Gianluca Di Marzio has revealed some of the thinking behind two of the signings in the January 2020 window, namely Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Simon Kjaer.
Milan’s owners have so far preferred a recruitment strategy centered around buying young players with high potential to develop and record capital gains on the balance sheet.
Six players arrived in summer 2019, namely Theo Hernandez, Ismael Bennacer, Rade Krunic, Leo Duarte, Rafael Leao and Ante Rebic – the oldest being 25. Last summer, Sandro Tonali (20), Brahim Diaz (21), Diogo Dalot (21) and Jens Petter Hauge (20) all joined.
However, a big part of the team’s transformation in terms of success can be attributed to both the return of Ibrahimovic and the signing of Kjaer, who added stability and experience to a young and delicate group.
Speaking to Sky Italia, Di Marzio spoke about the Milan project and in particular he touched on two arrivals from early last year, insisting it was to create a balance of sorts.
“You cannot make a team of only young players and the recent additions of Kjaer and Ibrahimovic demonstrate the importance of having an expert player in every department,” he said (via MilanNews).
“It is necessary to have players with experience in every role otherwise in important competitions like the Champions League you can pay for mistakes.”
