A lot will be decided regarding AC Milan’s future in this month of April and more specifically in the next ten days, given that Stefano Pioli’s men will play the first leg and second leg of the Europa League quarter-finals against Roma.
As Corriere dello Sport (via MilanNews) reports this morning, Pioli will once again see himself put under the microscope, knowing that winning the trophy could ensure that he keeps his job for next season too.
A destiny to decide
Indeed, Pioli’s future on the Milan bench depends heavily on the two legs against Roma. Getting through would guarantee passage to the semi-finals of the competition, bringing the Rossoneri ever closer to their dream goal of the final in Dublin.
It would be the icing on the cake for a perfect 2024 so far: apart from the hitch in the Coppa Italia and the defeat against Monza, in the new year the Rossoneri shifted into high gear and moved back into second place, leaving Juventus behind.
The difference was especially made in the month of March, symbolised by seven consecutive victories which is a streak that the Rossoneri hope to maintain and even build on. Milan were mainly driven by goals from Rafael Leao, Christian Pulisic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who found a higher gear.
The objective now, in April, is not to ruin everything. A defeat against De Rossi’s Roma could put Pioli back into a position of uncertainty about his future, especially with the derby on the horizon.
Planning ahead
The team’s fate on the field is accompanied by the future on the negotiating tables. The management are trying to move in advance and outline the objectives for the 2024 summer transfer window, where the main objective will be fine-tuning the squad.
The one certainty – also considering Olivier Giroud’s probable farewell in June – is that Milan will finally focus on and invest in a centre-forward. Geoffrey Moncada and his collaborators are already working through interviews, meetings and surveys on targets.
The main name is Joshua Zirkzee, the Bologna striker who has been very impressive so far this season, but because of this Milan will need to be very creative and the negotiation promises to be complicated.
For this reason the Rossoneri are keeping various avenues open such as Benjamin Sesko, Santiago Gimenez, Viktor Gyokeres, Jonathan David and Serhou Guirassy. Victor Boniface of Bayer Leverkusen has also now entered the list.
