It’s no secret that Igli Tare has several scouts in Belgium, and the latest target he has circled on his list is Tolu Arokodare of Genk.
With the Ardon Jashari talks still ongoing and after Archie Brown chose Fenerbahce instead, Milan are again looking at the Juliper Pro League in their bid to give Massimiliano Allegri an alternative to Santiago Gimenez.
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According to Corriere dello Sport, the Arokodare option is one being considered because he ticks a lot of boxes. The Nigerian scored 23 in 45 games this season for Genk last season and in the league, he found the back of the net 17 times in 30 matches.
These are certainly positive numbers, even if they must be properly proportioned to the level of the Belgian league. He scored 22 goals in 32 games in Latvia, plus 14 goals in 55 appearances in Ligue 2, with Valmiera and Amiens respectively.
Profile and cost
Tare revealed that the search for a new striker includes profiles similar to Olivier Giroud, i.e. a penalty area man, physically strong and with a sense of goal, able to bring the team forward by jostling with opposing defenders and to exploit crosses and assists inside the 18-yard box.
Arokodare stands at 1.97m, while he also has speed when he gets going and evident physical strength. From a technical standpoint there are some things to be worked on, but he remains young enough to develop further.
The other reason why Arokodare is among the most likely candidates for Milan’s new No.9 is his price. The Nigerian is valued between €20-25m, which falls in the ball park of the usual per-player investment and is cheaper than Victor Boniface, valued at around €20m more.
Not completely sure Nunes or Arokodare is FTW
Knowing that Boniface and Osimhen come from the Belgian first division, Tolu is probably worth the gamble. Unless we want to wait until somebody else buys and sells with a huge profit in a few years.
100%.
Mitrovic, Icardi, Guirassy, and Kolo Muani? We can’t afford big wage. So there aren’t many choices and there isn’t much time to search new world class strikers.
An affordable gamble…everyone else is pretty much outside our price range. We surely need a different profile to compete with Gimenez. But also one that gives friendly competition without a chip on his shoulder…Gimenez needs time to grow into the environment as well so should not be treated as tested already.
And Lucca is about to sign on loan with obligation to Napoli !!!! And we are looking at yet another nobody from abroad, unbelievable, when will this management learn ??!!
They won’t. Furlani and Cardinale don’t know anything about football so the need for an Italian identity is lost on them. Until they appoint a sporting director and coach who will focus on Italian talent and Serie A based talent, we’ll continue to be a team with no identity, a team that signs random eurotrash.
Worth the gamble. Let’s get it done as we are running out of options.
Get this deal done, the profile can’t get any differnt from Jimenez more than this.
A better deal than Jashari. 100%
Moncada only shops in France while Tare seems to have a soft spot in Belgium. Great. Can we get an additional Italian SD to look for deals in Italy? Surely Coppola would have been within our parameters…