sign. Belotti would be the ideal signing based on his age, but don’t know about playing as a solo striker. Scamacca would be a preferred signing to learn the remainder of the season and the only time he played atop by himself for Genoa he scored a goal. Look for a veteran leader if Zlatan doesn’t re-sign this summer with maybe Giroud or try Milik since both of their contracts are expiring.
5. Invest into depth at MF through a low-cost option since they would likely be a 4th option behind Kessie, Bennacer, and Tonali. Pobega returning from loan this summer would give you 5 options at CM and could then re-invest into more depth or a stronger competition for Kessie/Bennacer.
6. Start the renewal process for Calabria, Kessie, Kjaer, and Romagnoli. All four deserve a bumper of at least $500k + bonuses.