AC Milan could sign a midfielder in January to strengthen the team and Assan Ouedraogo has ended up at the top of their wish list. According to a report, the Rossoneri will be looking to get a discount on the €11m clause.
Ouedraogo is just 17 years old but has done very well for Schalke 04 in the German second tier. He has made eleven appearances so far and it probably would have been more, but a hamstring injury has kept him out for the last two games.
Milan have been keeping an eye on him for quite some time and Geoffrey Moncada could make an attempt in January. Yesterday, it was even reported that the Rossoneri are pushing for his arrival, in constant talks with the entourage.
According to Corriere dello Sport, as cited by MilanNews, Milan are indeed in talks with the central midfielder’s entourage. However, while the rapport is very positive with the player, the Rossoneri want to secure a discount on the €11m release clause.
Milan are not the only ones interested and getting a discount on an already low clause could, ironically, prove costly. On the other hand, Ouedraogo still has a lot to prove and with the backing of the entourage, they might be able to get the price down.
Considering his talent that would be downright offensive towards schalke 04 unless we actually plan to insert a 20-25% resale clause or something going their direction in the event of a future sale which in the end easily could be bad business for ourself because if he keeps developing he will be a lot more expenssive in the years to come.
Theres obviously also the possibility of inserting a talent from our own ranks but we really should just pay the release clause and get it done while we still can because other clubs wont haggle for 11 mil.
According to the informations I got about him, this player plays as a CM and can play as an AM.
Both these positions are not currently lacking in our team, we already have Reijnders, Loftus-Cheek, Musah,… What we are currently lacking is a DM, as Bennacer is injured and needs a deputy, Krunic and Adli didn’t impress a lot in this position. We specifically need a Kessie replacement, who is physical and can destroy the other team’s play, and redistribute the ball accurately.
So why focusing on yet another CM ?
This boy is worth the 11million euros , we should buy him, he is very good
Giga94 At the age of 17 he is 1.91 m tall and from the looks of it has no issues bossing adult players even though its down in the 2nd bundesliga there is a lot to build further upon with this player and kessie actually has played roughly 80 matches more as a cm than as an cdm.
I would not be surprised if he will follow in thiaws footprints and play for the german international team in 2-3 years time, at least with the right guidance.
Aaaand this haggling is why we’ll lose him to some mid-table EPL club that will pay the buyout clause without blinking.
@Martin Bernhard: That’s a fair point, I don’t know the player very well so I can’t comment on his talent. Obviously the more strong players we have, the better, but I still think a CDM is more urgent at the moment, but again giving his price tag, he seems to be a good opportunity.
Let’s hope that if we acquire him, he won’t be burried under pioli’s favourites for being “too young” or “not fitting very well”.
Giga94 If it wasnt for the rivalry between schalke 04 and dortmund a move to that club very well could have been the ideal place for him to flourish but if we were to buy him i would hope that he were put directly into the first team as a backup or loaned back to them for the remainder of the season that is if of course he would still play consistently there, to keep developing
From what i can judge he seems good in both phases of the game and also moves well with the ball and also screens it well. I have watched a bit of 2,bundesliga matches but even the clips on youtube showcase what i said but obviously making the leap from the 2nd best german league to serie a is also quite a big one and there is no guarantees that he would succeed but my guess is that he is bound to become a success at a higher level.
Giga94 & Bernhard. You are both right, we need a physical DM who will protect the defense , disrupt the opponents counters and galvanize the team… But this kid , even though he is box to box (for now) is too good to give up on and should be purchased.
Bring Enrico del Prato
Im all for spending && to secure talent for the future BUT what about now???? We couldn’t have spent this 11M in the summer to secure a STRIKER like Lukaku, Taremi or Thuram just to name a few? Seems like we have no issue buying young players with huge ups side and resale value who may or may not develop and help us in 3-4 years time – but what about NOW??? Is management really focused on winning now or just securing assets to sell later on? If so we should have no problem buying a real striker in January and not have to rely on a below par player like Jovic who NOBODY wanted. Starting to wonder.
Jerry i like that you phrase it “But this kid , even though he is box to box (for now) is too good to give up on and should be purchased” because i could also see him becoming a great in the cdm position,
Either we get him now or we will miss out on him and in a few years he will cost 5 times more,
Juro im pretty sure Ouedraogo would be able to help already after a short time and getting him now is most likely the only chance to get him and in regard of the other youth player we are rumored to be interested in the serb popovic he is basically coming for free as his contract expires in late december this year,
2 great options that wont be up in the air for a long atime nd i can already see people complaining about the clubs lack of foresight if we miss out on either oif them,
I would personally like if we can get the two mentioned above + Guirassy (17.5 mil release clause) as we would basically get two huge talents + an inform striker that bags goals currently like he was haaland and that for less than 30 mil.
Whats not to like about that ?
don’t know why we should waste 11m on another young import when we have plenty of homegrown talent in the primavera ? surely we should be looking at spending on positions in the team that need filling, a proper DM is what we need, put that 11m towards securing Ricci, young, talented, already experienced in serie A and italian…..
Waste of money. When will he play? Where will he play? Don’t need another talent to groom.
“Juro im pretty sure Ouedraogo would be able to help already after a short time and getting him now is most likely the only chance to get him and in regard of the other youth player we are rumored to be interested in the serb popovic he is basically coming for free as his contract expires in late december this year,”
The thing is though… Such young players wouldn’t be ready – according to Pioli – for years to come and they’d rot on the bench. You know the deal.
bb, Still pioli has fielded bartesaghi who is 17 years old 3 times this season and also fielded an 18 year old romero 4 times in serie a and we have only played a combined 16 matches this season so i disagree with that narrative. In the case of Ouedraogo he is actually already 1.91 meter tall at the age of 17 and he is no pushover so i disagree but i wouldnt mind leaving him at schalke either for the rest of the season to let him keep developing.
Either way if we doesnt get him now other big teams will.
He did field them and from those 7 matches they total 109 minutes. Pobega 4 example was fielded 6 times and has 170 minutes. You see where this is going, right?
flyingturtle No i do not and even though i like promoting youth players and respect you i kinda resent that notion.
The players are so young that they isn’t in a position to expect to play much more, some of the people around here seems to believe that our youth players should just be fielded every second match and everything would be great and if for that matter half of our primaveras had already have gotten minutes for the first team we would be in a much better shape.
Bartesaghi for example should be over the moon that he already has been given minutes in 3 matches this season which clearly should exceed his expectations for this season to begin with.
We are not ajax but in the case of Ouedraogo he has already played more than ten matches against adults so i do believe he would more easily slot in.
As i also has been mentioning time after time most youth players are bound to fail and will at best become serie b players.
Last season people kept mentioning el hilali and he now plays in the second best league of netherlands and its not like he has done anthing remarkable there.
Ok. This is going in a direction that will waste milan 11M, or whatever, on a teenage midfielder who will not play and thus will not develop. At all. Furthermore, we have plenty of his type of players anyway. If anything milan needs to buy a proper foking dm not another mezala type.
And another thing. If milan can’t guarantee playtime, why would he chose milan at all, considering a million clubs are after him? I wouldn’t, not at that age
If milan buys a player at that price he will play some but maybe not so much in the first couple of months but just because we have talent in the stable doesnt mean they are of equal quality to his and i could actually see us buying him and if krunic is sold he might get some matches here and there in cm but also playing some as a cdm but clearly he wouldnt be a starter from the get go.
Either way i support this aquisition but obviously you dont have to.