AC Milan must make decisions on some of their young players ahead of the new season with three in particular facing a crucial stage in their developments.
La Gazzetta dello Sport start with Daniel Maldini, who played eight games and 143 minutes in Serie A last season. He is 20 years old and has a contract until 2024, and while he is useful for the composition of the squad lists – which requires a certain amount of academy products – the most likely scenario is that he will go on loan to accumulate more minutes and more experience.
Lorenzo Colombo has returned from his loan at SPAL in Serie B, where he scored 6 goals in 34 appearances, but all his goals came in the period from August to December. His future is uncertain, but he remains an interesting young player that Milan believe can be developed.
Finally, there is Marko Lazetic. He could well end up being the final signing of the Elliott era, given they are now close to passing the baton to RedBird. Purchased in January for around €4m, Lazetic has mostly played with the Primavera, amassing 5 appearances and an assist.
He should go and play on loan at a mid-table team to accumulate minutes and adapt further to the Italian league, given that little was seen of him in the Primavera and there was a period of acclimatisation.
They should all be loaned out to teams that will actually play them. At their age playing games and learning on the field is most important. You can’t get better just by watching from the bench or the stands.
I still can’t understand why Daniel Maldini was kept in the squad for 2 years when it was obvious he wouldn’t play. The kid is 2 months shy of being 21 and he has played total of 200 minutes of professional football but we suppose to believe his buddies Leao & Saelemakers that he has potential to win the Ballon D’or.
Truuuuee…
Let him go…
In fact he was used as home grown player requirement in the squad list.