AC Milan are pursuing a final midfield signing to complete the department and they might move away from a profile like Yunus Musah, a report claims.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below), Stefano Pioli has made it clear that he wants another midfielder to ensure a seamless transition between the 4-3-3 he is working on and the well-tested 4-2-3-1.
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The hot name is still that of Yunus Musah from Valencia and personal terms have been agreed with the USA international for some time, but the LaLiga side have not budged from their €25m asking price at the moment.
However, in the meantime the Milan management are reflecting on the possibility of signing another midfielder who can play in front of the defence, as a deep-lying playmaker.
At the moment Rade Krunic is the designated player for that role and it is not his natural position, while Tijjani Reijnders is the first alternative but the Dutchman too is more of a mezzala.
I heard bologna are asking for 12M plus 20% resale clause from fenerbahce. Very doable
For Dominguez of course
What about Adli as regista in 433? Like Pirlo or Xavi.
Pirlo worked because theres Gattuso and Seedorf, two workhorse, where Gattuso took many responsibility to destroy opponent.
Xavi-Iniesta worked because theres Busquet
RLC and Reijnders don’t have the same characteristic with Gattuso/Busquet. So we need more defensive minded, strong player there, which Adli isn’t.
Very interesting Point! Youre right.
RLC an Rejnders are the Players who make our game with our offensive Plyers. We Need a Part, who is going to support our defense. Our defense Last year wasnt that good. I think that we dont Need a deep laying playmaker. More a defensive Part, Who ist supporting the defense
“RLC and Reijnders don’t have the same characteristic with Gattuso/Busquet. So we need more defensive minded, strong player there, which Adli isn’t.”
Not necessary. It’s all about the chemistry between teammates. They don’t have to fit in any mold to make it work. If there’s chemistry, there’s chemistry. No matter what type of players they are.
Also Gattuso-Pirlo-Seedorf was already the most attacking combination, often it was Ambrosini on the left.
Is Musah deep-lying playmaker?
40 millions spent on midfield, yet Krunic is our designated deep playmaker. This midfield is far from complete. Quantity is there but not all roles are covered.
That’s the issue when two of your double pivot midfielders of last season aren’t available (diff reasons) and at the same time you move to a 3 man midfield
Did you start crying a bit already, or you never stopped since Maldini got fired? No team on earth is that complete and the transfer window is not closed yet, plus the fact that we can now fish in England as well due to rule change.
It’s not over yet…. more to come
You’re still onto Maldini sacking? Why are you so triggered? And your name is really cocksey?
You cry and whine about literally everything and think you know more about tactics than actual coaches. Go cry more. Whining about a deep lying playmaker blah blah blah blah. It isn’t 2005.
Oh man what a mature reply, see that’s why we cannot have a quality discussion. Btw are you cocksy? Or why are you addressing to me? Cause I am not talking to you.
LOL Don’t you have something to cry about? It really isn’t 2005 anymore man. Teams don’t play with predictable focal points. You ought to know better. The days of Pirlo are lonnnngggg gone.
We switched from a two man midfield to a three. Bennacer is out long term. Get a reality check.
Oh really? Just points to show you don’t actually read our comments, you just see my nickname and you get triggered.
I wrote under each post that was about midfield, that we desperately need a holding midfielder/regista/deep playmaker because we only have box to box players, while Bennacer is out and Krunic is a patch at best.
R-E-A-D
Since you’re incapable of even interpreting basic facts of situations, I think you’re the one that needs to read. Musah can play in any role. YOU R-E-A-D.
Sofa coach Giancarlo is going to educate me. Or is it couch manager Giancarlo. I don’t know these days everyone have a fancy title. Ok. I’m in. That’s going to be hilarious.
With the way you talk on here, I’d think you’re pretending to be a CEO of a football team. Oh wait you probably play football manager everyday. I mean that’s a fun game, but it’s just a game.
Krunic is reliable.
No problem, Fernabache can take Dominguez let’s go fo Ricci. Let’s not waste 25M on Musah yet he’s not defensive. Let’s invest on ALEJO VELIZ.. That will make sense
Bennacer—-Saudi
Adli—Frankfurt
Krunic—Besiktas
I always liked ricci and we could use some italians in the team but i’m pretty sure torino would demand at least 25-30 mil euros for him so i doubt its a player that would be pursued by the club.
Why Bennacer?! He is an excellent player. We need depth, specially as the season progresses and we start having injuries.
The only way I see Bennacer going is for ~50M. In my opinion he performed as good as Tonali, and deserves credit, despite him not being Italian of course
Ricci. Would be hard, but he ticks more boxes than one. Put more effort in getting him. And then we need a CB too
I don’t understand why we are still going after Musah. I feel we have bought two players like him already in Loftus and Reijnders.
I think with Valencia not budging we should move our efforts elsewhere for a midfielder. It’s clear Lim isn’t reasonable and Musah wouldn’t really fit this role.
Dominguez is the right player for Milan to sign.
– Federico Redono
– Fabricio Diaz
-Taylor booth
Names for the future
Musah has no value at Milan. Cardinal is forcing the issue because he’s an American.
Of course he is, it’s a big market. With him and Pulisic our revenue will get better and better. Much easier to do that when you have two best Yanks in the squad, plus he is a good player. I have known the guy since he played at Arsenal Youth
I thought Pioli wanted Reijnders as regista until Bennacer is back, but if he sees him as a mezzala then Dominguez as regista makes more sense then signing Musah, since hes also more of a box to box player.
Dominguez and Ricci should be our target, if Musah don’t come.
There’s some interest for Dominguez but idk why there’s none at all for Ricci – granted he is still young and relatively inexperienced playing at highest level, but so does Musah.
Personally I’d rather spend 25-30m for Ricci than 25m for Musah. Except if Valencia will accept max 20m for him, which is unlikely at the moment.
But if Musah won’t come, please try Dominguez or Ricci.
Most important when revamping a squad is to have a clear plan of the system you intend to use.
So far there is no clarity.
Of course it is good to finally see some decent attackers arrive and fans are excited.
However not all players will succeed.
If we are planning a 433 then we have too many wingers.
Is pulisic going to battle for LW with Leao and Okafor or is he going to battle for RW with Samu, Romero and Alexis?
Pulisic came to Milan to get first team football.
If we are planning 4231 then we have lost our best DM and signed 2 Mezzala’s.
Whatever the system we desperately need a DM, I don’t think Musah is it.
So there is lot’s to be excited about but we should not get carried away. Huge turnover of players always causes disruption and requires patience (see Chelsea).
Just over a year ago we had won the league with a great defense and great midfield but a limited attack.
Now we have added lot’s of attacking options but our midfield and even central defense look quite light.
I hope they have a plan. I hope that plan is not to sell Leao to PSG to replace Mbappe. (that would explain signing Pulisic and Okafor for LW)
How is our defense any worse than it was before? It’s the same. Thiaw, Kalulu, Tomori, Kjaer are all still here. Same thing with our starting fullbacks, though Ballo-Toure is likely to be replaced. If you’re complaining about losing a fifth choice CB I don’t know what to tell you. Simic is probably a good idea to promote to that role.
As far as midfield, we went from a two man pivot to a three man midfield. We lost Tonali, and bought Reijnders. Krunic played a lot in the double pivot, making it no different. We are looking to sign midfielders.
No clarity? Easy for you to say when we aren’t close to done on the market. We reinforced the attack and signed a midfielder, and still aren’t done yet.
Also, we don’t have too many wingers. Okafor can play as a striker too. It’s called rotation. Alexis isn’t staying here and isn’t part of the project so cross that name out.
Also Okafor is versatile and isn’t a Leao replacement. And neither is Pulisic. If you think we’re replacing him I don’t know what to tell you. Leao is a big money maker for this team and they won’t part with him anytime soon.
It’s incredible you manage to take a positive outlook and spin it into something so negative. But I don’t expect any less from some on here.
I don’t believe my comments are negative, just analytical.
I’m a fan and delighted to finally see some good attackers arrive.
I just hope we stay focused on what’s really needed.
We don’t want a bunch of unhappy players on the bench
There is nothing wrong with the depth we have up front and it’s necessary considering our issues last season.
In response to defense
Title winning team was
Tomori
Kalulu
Kjaer
Romagnoli
Gabbia
Now it is
Tomori
Thiaw
Kalulu
Kjaer
Kjaer is 2 seasons older, kalulu struggled last season, Tomori was not great either, Romagnoli is gone. Thankfully Thiaw is a huge talent, but he is very young and can’t be expected to play like an experienced pro every week
Bottom line is we need a quality and settled team.
Defense, Midfield, Attack.
We had a good defense and midfield but no attack.
Now we are reinventing the midfield from scratch.
If we could have the defense and midfield of our title winning season and added this current attack. We could beat anyone!!
Romagnoli was a shadow of what he was in the year. Thiaw was playing great every time he has a chance. Tomori was fine last season. Kalulu was the one not playing that well.
@SJF extremely reasonable and well thought out post that I completely agree with.
I’ve been trying also to figure out what formation we’re going to play and which players we’re signing. It seems to me Pioli wants options to play a 433 from time to time. But to me the staple is still going to be the 4231 which we’ve been playing for so long now.
So far we’ve played one game of 433 with completely new movements. My concern is that the new signings won’t be able to play enough of the 4231 in time for the new season and I have a feeling we’ll be seeing our familiar faces sooner rather than later in the season. My other concern is still the lack of steel to protect the defense as u mentioned
Thanks
I guess like most fans I’m just trying to imagine what Milan will look like.
I think its ok to change systems and have options, when its a settled squad. I’d be more concerned about trying to build a new team to play 2 systems.
As you say 433 seems the most likely and probably the most balanced.
That will require keeping Krunic and signing a DM.
If RLC and T. R are the mezzalas then we will need Adli and pobega as backup until Bennacer returns.
That will mean that Pulisic will mostly be back up on the wings (most talk has him as our 10)
It also leaves no room for CDK, unless he plays as striker.
Competition is hot in attack.
I just pray the midfield gels, as thats where games are won and lost.
Its a huge shake up.
As i said above it would be ok having a new attack if we had a settled midfield, but this is basically a new team
Waiting for the “bring Kessie back” comments…
Saw the Barca game against Arsenal last night. He didn’t look that good. At this point his next move would probably be to the prem. Doing he goes back to Italy/Juve.
*doubt
I personally would love to see Kessie come back (on a free or cheap deal) as there was a time he was my favorite player. That said reunions are rarely as good as the first time.
I just don’t get how people assume the worst and think we are going to sell Leao, when we signed players to rotate in as RW and as a forward. Okafor is more likely to rotate with Giroud if anything. Pulisic more likely on the RW or if we change formations. We have three different tournaments we need to compete in.
People were angry about the lack of depth in attack but now think it’s too much? I just don’t get it. We don’t have anymore than other major teams.
And we aren’t even done yet this summer. But people just love to complain about everything.
If Krunic goes it’s going to be problematic for the midfield. He’s the only one holding familiarity until the newbies get their stuff together
Train yunus as deep lying infront CB , he is still young and can do that, if you dont believe yunus then sell adili + pobega ( swap him with singo) and buy dominques from bologna
If we really use 433, we need a DM or single pivot. And, we can go to Fabrizio Diaz…the captain of U-20 World Champions (Uruguay). He is cheap (€5-10 M) and a leader…to be our future captain 👍👌
Get Giovanni Lo celso or the young Faticanti
Lo Celso can play everywhere in the midfield. He is an outstanding player and a cheap option.
Or we go get Faticanti, a pure italian talent.
Joris Chotard from montpellier is also an outstanding talent
Tomasso Baldanzi should be our mister X for this end of transfert. A good player for rotation enabling him to gain confidence and his spot gradually
I like the idea of Baldanzi too as a backup/rotation player who seems primed to grow, but I feel Pioli seems ready to ditch the 4-2-3-1 as the 4-3-3 is best suited for CL and breaking down 3-5-2/3-4-3 formations that are becoming increasingly vogue
Why don’t you mention : Loftus-Cheeks for Deep-Lying-Playmaker (or Regista) ?
He was so good dictating tempo from deep, like he did at Chelsea.