AC Milan will have a bit of a reshuffle this summer, and a number of stars can depart the club. However, there are also incomings planned.
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A reset is no good if the ambition is not shown in both regions. You cannot sell stars to replace them with sub-par players. However, the sales also must be bold to support changes that are expected to arrive.
So, it is worth looking at those that are outbound as well as the positions that Milan are looking to strengthen.
Before
We can only look at the picture now, so with Tijjani Reijnders as the sole departure. If the season starts tomorrow, then Milan News have listed that the lineup would look as follows.
Mike Maignan remains as the goalkeeper, Alex Jimenez at right-back, Matteo Gabbia and Strahinja Pavlovic in central defence and Theo at left-back. The midfield would be made up of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Youssouf Fofana and Yunus Musah.
Leading the line, as it was for Sergio Conceicao, would be Christian Pulisic, Santiago Gimenez and Rafael Leao.
After
The after picture is, actually, quite similar. Maignan, Pavlovic and Fofana remain, whilst the front three also stick in the picture.
However, Vanderson, as the report suggests on probability, would arrive from Monaco, then Giovanni Leoni from Parma and Oleksandr Zinchenko would make up the four. Luka Modric and Granit Xhaka are the next two in the midfield three, whilst Javi Guerra would play a back-up role.
Only five differences really, however, still five big signings that make the team look, arguably much more solid and potentially more content.
Worse or Better?
Finally, it is good to look at which team is better. You would certainly argue that the defences are pretty similar, though with different profiles, really. As it stands, the current team is much more attacking from the back.
Theo and Jimenez both are more attacking full-backs, which does take a little bit away from the new ‘team’, so to speak. Especially with Zinchenko more of an inverting option to add to the midfield, rather than a wing-back.
In midfield, the picture is much nicer, you would argue. Fofana remains a point of solidity, but the balance is certainly there with the latter, more than it is with the former. That goes for quality and actual profiles, too.
With that said, there is certainly less physicality in the new team, though the technical quality would certainly outweigh that.
It depends on Allegri’s preferences, but you would argue that the new team looks much better, and you are also starting to clear out some of the players who have been towards the end of their Milanese tenures.