It is not yet certain who will be the head coach of AC Milan next season, but it seems that things remain in place for Julen Lopetegui to take charge should the final green light come.
Calciomercato.com are reporting that Milan got furthest ahead with Lopetegui in the process of replacing head coach Stefano Pioli and despite the fan protests and pauses for reflection, they could still stick to their guns and go with him. Thus, they have spoken about how the team could look under him.
Philosophy
The first point to address is the vision behind his potential hiring. RedBird Capital’s is clear: they are aiming to win trophies and be ambitious but without swaying from their plan to develop young players.
Lopetegui, for his part, has worked with more experienced players in his career, as demonstrated by his experiences in Sevilla and Real Madrid. However, this does not necessarily mean he is incompatible with the project.
The Milan squad has risen in average age over the past four seasons: from 23.9 years in 2020-21 to 26.58 in 2023-24, while last season it was 25.83. It is a growth due to the fact that the previously young core continue to age, while more experienced players have arrived.
There is flexibility on both sides, because even Lopetegui in his last experience at Wolverhampton (where he took over in November 2022) adapted to a squad with a young average age (25.26 years), while continuously building around the leaders.
Formation change
The system would change from the current 4-2-3-1 under Pioli to a 4-3-3, which is almost exclusively what Lopetegui has used in his career barring some flirtations with a 4-4-2.
It starts from the defence, with Simon Kjaer leaving – as announced by his agent – and with him also Mattia Caldara, while for the others like Malick Thiaw it will be necessary to understand whether big bids come in.
The plan is try to maintain a mix of freshness and experience, so partnering Fikayo Tomori with someone like Diego Carlos of Aston Villa – who played under Lopetegui at Sevilla – would not be surprising. At 31 years of age, he would bring some stability.
Then, an eye must be kept on the right-back position where Davide Calabria has again alternated good moments with difficult stretches this season. Given Lopetegui likes attacking full-backs, an investment could be made there.
Pivot introduced
The Basque coach is quite clear about his midfield set-up, too: he likes a defensive midfielder to screen the back four. At Sevilla it was Fernando, at Wolves it was Mario Lemina and Ruben Neves who played this role, then at Porto Casemiro.
The profiles monitored by Milan in recent months are in this line of thinking: Youssouf Fofana of Monaco, Renato Veiga of Basel in the event of wanting a younger player, then the more experienced Sofyan Amrabat and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Either side of the No.6 there would be two box-to-box players, one more technical and one more physical. The names are already in the squad: Tiijani Reijnders would abandon his hybrid position while Loftus-Cheek would move back.
Attacking piece missing
A new striker will arrive too to complete the attack given Olivier Giroud is leaving. Joshua Zirkzee is the number one choice followed secondly by Santiago Gimenez of Feyenoord and Benjamin Sesko of RB Leipzig.
Which of these would best match Lopetegui’s ideas? The former Real Madrid coach prefers a centre-forward of size as seen in Luuk de Jong at Sevilla, Diego Costa and Raul Jimenez at Wolverhampton and beyond.
He has also used a false nine before though, so it suggests a battle between the Bologna and Leipzig strikers, similar in statutre (both over 190cm) and cost (over €50m), but much will depend on the costs of the deal.
Without ruling out the arrival of another centre-forward – especially if Luke Jovic doesn’t stay – Noah Okafor could be used more down the middle as a different solution, rather than as a deputy to Rafael Leao.
Not much should change regarding the attacking wingers, with Rafael Leao at the centre of the project and Christian Pulisic on the right, though Lopetegui saw Samuel Chukwueze dominate LaLiga and this could factor into his choices.
